New Career & Tech Talk Series Features Top Industry Professionals

Aimed at exposing students to potential career paths with their NYU Tandon degrees, the new Career & Tech Talk Series brings prominent industry professionals to speak on current trends and opportunities in their fields.

“You’d never think your refrigerator could be used to attack you, but with the Internet of Things, and with more and more systems and data out in the world, we need to work towards protecting our data. Everybody is concerned about cybersecurity. Not only corporations and individuals, but also governments and industry groups,” Mikhail Falkovich, the Director of Information Technology at Consolidated Edison (Con Edison) explained to students and faculty gathered at the inaugural Career & Tech Talk on September 27.

Falkovich covered a range of cybersecurity topics and challenges, detailing the necessary steps Con Edison takes to protect both customer and company data. He also emphasized the need for future generations of cybersecurity experts from schools like NYU Tandon.

Mikhail Falkovich (center), director of information technology at Con Edison, flanked by NYU Tandon alumni and Con Edison analysts Eric Levenstein and Rafael Oquendo

NYU Tandon alums and Con Edison cybersecurity and information analysts Rafael Oquendo (‘15) and Eric Levenstein (BS ‘06, MS ‘08, MBA ‘10) shared how their NYU Tandon education impacted their own careers and encouraged students to explore the path towards cybersecurity. Oquendo highlighted opportunities for recent graduates at Con Edison through the company’s Growth Opportunities for Leadership Development (GOLD) Program, which he described as one of the best decisions of his career. While Levenstein noted that he never attended the Cyber Security Awareness Week (CSAW), his computer engineering degree provided ample foundation for his career in cybersecurity. “If any of you want to get into cybersecurity, but didn’t specifically study it, your background from NYU Tandon could really help you achieve that goal, as long as you’re willing to keep learning more,” Levenstein assured the students.

Visit Con Edison Careers to learn more about Con Edison career and internship opportunities.

Camila Ryder
Graduate School of Arts and Science
Master of Arts in English Literature, Class of 2018