For Taylor Wong ’19 (CS), blending a career in cybersecurity with a passion for music isn’t a contradiction — it’s a calling. Now a senior product manager at Microsoft, working on the Customer Experience Engineering Team for Microsoft Threat Protection, Wong lives in Vancouver, Washington, and spends her days navigating complex technical landscapes. But when the workday ends, she steps into a different spotlight: one filled with microphones, melodies and meaning.

When Anthony Shao ’18 first considered his career path, health care was not at the top of his list. As a double-major electrical engineering and finance student, he spent a summer interning with a defense contractor, grateful for the opportunity but struck by a roommate’s blunt question: “Do you realize you’re working in an industry built to harm people?”

In 2013, Dr. Ricardo Valerdi ’00, a proud electrical engineering alumnus of the University of San Diego (USD), had a radical idea: what if we used the universal language of sports to teach kids math?

San Diego Magazine recently released its “50 People to Watch in San Diego, 2026” issue, featuring people from across the county who are working on projects and changes that will support the region for years to come. 

As an industry-partnered senior design project, the BD Infusion Pump team is working with medical device company Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) to tackle a real-world engineering problem with the potential to impact millions of patients. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the team is developing a machine learning model to predict degradation in Alaris infusion pumps through inrush current analysis.

The University of San Diego (USD) often attracts students from diverse backgrounds, but few arrive with the unique blend of seasoned military experience and academic ambition as senior Cameron (Cam) Colucci ‘25 (ME and Physics), whose journey through the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering has been marked by a clear vision for the future.