Capitol Tech is proud to have some of the nation’s most accomplished alumni. Whether they go on to work at a large corporation, enter academia, or start a business of their own, all of our graduates are valuable, permanent assets to the Capitol Community. Liam Williams is no exception, and his dedication to Capitol is particularly notable. Liam graduated with his Bachelor’s in 2022, his Master’s in 2023, and is now pursuing his PhD. But that’s not all––Liam is now known around campus as Professor Williams, as he returned to Capitol in 2022 to teach the next generation of technology leaders. We learn more about Liam’s accomplishments so far in this exclusive interview, also published in our bi-annual publication The Capitol Chronicle.
1. When did you graduate and what was your major at Capitol?
I received my Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering Technology in April of 2022, and Master of Science in Engineering Technology in August of 2023
2. What have you been doing since graduation?
I have been working as a Digital Systems Engineer for Clarity Cyber, specializing in secure systems design and evaluation, as well as teaching as an Adjunct Professor for Capitol Technology University, specializing in Engineering Technologies.
3. How did you decide to return to Capitol to teach? What made you want to?
Dr. Conner, Chair of the engineering department, asked if I'd be interested in coming back and teaching courses that I did extremely well in now that I was using those skills in the industry. I believed that I knew ways to make a positive outsized impact on the student learning experience, so I wanted to make a difference to the current students.
4. What courses do you currently teach? Do you hope/plan to take on any additional ones in the future?
EL-204 –– Digital Electronics, and EL-262 –– Microprocessors and Microassembly. I intend on doing the same as well as EE-362 –– Microcontroller System Design, next semester, and in the past I've taught EE-354 –– Digital Design II, and EE-309 –– Circuit Design and Simulation.
5. What has been the biggest adjustment for you in the move from attending Capitol as a student to teaching others as a faculty member?
Getting to know and regularly work with many of the Capitol staff that previously I had never interacted with. Now I interact with many of them almost weekly, either as part of regular faculty duties or initiatives to improve the student experience.
6. Do you work any other jobs in addition to teaching? Can you discuss your roles if so?
I am still presently working as a Digital Systems Engineer at Clarity Cyber, where I am currently developing libraries and applications intended to be used to validate that network security standards are being met.
7. What is the best part of teaching for you? And what is the most challenging?
The best part is getting to see students learn and grow as they succeed in their coursework.The most challenging, for me, is when a student starts to fall behind due to not being able to put in the requisite effort, either due to stress or other external factors.
8. Do you plan to pursue teaching in the long run?
I plan to teach at least for as long as I can make an impact on the quality of student education and their learning experience, which I hope to be as long as the rest of my career.
9. What are some of your career goals for the future?
My major short-term career goal is to finish my PhD in Technology, which I started at Capitol in September of 2023. In the long-term, I'd like to become a leader in the industry whether it be as a full-time faculty at Capitol or in a leadership role at a company.
10. What is the most important thing you have learned at Capitol, either while you were a student or now that you are a professor?
The most important thing I learned at Capitol is that, generally, everyone has at least some small contribution they can make, and people tend to be more willing and able to help than you may realize.
11. How do you like to stay up-to-date on the most current methods and trends of the tech industry?
Most of how I stay up-to-date is by attending industry conferences, keeping up with tech-focused news (Slashdot is a great aggregator for finding new sources of tech-related information), and in general keeping in contact with a number of people in a wide variety of fields.