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- Executive Director's Office
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- 2023
- 2022
- Cultivating a community of care at SFU Surrey and beyond
- Celebrating 20 years of SFU in Surrey
- Bringing ArtsLIVE to SFU Surrey
- Sustainability in the heart of Surrey's city centre
- It’s all about CO-OPeration: My experience with SFU Co-op
- Renewing our commitment to reconciliation and decolonization
- Reconnect and recharge this summer
- Community on Campus: SFU Surrey's 20th Anniversary Recap
- 2021
- Supporting one another and raising awareness on sexual assault
- Why Bell Let's Talk Day matters to me
- International Women's Day: Celebrating the Strong Women in My Life
- The Glass Half Full: The Challenges of 2020 & The Promise of 2021
- Moving forward: Next steps for anti-racism dialogues at SFU Surrey
- Honouring the 215 lives lost
- Walking together towards inclusion
- Summer message from Steve Dooley
- Welcome back to campus!
- Honouring the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
- Introducing The Journey Here: a new podcast from SFU Surrey
- Holiday greetings, a look back on 2021 and hope for 2022
- 2020
- Let's talk about mental health and well-being
- Lift Each Other Up on Pink Shirt Day
- 2020 Homeless Count in Surrey
- Surrey campus vibe is alive-and-strong during COVID-19
- It’s Long Overdue - Moving The Dial on Racism & Discrimination
- Thank You President Petter for 10 Amazing Years
- Welcoming Joy Johnson, SFU's 10th President
- Get to know Steve Dooley, Executive Director of SFU's Surrey Campus
- In case you missed it: Fall 2020 Campus-wide meeting
- The fight against COVID-19: Surrey researchers at their best!
- Season's greetings from Steve Dooley
- 2019
- Community Perspectives on Living with HIV and where we go From Here
- Celebrating International Women’s Day at SFU’s Surrey Campus
- OppFest at the Surrey campus
- New campus building expands SFU Surrey campus
- Pink Shirt Day
- Power of Partnerships: Surrey Schools
- Welcome to Fall 2019
- SFU Surrey and Orange Shirt Day
- World Mental Health Week
- Health-related research and innovation is thriving in Surrey
- SFU Surrey students changing the world in 2019
- Podcast: The Journey Here
- Season 1
- Ep. 1 | Joy Johnson: Leading with Compassion and Care
- Ep. 2 | Kue K'nyawmupoe: Connecting and Serving Communities
- Ep. 3 | Doug Tennant: Empowering Leaders with Diverse Abilities
- Ep. 4 | Kathleen Burke: Igniting Community Leaders
- Ep. 5 | Rochelle Prasad: Sparking the Leaders of Tomorrow
- Ep. 6 | Bailey Mumford: An Advocate for Housing and Belonging
- Ep. 7 | Matt Hern: Supporting Community Development through Worker Co-operatives
- Ep. 8 | Joanne Curry: Engaging Our Campus and Community
- Ep. 9 | Michael Heeney: Building Surrey's City Centre
- Season 1
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Alumni Feature: Meet Matt Karakilic
SFU Degree(s): Bachelor of Science - Major in Interactive Arts and Technology, 2011
My name is Matt and I am originally from Turkey. I started my studies at SFU in 2005 and graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Interactive Arts and Technology. I am currently in charge of the governance and execution of User Experience (UX) initiatives in the R&D organization at Hitachi Energy. In this role I’m fortunate to work with an exceptional international UX team, including members across Asia and Europe. As a result, I have the additional benefit of learning insights from this team well beyond my local culture and life experience. One of the teams I inherited and currently grow is based in India. Thanks to my co-op experience at SFU, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to live in India for almost a year. From this experience, there was really no culture shock when I had the privilege to supervise this phenomenal team.
I must give thanks to my co-op advisor at the time—who is also now my good friend—Nav Chima. Nav has changed my life beyond my wildest imagination. In fact, since that experience, there’s been a yearning goal within me to one day return the favour back to SFU, by way of providing internship opportunities to its students! Thanks to my current position, and the size of the company, my long-term goal is finally realized.
I love helping others, and I breathe UX. You can always find me in UXPA conferences where I work with volunteers to give back to our UX community. If you are reading this feel free to reach out to me via Linkedin or book a mentoring session with me via ADPList, and be assured, I'll do my best to help you. And as always, YOU got this!
What advice do you have for SFU students going through their degree?
Do not miss internship opportunities. Whether it is required or not, have an internship. Delay your studies if needed but at least attend one term of internship to gain work experience, learn different cultures, and many more things internship will offer to you in your journey.
Connect with Matt on LinkedIn.
Our alumni go on to engage their community in a variety of ways. Read more alumni stories here.