Her Story
About Samane
Teaching has been my passion since childhood. I remember going down to our garage when I was in fourth or fifth grade, getting chalk and pretending I was teaching math to my classmates, even though nobody was there. That early love for teaching shaped my entire career path. I started my professional journey in Iran, where I earned my bachelor's and master's degrees in software engineering. During my studies, I taught English to kids and later taught Microsoft Office applications and ICDL to employees from various organizations through university classes. I also worked on developing software for farmers to help them sell agricultural products to the government, which involved teaching them how to use the new system through seminars and workshops. After realizing that teaching was truly my calling, I pursued a PhD in computer science with a focus on cybersecurity in Ireland, funded by a research position. During my PhD, I served as a teaching assistant and worked with talented youth programs. After completing my doctorate, I briefly worked in industry in an R&D role, but after six months I realized the teaching component was too limited, so I returned to academia. I became a full-time faculty member at a university in Cork, Ireland, where I also took on leadership responsibilities as a program leader for computer systems. After three years, I moved to America seeking bigger opportunities and started as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Florida in Gainesville to familiarize myself with the American university system. I then joined Sofia University in California as a full-time faculty member, where I now serve as chair of all computer science programs. My role is incredibly busy, involving student advising, faculty management, course preparation, program review, strategic planning for new programs, revenue generation, and teaching both online and in-person hybrid classes. I also maintain an active teaching schedule as an adjunct professor at other San Francisco area universities, teaching 2-3 additional courses each semester. My expertise spans cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning applications, as well as academic leadership. Being in Silicon Valley allows me to stay at the forefront of rapidly changing technology trends and connect our students with leading tech companies. I immigrated from Iran to Europe and then to America, pursuing my dreams despite the personal challenges of being far away from family and relatives. I'm very proud of overcoming these immigration challenges while building my career. I balance my demanding professional life with being a mother to two children, a teenager and a younger child, through careful planning and time management strategies.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Samane
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Go for your passion first, because everything comes with a lot of challenges, whatever you do, but if you don't like that, the challenge is going to be very frustrating for you. So you have to have the passion of what you are doing. Then, make your connections and relations with the community and those people who are in the community, being very active - that is also an important part. Update your education and skills constantly. I did my software engineering degree 20 years ago, so if I just kept that, it wouldn't work for today. So every six months I attend some courses and upskill myself. There are loads of resources available, even free courses on YouTube and other platforms. You have to be on top of the field that you are working in. Every field is important, every career you are doing is important, but you have to try to be one of the best in your field. Look at the top of the mountain and go towards that point.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
For women entering STEM or tech fields, which might look a little bit men-oriented, we have to overcome our fears of these things. There are a lot of women who are successful in the tech field. I know as a woman, we have a lot of challenges in our life with anything - if a mother, if a wife, or even caring for a family member or friend. There are a lot of other responsibilities for women beyond work. But these things shouldn't prevent us from pursuing our dream and our passion. These challenges exist, but we can actually manage all these things with good planning and strategy. I have to say that I have two kids and a very busy life as well, but with planning I can do everything I want to do. I plan in the short term - the day before, I know what I will do tomorrow. Then for the week, what tasks I have to finish. And for the long term - one month and for a quarter, what has to be accomplished. This way of planning allows me to do everything I want to do. That is one of the key pieces of advice I can give to women pursuing their career dreams.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges is retention of students and maintaining the quality of your program in a very competitive market. You have to stay on trend with the market, and the computer science market is constantly changing with new trends like AI coming in, and next will be quantum computing. The challenge is that I have to do program reviews and update the content of courses to align with market trends. Being in Silicon Valley is both a challenge and an opportunity - it's challenging to keep up, but we have access to a lot of resources here and there are many events happening. I can get news and updates very quickly by attending workshops and different events around the Bay Area, so there are ways to address this challenge. The biggest opportunity is being in Silicon Valley, where the tech industry is based. We can see what's going on in different tech-leading companies and invite senior engineers to come to our classes for guest sessions each quarter or semester. They give talks to students about the topics and subjects they're working on and discuss what's happening in the market. This way, students gain knowledge, make contacts, and build relationships with these companies, which brings more opportunities not only for us but also for our students.
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