Northeastern University in Silicon Valley

Happy Thanksgiving! Our campus celebrated Friendsgiving last week and had a beautiful evening sharing our traditions from multiple cultures and appreciating our community.

On this day of gratitude, thank you:

🍁 To our faculty, for putting your creativity and wisdom into your work each semester;
🍁 To our staff, for your dedication and commitment to creating an excellent educational environment ;
🍁 To our professional networks, for sharing your experience and opening doors for the next generation;
🍁 And most importantly, to our students, who create a community of support and shared ambitions.

This morning we brought together an incredible panel discussion featuring California State Senator Dave Cortese, our District 15 representative. The topic of the day was the incredible change to the workforce being felt in our region with the rapid development of artificial intelligence.

We brought together experts from different industries to share their perspectives from the front lines. Senator Cortese was joined by Mehrdad Aliasgari, Dean of the College of Information, Data & Society at San Jose State University; Dawn Carter, Strategic Global Talent Acquisition Leader; and Mary C. Murphy, Founder and CEO, Equity Accelerator and the author of the book Cultures of Growth. Moderating was Regional Dean of Northeastern in Silicon Valley Caroline Simard.

The conversation was wide ranging, touching on the ways that nearly every industry and regulatory body will need to adapt at a faster pace than ever before, but also on a shared consensus that a responsible path is possible. A point of return was the need for continuous engagement and education: of our policymakers, our educators, our business leaders, and for the public at large. We’re excited to share more takeaways in the coming days.

Thank you to our panel and to our guests in the audience for a fascinating and thought-provoking start to the day. Our heartfelt appreciation also to Senator Cortese and the other panelists for staying to keep the conversation going with our students.

Considering grad school? You're invited to join us on campus next week to learn more about our programs and resources for students.

At the Silicon Valley campus, our specialized program portfolio offers customizable tracks of study for people building professional lives in and around the Bay Area tech ecosystem.

➡️ MS in Artificial Intelligence, MS in Computer Science, MS in Data Science, and MS in Information Systems give experienced technologists the opportunity to deepen existing skillsets or add new specializations.

➡️ MS in Computer Science Align, MS in Data Science Align, MS in Information Systems Bridge, and MPS in Analytics offer pathways into technical careers for students with backgrounds in other areas or disciplines.

➡️ MS in Project Management and Graduate Certificate in AI Applications educate professionals for specialized work in technical industries and business settings.

Scholarships are available for both spring and fall term 2026, and all incoming students will be evaluated for eligibility.

Come join us on Friday, October 24! The Open House is free and open to the public, but registration is required: https://connect.northeastern.edu/portal/sv_open_house

Hiring? Sign up to connect with our pool of talented students at our virtual career fair, October 29.

You'll be able to meet with pre-screened STEM and business graduate students from the Bay Area and Seattle who are actively seeking internships and full-time positions. Many of our students have several years of competitive experience in the professional world, and all are learning the most current methods and practices in their fields in their master's programs. Areas of study include artificial intelligence, data science, computer science, economics, project management, and more.

Also attending will be first year undergraduate students, who are ideal candidates for entry level internships and growth positions.

In a noisy hiring market, this event is structured to allow companies direct engagement with a large pool of qualified candidates, and students a point of contact to trusted hiring partners.

Read more and get in touch: https://bit.ly/436UVMF

What's the secret sauce that can take your grad school experience from good to great? 📈

Meaningful connections with your cohort! Which is why we were thrilled to see a big turnout this week for Speed Friending, a light-hearted event that helps break the ice and build rapport.

Organizer and student ambassador Aarya Rajgor MC'd a series of games that kept the mood buoyant and easy.

One of the things students prize about our campus is the friendly culture. In a smaller academic environment, building relationships can happen naturally, as long as you're willing to put yourself out there a little bit. It's great to see our fall 2025 student group jumping in with both feet.

🚨 Calling out to our Northeastern University network in the Bay Area 🚨

Give a hand to the next generation of Huskies as a job shadow host! 🐾 In this new program, we're matching graduate students from our campus with alumni in related fields.

For our students, these job shadow experiences:

➡️ Give real-life insight into responsibilities and roles in their target field

➡️ Introduce Silicon Valley professional culture

➡️ Spark inspiration and offer new connections

That one friendly experience can take away some of the uncertainties that come with entering the workforce for the first time, pivoting to a new field, or even learning how different professional norms are in a new city or country.

This is a one-day commitment in November, flexible to your schedule.

Sign up here to receive more information: https://bit.ly/4nceJ9u

Huskies showed up to cheer on our playoff-bound Golden State Valkyries in their inaugural season! 🏀 The Minnesota Lynx took the game this time, but it was a very close match. Go Valkyries!!

With the new semester, we'd also like to introduce our new campus Student Ambassadors! The team, left to right: Nazarii Malakhivskyi, Atharva Dhumal, Aisha Abdur Rahim, Aarya Rajgor, YI Zhang, and Shantanu Ghaisas.

Reporting in to the department of student services, our ambassadors put in a lot of work all year to help shape the culture of Northeastern in Silicon Valley by organizing events, supporting on-campus activities, and helping to connect their fellow students to university resources.

Welcome to the new team!