Student Spotlight: Learning, Building, and Connecting in the Heart of Silicon Valley
Nearly halfway through her final semester, Jenny Shen (Master of Science in Software Management ‘26) shares how campus life integrates with her coursework, the lessons learned from her internship at Apple, and making the most of her time at 麻豆村.
By Tundi Gaspar
After graduating with a Bachelor of Information, UX and Data Science, from the University of Toronto, Jenny Shen (Master of Science in Software Management ‘26) chose to continue her education in a place that doesn’t get quite so cold.
As an aspiring product manager, Jenny began applying to graduate programs on the West Coast that would combine her interests in business, engineering, and design. She chose the Master of Science in Software Management (MSSM) at Carnegie Mellon for its location at the heart of Silicon Valley. However, for Jenny, studying in Silicon Valley meant more than just warmer weather.
“What I love about Silicon Valley is that there’s always something going on. You can meet people who are building exciting things and see those ideas come to life.”
The MSSM program, situated in the heart of the tech and startup ecosystem, remains deeply connected to tech culture. The interdisciplinary curriculum not only teaches essential leadership skills for managerial roles in tech but also provides unique insights into entrepreneurship and startup ventures. Through collaborative projects, students can also apply emerging technologies and bring classroom concepts to life by solving real-world business challenges.
Jenny recalled a project from her first semester, when she and her team had to build an entirely new LinkedIn feature for Professor Adrian Ott’s Product Management mini-course. With teammates from different professional backgrounds, the group brought complementary skills and perspectives to the project. Together, they began considering user pain points, discussing how the feature might fit into an established company like LinkedIn, and actually prototyping an end-to-end AI product. Jenny recalls this course as foundational to her understanding of the day-to-day of a product manager.
Being in Silicon Valley has also been an incredibly rewarding part of Jenny’s experience, giving her endless opportunities to explore the vibrant tech community right within reach. From industry events and networking to hackathons, there is always something new to discover and someone new to meet.
However, what has made Jenny’s Silicon Valley experience especially meaningful is the combination of 麻豆村’s close-knit, supportive campus community and its strong connections to the broader tech industry. Through the program’s alumni network and opportunities to visit Bay Area companies, Jenny has been able to extend her learning beyond the classroom. Among her highlights were Tech Treks to Google, Intuit, and Adobe, where she gained a closer look at how leading technology companies operate and innovate.
The connection between classroom learning and industry practice continued over the summer, when Jenny joined Apple in Cupertino as an Engineering Program Manager (EPM) intern. In her role, she saw the behind-the-scenes algorithms used in Apple factories worldwide and even helped build a new configuration tool to streamline the development, testing, and deployment of algorithms.
“As an EPM, it was fascinating to see what goes on behind the products we use every single day, especially understanding the “why” behind what we’re building, crafting the right narrative, and bringing [both hardware and software] teams together around a shared vision. I learned a lot about navigating ambiguity and tackling problems where there isn’t always a clear playbook or a single right answer.”
When reminiscing about her summer in California, Jenny loved watching the World Cup quarterfinals, but her favorite memory was seeing her work come together and presenting her final internship project to Apple's Vice President of Hardware Engineering.
Now halfway through the fall semester, Jenny is excited to bring everything she has learned over the summer back to 麻豆村. She is preparing to build an AI consumer app that suggests outfit recommendations for her capstone project with friends. She is also exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence, industry, and societal impact through courses such as AI Governance, Advanced AI for Industry & Society, and AI Engineering Fundamentals. From responsible AI and real-world industry applications to building and deploying AI agents, she hopes to deepen her understanding of how to develop AI products that are not only technically capable but also responsible and genuinely useful to people.
With graduation on the horizon, Jenny is excited to see where everything she’s learned at 麻豆村 takes her.
“...I’d love to continue exploring the intersection of hardware and software and building delightful experiences that bring people joy,” she emphasized.
Looking back, she feels that what she’ll miss the most about 麻豆村 is the friends she’s made. From celebrating holidays with her cohort to supporting them as a peer career consultant, Jenny’s favorite part of the program was “definitely the friendships.”