From asylum seeker to senior quality assurance software engineer

In 2015 Bilal arrived in Austria seeking refuge from the war in Syria. Two years later he earned his MCiT Master’s degree while volunteering for the Austrian Red Cross, landed a job with Barracuda Networks and learned German. Now he is already onto his next academic challenge.

What is your current job position and for which company do you work?

I am a senior quality assurance software engineer at Barracuda Networks here in Innsbruck for already three years now. Also, I have just finished my first semester as a PhD student in business informatics at the University of Innsbruck.

What influence did your Management, Communication and IT Master’s Degree program have on your professional career?

My MCiT Master’s Degree has played a vital role in selecting the company I want to work for. Being a proud member of the MCI family has provided me with many great chances. Furthermore, the sound IT and management knowledge, provided within this study program, has fostered my skills in navigating within a highly technologically-sophisticated and international environment such as Barracuda Networks.

Before coming to the MCI you did your Bachelor’s and another Master’s degree at the Syrian Virtual University. What are the main differences in terms of studying between these two educational institutions?
Both are great institutions. The cutting-edge teaching methods and tools used by Syrian Virtual University are great and MCI adds an international flavor on top of that. Technology is rapidly transforming the world into a small village, a vision which is well recognized and acted upon by MCI. Furthermore, the mix between traditional and virtual teaching techniques in MCI granted me the flexibility to foster my success in this era. MCI supports the students in many different ways. Even after graduating and finding the own success path, MCI keeps connecting with its alumni and provides them with great ideas through ongoing events. This is, in my humble opinion, another great difference to other educational institutions.

What do the two countries have in common in terms of valuing education?

From my own experience, both countries value and promote the role of scientific knowledge in serving human and humanity in all possible ways. They keep encouraging their students to make bold moves to change the paradigm and innovate within the established scientific and ethical frameworks. I am convinced that both countries acknowledge education as the paved human road to teach moral standards that create more civil and democratic communities.

Why did you decide to do another Master’s program in Austria at MCI?

I have developed a strong vision about IT and business and how it is changing our world into a better place. The Management, Communication and IT Master’s program combines both elements. The scientific content of the program includes a lot of tempting courses that I have always wanted to learn about. Also, MCI’s great reputation as well as its international environment made this decision very easy for me.

You have been doing volunteer work for the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and for the Austrian Red Cross for many years. What do you consider the biggest benefits of volunteering?

Next to being an MCiT student, I ran two projects at the Austrian Red Cross here in Tirol. I helped more than 500 refugees with the integration into Austrian society. Also, I volunteered in family care projects and helped with translations.

Volunteering was and still is the only thing that makes me feel happy. Helping less fortunate people has always been a way to deeply feel my existence as a human being. I believe it is something that everybody should do. I’m still volunteering in different ways right now but not with Red Cross or Red Crescent anymore.

Thanks a lot for these exciting insights, Bilal!