After moving to Seattle, Washington to work as a Software Engineer for Amazon Web Services, Vansh Khanna, HKN Alumni from the Alpha Chapter of University of Illinois, and a few other HKN members started meeting to form an alumni group in the Seattle area.
“Our goal was to connect students at local universities with people in the city, because we felt there was some sort of disconnect given the proximity of the campus and the city,” Vansh says.
To do this, they created workshops for Seattle University and University of Washington students to be able to network and have any questions answered by HKN alumni working at companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.
It also served as a means to bring the alumni together and create a shared experience. “The alumni in the area are excited about the opportunity to connect with other alumni and give back to the community,” says Vansh: “It creates value, and at the same time it brings you closer with other people, because you have a common goal you’re working towards.”
Vansh is grateful for all the opportunities and connections he has built through IEEE-HKN and the alumni network. Whether it was transitioning into the U.S. culture as an international student, switching from electrical to computer engineering, or starting the Seattle Alumni Group, Vansh speaks of IEEE-HKN as being a community to fall back on during challenges, while being empowered to grow stronger. He says: “Every time I want to make a major change or try to do something different, HKN has helped me time and time again.”
