Marie-Philippe Gill (@girlknowstech on social media), a software engineering graduate of École de technologie supérieure in Montreal, discusses her experience in the industry and why diversity is so important in the field
What is the most challenging part of being a software engineer? What inspired you to overcome these barriers?
As a machine learning developer, the most challenging is to stay up to date with all the latest AI developments. Every week, groundbreaking innovations come out, and it is a lot of work to educate ourselves on how these new technologies work and how we can build upon them during our day-to-day.
When I was a student, the difficult part was all the maths and sciences classes required to be an engineer. I was inspired to overcome these obstacles because I wanted to challenge myself, see if I could make it. I used all the help I was offered, went to every office hour, but I made it!
What is the most rewarding part of your career?
It is to realize how impactful my work can be. Using artificial intelligence, you can help someone save countless hours of repetitive work that they did not enjoy doing. You can work in many different industries and have a positive impact on people’s lives, whether that be in healthcare or making better customer services tools.
Why is representation so important in engineering, and how can engineers and employers continue to champion diversity and inclusion in the field?
The work we do in engineering is for everyone, therefore, we need to have a diverse set of people at the table working together. Employers can continue to encourage diversity and inclusion by taking various actions, some actionable ones include carefully writing job descriptions, sharing in diverse channels to reach out to minority groups, and limit bias during recruitment.
How do you envision the future of engineering, and what changes are necessary to inspire and prepare the next generation of engineers?
Innovations are happening at such a rapid pace at the moment. From videos generated with a few words in an impeccable quality, to smart glasses, the future could be very surprising!
