AUA Students Recognized by Silicon Mountains Tech Summit, Part 2

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YEREVAN, Armenia — On October 17, the Union of Employers of Information and Communication Technologies held its fifth annual Silicon Mountains Tech Summit, a leading platform for global discussions on technology and innovation that provides the fitting space for networking, learning, and sharing visions of digital transformation and smart solutions. The summit also featured an award ceremony, during which four AUA students received the “Best Student in the Field of IT” award: Hrach Yeghiazaryan (BSCS ’24), Gayane Ghazaryan (BSCS ’24), Petros Mkheyan (MSCIS ’24), and Levon Keshishoghlyan (MSCIS ’24). This week, we asked Hrach and Levon to recount their journeys to this prestigious recognition.

Hrach Yeghiazaryan (BSCS ’24)

In 2020, I was admitted to the Bachelor of Science in Data Science program at AUA. Throughout these three years, I have made so many connections and had new opportunities that have helped me become a better specialist. All of my professional achievements occurred while studying at AUA, and I am grateful to our University for fostering an environment in which I have been able to grow both as a professional and a person.

My interest in the IT field began in my high school years. At that time, I tried to write some programs, but quickly realized that I would need a more solid foundation in mathematics to become a good specialist in IT. Therefore, I started studying mathematics and was captivated by it. In my final year of high school, I was determined to go for a medal in the International Mathematics Competition (IMC). I contacted the coach of the Armenian national team indicating my interest, and he sent me practice materials to prepare for the competition. Finally, in the summer of 2021, when I had just completed my first year at AUA, I clinched a silver medal at the IMC. It was at that time that I decided to delve deeper into the field of IT, because I was confident that I had a sufficient mathematical foundation to specialize in it; at the same time, I had received many job offers from different companies and opted to work as a machine learning researcher at Intent.ai. 

I chose machine learning because it has a significant mathematical component and is a rapidly developing field — not to mention that I liked it so much when I started working in the field. Parallel to working as a machine learning researcher, I became interested in a branch of mathematics called graph theory, which is about the study of graphs, mathematical structures to model pairwise relations between objects. I contacted a prominent mathematician in that field, and since then, he has supervised my studies in graph theory. Later, I learned that there is a branch of machine learning called machine learning on graphs, which combines the two fields that piqued my curiosity. I started specializing in machine learning on graphs and began integrating the algorithms from that sphere into my work and got good results. Now, I already have two years of experience in this field and I continue to work with the same passion with which I started.

I am thrilled to receive the “Best Student in the field of IT” award, as it is a sign that my work is getting noticed, which is very encouraging. This award will be extremely helpful for me in the future, as it is an impressive addition to my CV. I am eager to see what comes next.

Levon Keshishoghlyan (MSCIS ’24)

I have always been interested in STEM. Ever since my school years, I have been fascinated by physics, chemistry, and informatics. I knew that whatever I did in the future would be connected to something technical. However, the path to getting here was not straightforward. During the last years of high school, I became fascinated by economics and decided to continue my studies in that field. That’s why I applied to the Bachelor of Arts in Business program at AUA. Just like that, my journey at AUA began in 2015.

From 2015 to 2021, I stayed in the business department, with a two-year break in between for military service. I chose economics as my track, and during my last year of studies, took a course in econometrics, which inspired me to look more closely into the field of data science. On top of that, some of my friends were already working as data scientists, and the discussions I had with them further sparked my interest. In the end, I went into programming. It was no cakewalk, as I had to learn it from scratch. I started on my own, then took a course at the Armenian Code Academy, and finally decided to continue my master’s at AUA, but this time in Computer and Information Sciences. This was one of the best decisions of my life, as I gained so much theoretical background that would have been unobtainable through other means. During my studies, I also applied for and successfully started to work as a data scientist at Project Management Institute. It was a truly wonderful engagement, in which AUA played one of the biggest roles.

The letter informing me that I could apply for nomination to the “Best Student in the field of IT” award was both shocking and exhilarating, as it truly proved that my successes were recognized. After several months, I received a much-anticipated call telling me that I was selected for the “Best Master’s Student in the field of IT” award. This was one of the happiest days of my life. I want to express my sincere gratitude to my friends, instructors, and family who helped me throughout this journey and cultivated in me an interest in the new and unfamiliar. Without their help, none of this would have been possible, and I hope and know that this is not my final achievement, but only the beginning of a much greater adventure in my life.

As a final note, I would like to cite the very first book of programming that I read, as it truly captures how I feel about IT. In his book Learn Python the Hard Way, Zed Shaw says: “Programming as an intellectual activity is the only art form that allows you to create interactive art. You can create projects that other people can play with, and you can talk to them indirectly. No other art form is quite this interactive. Movies flow to the audience in one direction. Paintings do not move. Code goes both ways.” I hope that one day, everyone in the world will understand the art and beauty of programming.

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values.