Nicole Simone - Senior Software Developer, Shopify

I have always been passionate about music, but I also love math, science, and technology. Day-to-day I work as a software developer, while also remaining very active in the local music community as a pianist, including with the University Choir at Grebel and with various theatre companies. I love being able to continue exploring multiple areas I’m passionate about.

Combining music with my engineering studies while at Waterloo led to many amazing opportunities. I was able to combine both areas in my fourthyear engineering project, where my group used image processing to detect the movements of a conductor’s baton, and we brought the project in to test in the conducting class I was taking at the time at Grebel. While on a co-op term in New York working as a software developer intern, I was also able to take several classes at Juilliard toward my music major. I even met my husband in the engineering jazz band while at school!

Seeing so many students in my music classes while at Grebel who had other majors outside of music helped inspire me to know that it’s possible to continue pursuing multiple fields, and that you don’t need to choose just one.

By Jen Konkle