The COGS Program hosted an alumni discussion panel in 2005, and a career discussion panel in 2008 -- which also involved two alumni. Both events were designed to connect students with COGS alumni and cognitive science-related industry professionals. Students learned where a BA in Cognitive Science can take them -- in the workplace or graduate school.
Students in cognitive science and related fields were able to ask questions of our panelists, and get a variety of responses from different perspectives. Both events were recorded, and the Cognitive Science Program has made video highlights and transcribed quotes of our panelists' invaluable advice here on our website.
Steve McKoen, left, explains why he calls the Cognitive Science BA a "chameleon's degree".
Are you a prospective high school or university transfer student? A current SFU student looking to declare a major? A COGS major or minor looking to plan your degree? You will be interested in the the COGS Undergraduate Experience for advice from our six panelists.
What happens next? If you're graduating soon, or if you want to know what you can get for your COGS degree, go Beyond the BA for career advice from our experienced panelists.
BACKGROUND ON OUR PANELISTS
When our panelists joined us in 2005...
Steve McKoen was a member of the Securities and Capital Markets team with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, a national law firm. He attended UVic Law after graduating from the Cognitive Science Program in 1994, and practiced law at Shearman and Sterling LLP in New York for a number of years before moving back to Vancouver.
Damion Dooley was working at Learning Point, his own consultancy. He co-founded the web development firm Communicopia, which focused on small and large projects for environmental and social organizations. He graduated from the Cognitive Science Program in 1993.
Clayton Hickey completed his honours in Cognitive Science in 2004. He joined our panel as a masters student studying Psychology at SFU, conducting neuroimaging research on attention and performance. He was about to start his doctoral at Vrije University in Amsterdam, where he was to be funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.
When our panelists joined us in 2008...
Wolfgang Hamann, CEO and President of the Vancouver-based video game development company Koolhaus Games, joined us to share his experience with artificial intelligence and usability applied.
Ken MacAllister had recently graduated from the SFU Congitive Science Program in 2007, and was working towards a Masters degree in Educational Technology and Learning Design from the School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT) at SFU. At the time, Ken was a training and development manager at Bycast, a Vancouver-based server software company.
Kimberly Voll received her honours in Cognitive Science in 2001, and a PhD in Computing Science in 2006. A lecturer at UBC when she joined us, she planned to continue researching knowledge representation in computers.