AUA Alumnus Tigran Bunarjyan (BS CS ‘18) Reflects on his Educational Experience at AUA

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Tigran Bunarjyan (BS CS ‘18) started his internship program at VMware, a global leader in cloud infrastructure and digital workspace technology, in September 2018, a few months after his graduation from the American University of Armenia (AUA). He currently works on building need-based automation tools to set up and solve problems concerning the effective distribution of virtual resources in high-level cloud management processes.

Bunarjyan’s educational journey started at Ayb School, which in his words “not only offers high-quality education, but also shapes individuals with core values.” As Bunarjyan says, “I have learned there not to steer away from difficult problems, but to do my best and find creative, innovative and satisfactory solutions no matter the challenge.”

Upon graduation from high school, he was looking for a profession that would enable him to innovate and create something new, as well as to reach greater precision in what he does. He found computer science to be a field of uninterrupted search to create and devise to reach precise outcomes of success or failure. “After all, I was searching for a place where students would actually have the freedom to be students. AUA has been successful at integrating international and local academic cultures. At AUA I managed to learn what really matters in education. It is all about the quality of learning and, importantly, the network you connect to.”

As an AUA alumnus, Bunarjyan remarks that the large set of opportunities offered at AUA makes the University highly competitive in Armenia. The internal culture of AUA has motivated him to learn what he values most and take advantage of many potential opportunities to improve his knowledge and gain professional experience. AUA has connected him to a valuable academic network that has led to the realization of various interesting projects.

“The best experience I have had at AUA was the collaboration with Dr. Ashot Harutyunyan, Adjunct Lecturer in Statistics at AUA, Senior Data Scientist at VMware and the supervisor of my capstone project. We were working on experimental evaluation of optimal sampling rates of data center indicators subject to information loss criteria. The significance of the problem was that it addressed a real challenge to substantially reduce the data management and analytics overheads forced by high-frequency monitoring and real-time analysis/representation of data center processes. The experimental project ended with success, but most importantly I had the opportunity to develop a clear understanding of contemporary technical challenges of modern business in the industry that I was trying to break into,” says Bunarjyan.

Bunarjyan was so motivated with this collaboration that he continued working with Dr. Harutyunyan on two research projects for VMware Research and Development Innovation Offsite (RADIO) candidacy, which is an internal conference and has been one of VMware’s biggest innovation catalyzers in the past 16 years.

“Success in career is not something measurable. It is in the goals we personally set, the results we achieve and the level at which we are personally satisfied with the outcomes. After all, we can consider ourselves successful in our career if we are professionally and economically happy with what we do,” concludes Bunarjyan.

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.