Master of Software Engineering
College of Science and Engineering
Sukhman Ghumman’s life was taking big leaps forward. Newly married, she had left her home in India to be with her husband in Seattle. The question now was what to do about her career. For the past four years, she worked as a software engineer. But she dreamed of managing the software developer life cycle—that is, overseeing a product from conception to completion. She knew that would require a master’s degree, so she began looking at options in her new city.
In choosing a university, Ghumman had a secondary goal for her graduate school—serve as a bridge to her new culture. “To assimilate to the work environment here, I needed a platform to make mistakes and learn from them,” she says. “That’s why I chose Seattle University. I liked the mid-sized university and the quality of people from diverse professional backgrounds.”
At Seattle U, Ghumman took full advantage of her new city and the vibrant campus life. A former Indian national swimming champion, she enjoyed the pool at the Redhawk Center, campus movie nights and the myriad of campus speakers. “Seattle U has so many things going on. I like the vibe.” She also led a team of undergraduate and graduate students to victory in a national software architecture competition, resulting in Costco offering her an internship.
On the academic side, Ghumman appreciated the university’s openness when she proposed taking a business course that fell outside her software engineering program. That additional coursework rounded out her skill set and continues to serve her as a business system analyst II at Bluetooth headquarters where she manages and facilitates two product delivery teams.
During lunch breaks at Bluetooth’s Kirkland office, Ghumman and her teammates will go kayaking or paddle boarding on Lake Washington. As idyllic as that sounds, Sukhman’s deeper satisfaction comes from knowing that she has achieved her dreams. “Before graduate school I had no experience with managing,” she says. “Now I understand how a product is born and how it becomes a reality. You should always push yourself outside your comfort zone.”