Adjunct Professor Ryan O’Connor started working in Information Technology when he was just 16 years old at a small computer shop in Quaker Hill, Connecticut. Now, Ryan teaches classes in the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department at UConn and he works full-time for Hurricane Labs, though he is still confused for a student from time to time.

Ryan shared his experiences in Information Technology, how he became involved in teaching, the importance of technology and his advice for students entering into the field.

Ryan’s own experience at UConn inspired him to become a teacher at the university. He said that he wanted to give back to UConn and he felt that he had a lot of experience and knowledge to give to others.

“Knowledge is a powerful thing, but only if it’s shared” Ryan said.

Ryan believes Information Technology is important because it is involved all monumental achievements in society. He is mainly interested in Information Security and data driven decision making. He said a course he took with OPIM Professor Bob Day at UConn is what sparked his interests in these areas of technology.

“Information technology is so important because it’s as much the present as it is the future,” Ryan said.

Ryan graduated from UConn with a Master’s in Business Analytics and Project Management (MBAPM) in 2014. During his time at UConn, Ryan worked at the University Information Technology Services (UITS) Help Desk. He worked at UITS for seven years, eventually transitioning to a full-time position in the Information Security Office. After earning his Masters degree, Ryan left UITS to further pursue a career in Information Security and Splunk consulting. Ryan currently teaches courses in Network and Design Applications (OPIM 3222) and Business Data Analytics (OPIM 3511) in Storrs and West Hartford.

As for advice for students looking to enter into a technology-based field, Ryan said it is important to become a ‘yes’ person. He said that anything is possible with technology and it is important to keep a positive mind set to be successful.

“It might be hard, but you’ll learn far more in struggling to figure something out than simply saying ‘no we can’t do that,'” Ryan said.

He encourages all of his students to take advantage of every opportunity given to them during there time at UConn.

Alex Tung, an associate professor in the UConn School of Business Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department and a proud Husky Basketball fan, is passionate about bringing together academics and the information technology field through his work. Tung has been involved with the OPIM Department at UConn since 2000. Tung told me about his interests in information technology, his reasons for teaching, advice to students entering into the field, and his future goals for the OPIM Department.

Tung’s focus in information technology is on building and improving IT software to help businesses become more efficient and effective in decision-making. He said this require deep thinking to come up with the correct logic to solve each problem in different functional areas of businesses.

Tung became involved in teaching because he loves spreading his knowledge. He said it is extremely satisfying to him when he sees students grasp what he is teaching and apply it to real-life problem solving. He said he finds teaching to be very rewarding and interacting with students motivates him to pursue new knowledge himself.

As for the importance of the Information Technology field, Tung said that no businesses today, whether they be large or small, operate successfully without the use of technology. Information technology is everywhere and the industry is growing on a daily basis. Because of this, people are needed to build and maintain these information systems, he said.

Tung’s advice for students pursuing careers in information technology is to be passionate and persistent. He said that working in the field can sometimes be frustrating when something is not working.

“Work hard and you will succeed. Once the system you try to build is working the way it should, or the piece of computer program you wrote solves a complex problem, the feeling of fulfillment is beyond imagination,” Tung said.

Additionally, he advised students to always keep up with new technologies because the industry advances very rapidly. Mastering new technologies as they become available is a key to being successful in the information technology field, Tung said.

When asked about his future goals for the OPIM Department, Tung said he hopes to build an IT entrepreneurial field lab facility to integrate the theory and application of students’ learning. He said that the information being taught in the classroom should be able to be immediately applied to real-world scenarios while they are still at school and he wants to facilitate this.

“I have no doubt that with the high caliber of our students, the next Mark Zuckerberg could very well likely be produced by UConn’s OPIM Department,” Tung said.