SPDP Graduate Spotlight: Campus Experience Launches Tech Career
The countdown to spring graduation is on! With just two weeks to go, Information and Educational Technology (IET) continues its spotlight of standout seniors in the Student Professional Development Program (SPDP). The program provides student employees with opportunities to innovate and succeed by building real-word products and services used by the campus.
Last week, we featured Alp Guler, a computer science major who has played a big role in building applications that serve the campus community during his time with SPDP. This week, we want to introduce you to Lingfeng (Ling) Ren, whose curiosity of backend systems and desire to support the campus community drew him to IET.
“There's so much that goes on behind the scenes to make even the simplest thing happen and I just think it's really cool,” admitted Ren. “I wanted to contribute to real systems that are used by real people across the university.”
Ren got to do that and so much more once he joined the SPDP in 2023. Over the next year and a half, he worked alongside IET staff on software projects and even helped solve complex IT problems. His real-world experience in SPDP has paid off big time.
“I’ve received a few offers for jobs related directly to the work I did managing server infrastructure, cloud hosting, and other IT operations,” Ren explained. “I ended up accepting an internship at one of the big tech companies, Oracle, in Seattle. I spent a lot of time using their software while working with the SPDP team.”
Ren said being exposed to new levels of complexity that he didn’t receive in the classroom setting or in clubs gave him the skills to land a position in the highly competitive tech field but he also credits the SPDP team’s leadership style for his and his peers’ success.
“They understood that students are doing full-time coursework, assignments, and exams on top of their SPDP work,” recalled Ren. “I really appreciated how flexible the team was with me and the other students.”
Learn more about the Student Professional Development Program: https://studentpowered.ucdavis.edu/
Browse job openings in in Information and Educational Technology and across campus: https://ucdavis.joinhandshake.com/login (UC Davis login required)