From discovering his passion for software engineering, to playing onstage with his SoundFoundry band at Starry Nite - School of Information Systems alumnus Geoffrey Goh (BSc(ISM) 2015) enjoyed his SMU undergraduate days to the fullest. Upon graduation, Geoffrey went on to pursue a Master of Computer Science at Cornell University to further his knowledge in coding. Now based in Seattle as a Software Engineer for Facebook, Geoffrey still recalls his SMU days with fondness, inspiring him to give back to the Alumni Community Fund. We catch up with Geoffrey as he shares more about his memories of SMU and his hopes for future batches of graduates.
Hi Geoffrey! You graduated from SIS in 2015. What was your fondest memory of your SMU days?
I have a couple of fond memories! Working on IS203 Software Engineering (SE) was one of my toughest but most memorable experiences. It was a class that emphasised heavily on teamwork and pair programming. My teammates and I had ambitious goals for the project from the beginning, but we had to make sure that in an effort to get all the work done, we did not rely on one person to carry the team, but to make sure everyone contributed to it equally. Our instructor would spontaneously pick any one person in the team to walk him through the code, and in that way made sure everyone knew what the software was doing. I learnt a lot about working as a team and technical leadership during that class.
I also fondly remember the three Starry Night performances I got to be a part of as a keyboardist in SMU SoundFoundry. There was a lot of drinking and loud music, but being on stage with my band mates and seeing young people celebrate the end of the semester with their friends always made me feel a sense of warmth and collegiality, that we were all together in this youthful experience of working hard, chasing our dreams, and playing hard when the time comes for us to do so.
Clockwise from left: Geoffrey's band, Moon Party, featured in Starry Nite's promotional poster; Solo shot of Geoffrey as the keyboardist; Photo of Moon Party in action at Starry Nite XV (Geoffrey in the far right)
Another interesting memory I recall was joining the annual “Drunken Coding” competition organised by the SIS student committee. I got into the finals but eventually lost to my opponent Yi Sheng. Trying to solve the coding puzzle, while having to drink beer every few minutes and having the Muttons DJs be our live commentators for the competition, was truly a fun story to tell!
Left: Poster for Drunken Coding featuring Lim Yi Sheng and Geoffrey; Right: Yi Sheng and Geoffrey (seated on the right) in action during Drunken Coding, flanked by radio deejays, The Muttons, who were the emcees for the event.
Tell us about your journey after graduation!
After graduating from SMU, I decided to pursue a Master’s in Computer Science, in the US (Cornell University). It was a very different experience from SMU - my time in SMU included a lot more project based learning, with a focus on practical creativity and technological entrepreneurship. In Cornell, I really had to go back to the books. It was rigorous in a very academic way. I had to brush up on my math and catch up on topics like linear algebra, operating systems, etc. However, I also had a lot of fun with classes like Robotics, where we wrote code to make a robot play soccer and compete with other teams, and Computer Vision, where we developed neural network models to classify images accurately.
After graduating from that programme, I was hired by Microsoft in Seattle to be a Software Engineer where I worked on developer tooling and cloud computing. I then joined Facebook after 3 years at Microsoft, working on conversational AI and machine learning for the past 1 year.
Geoffrey at his graduation from Cornell University, where he pursued his Master's in Computer Science.
How do you keep in touch with your batch mates after graduation?
Being based overseas has actually helped me to be more intentional about keeping in touch with my friends after graduation. Because I only get to go back to Singapore once or twice a year for a few weeks each time, I make it a point that my trips are filled with quality time that I spend meeting up with friends for a meal or for drinks.
Are you currently connected with the SMU alumni in the West Coast? If yes, how has the network helped or enriched your experience in USA?
I hang out pretty regularly with some of the younger Singaporean professionals who are living and working in Seattle. One of them is an SMU alumnus. Being with other Singaporeans, gathering together for our ‘makan’ sessions and cooking Singaporean dishes together has helped me in my first few years with homesickness. I was also recently invited to a meetup (organised by SMU alumnus and Adjunct Professor Ivan Chang (BBM 2014)) with some of the SMU scholars who were here in Seattle for a field trip. It was fun being able to share my experience to my juniors who were also considering a career stint overseas.
How do you think SMU has shaped you as a person?
SMU was where I discovered my talent and affinity for software engineering. SMU’s curriculum had that entrepreneurship bent where we students were encouraged to be creative and come up with our own projects and startup ideas for our Final Year Project and other classes. We were asked to think beyond the technology to the market needs and business problems we were trying to solve. It is no surprise that some of my peers went on to start very successful businesses.
However, I realised through working on all these projects that it was usually the technical challenges that got me excited - I had more fun thinking about how to make my algorithms and database queries handle the load of thousands of users, than about making sure my app or startup idea was well marketed. And it was working with people with different interests and skills, that I realised this about myself. I was the guy whom my teammates could depend on to write a lot of good quality code in a short amount of time and get things done. I also met awesome teachers like Prof Lee Yeow Leong who were willing to spend time outside of class to stretch my learning with additional resources, and also share his own industry experience with me. Working on all these projects in school and in my internship gave me the opportunities to discover my strengths and realise what I had to bring to the table in practical work settings. It was a combination of that and the encouragement from teachers who were really invested in developing and growing their students, that gave me the courage to take the leap of faith and pursue a career in engineering, and work in companies overseas that hire some of the most brilliant people.
Through SIS's curriculum, Geoffrey identified his strengths and interests in software engineering and tackling technical challenges.
What inspired you to give back to the Alumni Community Fund?
I benefited a lot from being a part of the SMU Scholars’ Programme when I was an undergraduate. I remember seeing an article somewhere recently about other alumni giving back to their alma mater, and I thought that I should contribute my part as well. I hope that my contribution will help SMU to provide opportunities to students that need financial assistance.
What do you hope to see in future generations of SMU juniors?
I am confident that SMU will continue to produce graduates that are confident and strong contributors to the workforce with their energy and ideas. However, I also hope to see more students pursue technical roles like me! Now that SIS also recently started a computer science program, I hope we can send a message that as SMU graduates not only can we be visionaries and bring good ideas to the table, we can also get down to the details, write code, and execute our ideas well too!
Do you have any words of advice for fellow alumni who wish to give back to their alma mater?
I grew up in a middle class family that valued frugality and saving money. I used to think that giving money is something only the rich and successful do since they give out of their overflowing wealth. But I realised that it is not about giving large sums of money, but thinking back to the fun times we spent in SMU, the opportunities we gained and the things we learnt - if our contribution can be the enabler for someone else to experience the same, it is truly money well spent.
Find out more about the SMU Alumni Community Fund and how you can contribute to making meaningful impact.
