The Project Login Podcast

In this episode meet Lindsay Ouellette who works remotely for Links Web Design. Links Web Design is a leading web design agency based in Bangor, ME, that helps businesses and nonprofits create outstanding websites and online marketing campaigns. Lindsay joined the Links team in 2020. She is responsible for content writing, editing, and project management. She has had various experiences in marketi...

Learn about Hannah Walden's education and career path that led her to follow her passion to make cs education equitable. She and her team are responsible for writing the curriculum at Code.org.  Find out what Hannah's favorite place in Maine is and why she wants to inspire the next generation of coders and creators. We talk about the culture at Code.org and internship and job opportunities. Learn...

Meet Aiden Threadgoode! Aiden works remotely from Maine  as a Front-End Software Engineer.  He works at KeHE Distributors, LLC, which is an employee-owned company. He works on a number of teams and projects to deliver solutions.  A front-end software engineer has one general responsibility: to ensure that website visitors can easily interact with the page. They do this through the combination of d...

Ben Grooms works within the University of Maine System office Information Security office. He is an  Information Security Specialist. Ben also manages their internship program. He talks about the various CyberSecurity programs at each of Manie's seven campuses system-wide and the growing need for trained cybersecurity professionals. Listen to learn about his education & training pathways that led...

In this episode, Eastern Maine Community College's Kathy Crise is featured. Kathy is a full-time faculty member/instructor within the computer technology program. Learn about Kathy's non-traditional path into her role. Listen to her explain various life experiences such as a career in the military, being a K12 educator, and going back to pursue an IT degree using her expanded GI Bill benefits. Kat...

This week's guest on the podcast is David Reed. David works at MaineHealth as a Regional Supervisor in the IT Field Services Department.  Listen to learn about David's career pathway and the skills and experiences that led him to his current role. We also discover what the company culture is like at MaineHealth and learn what David's favorite place in Maine is. Network and connect with David  on L...

Frank Barton is an  IT Systems & InfoSec Administrator. He works at Husson University in Bangor, Maine. In his role within the Information Technology Department, he supports system users with a variety of solutions. He interacts with internal stakeholders and external vendors daily to solve problems, make decisions and help keep Husson University's systems up and running. In this episode, you will...

Meet Scott Valcourt, Associate Teaching Professor of Computer Science at The Roux Institute in Portland, ME. Scott shares his education and career paths that led him to Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University & The Roux Institute. In this episode, we learn about the CS Align program .  (Where a background in tech is not required !) He talks about his education and career pat...

In this episode, we chat with Daeghan Elkin. He is a software developer at Tyler Technologies. He provides software solutions to municipalities. (State and local governments) He works on the munis product. Which is a total ERP package for schools and local governments. He currently works on the payroll side of the munis product.  Daeghan was a computer engineering student at The University of Main...

Stacy Doore is the Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Colby College. Her research focuses on increasing information access through emerging assistive technologies, natural-language descriptions for non-visual interfaces, as well as computing ethics, and broadening participation for marginalized groups of students and faculty in computing fields. She has served as an inter...

In this episode, Project>Login program director Angela Oechslie interviews Barbara-Jean Archibald. Barbara is an Emergency Communications Specialist Systems Administrator for all of Maine's agencies using the Emergency Communications system. She monitors, maintains, and upgrades the system.  She is based in Houlton, Maine. Hear about the aspects of her important role and what her favorite place in...

In this episode, meet Todd Chamberlain, Director, IT Contract Services at Pro Search, Inc. Pro Search is a  Portland, ME based company that provides clients a full range of search, staffing, and contracting services, specializing in the functional areas of information technology , accounting and finance, sales and marketing, customer service, human resource and office support utilizing a consultat...

PATHS is Portland's Arts and Technology High School.  Nate Jalbert shares information about the cybersecurity program there and how they are leading the way as the first program for high school students to take courses. We chat about career and technical education, certifications, and opportunities for job shadows and informational interviews. We learn what Nate's favorite place in Maine is. More...

Project>Login's program director Angela Oechslie has a conversation with Shanna Utgard at Defendify. Defendify is a Portland-based all-in-one Cybersecurity company in Maine. Shanna has an unusual career pathway and unique story about how she got connected to work at Defendify as their Success Manager. We also learn what Shanna's favorite place in Maine is. Connect with Shanna on LinkedIn: https://...

In this episode, we meet Alicia Biggs, who works at Lewiston Public Schools as their computer science coordinator.  She helps direct the  full K-12 computer science pathway in the district. She works with administrators, teachers, partners, and community-based organizations. Alicia is the Vice President of the Maine Computer Science Teachers Associations and serves on a number of statewide compute...

Steve Johnson is a Senior Network Administrator at Technology Solutions of Maine.  In this episode, we learn how Steve got into IT. A veteran of the navy, Steve went to college  first for computer science and then switched to Information Technology (IT) and systems administration.  He has several industry certifications including CompTIA A+ and Network +. He is Apple certified, and more!  We chat...

Ever wonder what it looks like to work in technology within a school? Sarah Irish is the guest who shares what it is like to support teachers with technology in their classrooms. She works at Lewiston Middle School alongside educators and her IT dept. to make sure technology and tools work well for the classroom setting. The pandemic shifted the way she works to support teachers and students durin...

Joe Sanderson explains his career in development and software engineering and as a manager directing teams. We also learn that he is  in a unique position of switching careers and is pivoting to the non-profit sector. A student at USM, Joe is working with Project>Login and Educate Maine this semester on a variety of projects including examining goals and strategic priorities with an equity lens, p...

Lillie Lavado, founder of HardScrabble Solutions shares information about her technology education and career pathways that led her to start her own organization: HardScrabble Solutions.  Lillie is part of the UX & Web Design Team at HardScrabble, but she is also a communications professional for The University of Maine System. In this episode, Lillie also shares what her favorite place in Maine i...

Emma-Marie is the secondary digital learning & computer science specialist at the Maine Department of Education (MDOE). Her background is in online learning, instructional design, and technology integration. She is part of the team leading technology and computer science efforts at the MDOE. A special THANKS to Mr. Bailey's students at Mountain Valley High School for asking the questions! Learn mo...

Jennifer Fortier works in Quality Assurance at PTC - Kepware in Portland, Maine, and is a UMaine graduate. She has experience in automated quality assurance. She has been lucky to have spent her career so far in verifying the quality of many software products that PTC offers. Her focus is in writing automated tests in c# that verify the expected behavior of a product.  In this episode, Jennifer sh...

Project>Login director Angela Oechslie chats with Maine native Charis Loveland about her role at Amazon, how she got where she is today and what she likes best about her job. Charis talks about Amazon's company culture, affinity groups at Amazon, and mentoring. Charis is a graduate of Bonney Eagle, Bates College, and Northeastern University.  Links of interest: Amazon in the Community: Class chats...

Elissa Tracey is an IT Services Manager at Tilson and she shares her career path and the education and training she received along the way. Learn about Tilson and why it is one of the fastest-growing Network Deployment & Construction Technology firms in Maine and why it was named Business of the Year in 2018. A graduate of Bryant University (then College), Elissa has worked in technology in both t...

Meet Liz Riley, the COO, and Alex Swetz, a Managed Services Engineer at Logically. Logically is a Managed Services Provider based in Portland, Maine. Logically is a successful, rapidly growing IT outsourcing and consulting firm with operations across the United States. Founded in 1999, the organization has grown to 240 employees and received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Inc. 500...

In this episode, we meet Thomas Gagnon, Manager, Banking Core Technology at Bangor Savings Bank. Thomas shares his career path with listeners and explains the opportunities for students, like internships. He tells us his favorite place in Maine. Thomas also gives advice to young people looking to break into the IT and computing field. Learn about careers at Bangor Savings Bank by visiting their we...