Meet Micah Gifford, MTM Class of 2024

Micah graduated from Southern New Hampshire University in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He joined the U.S. Army back in 2014 and has worked in Operations Management, Intelligence Analysis, and Language Translation. After graduating, he is looking forward to working in a project management role at a technology company. 

Q: Why did you want to do the MTM graduate program? 

A: I wanted to do MTM because I felt like my background had been a little more tech related, and I'd been studying for a Net Plus certificate and I was thinking of doing IT security, but I wasn’t totally emotionally invested in that. I knew I wanted to work with people. I felt like the best way to combine my existing skills with my desired career was by finding some way to apply tech to business. Through MTM I wanted to build on my hard skills and transition into a more active and engaging career. 

Q: What’s been your favorite moment of the year so far within the program?

A: I think it would be an accumulation of getting to know all the professors and getting to hear about their careers and how they got to this point. Specifically, we have a professor named Dr. Tripsas, who I thought was really interesting and engaging. She has a really cool professional background. She did some consulting, which is something I’ve always thought about pursuing, so I really enjoyed hearing about why she liked and didn’t like this career. It’s helped me figure out what I want career-wise and was a lecture discussion that I really took to heart and got me thinking about what I really want to do.

Learn more about Prof. Tripsas here!

Q: What’s been your favorite course so far? 

A: I learned the most in the data science course; it was all new knowledge and made me feel like I was learning something new every day, which was challenging. Coming out of it, it made me feel as though I had all these new skills. In terms of enjoyment in the course, maybe project management. It was cool because it was the first time I had used/been encouraged to use Chat GPT and GitHub for academics or larger projects; it was fun to play around with this software. I liked my teammates in this class, too.

Read more about this genAI project coursework on Prof. Beane’s blog here! 

Q: What are your favorite things about going to grad school in Santa Barbara? 

A: I’ve lived in California before but it was always in a military setting. I guess this is my first time living in California with this much free time (a normal amount of free time), so it’s been nice to do some more exploring and seeing the coast. I drive up to visit Santa Cruz once a month, for example. I think getting to become really familiar with the geography of the state has been one of my favorite parts. One of my more recent favorites has been taking some of my international student classmates to hikes around the area, which I was happy they all enjoyed.

Read more about beautiful Santa Barbara hikes here!

Q: What type of career are you thinking of pursuing? 

A: I’m looking to take my technical skills and use them in a more people-based career. Now that I’m learning more about the career paths that correlate with this program, I’m realizing more and more that careers I at first wouldn’t have been interested in seem more like things I could do and enjoy. I definitely want something where I’m doing something new often, so I’d maybe gravitate toward being a project manager; it seems like a job that is always active and where you learn something new every day because you’re constantly working with new people. 

Q: Do you have any advice for prospective MTM students?

A: My advice is to look at current market trends and plot your career from there! I think the growing prevalence of Gen AI is going to shake up the job market in some profound ways, which is part of why I chose MTM over a traditional MBA. I think having a baseline understanding of technology’s growing role in everyday business operations is going to be paramount for success in the coming years.

Q: What are you doing in your field project?

A: I’m currently working with a company called Teledyne FLIR. They design and manufacture thermal imaging cameras and sensors. My team and I are working on helping FLIR refine some of their business processes and just finished our mid-point presentation! I’ve really enjoyed the experience so far and have gotten to learn a lot about practical project management skills and improving communication across different departments. 

Q: What’s your favorite new technology?

A: After listening to an amazing presentation by one of my peers, I’ve been really interested in sustainable and efficient developments in energy storage. Previously, I had no idea how inefficient and wasteful batteries and even grid energy storage systems could be. The Department of Energy recently announced some advancements in a liquid iron-based battery system that seems to be very efficient at storing energy long-term and large-scale. Learn more here!

Connect with Micah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/micah-s-gifford/

Learn more about the MTM Graduate Program: tmp.ucsb.edu/mtm or contact us at Click here to show mail address.