The Human Side of Technology
Staff Program Manager for Design, Visa
Sydney Hardwick (ITM ’15) has found a way to merger her soft skills with the technical instincts she’s honed her entire life in her role at Visa, where she empowers designers, researchers, and engineers to create global, future-focused products and services.
Sydney Hardwick (ITM ’15)“I don’t know why I want to act like I have an aversion to nerds, when I’m a nerd myself,” laughs Sydney Hardwick (ITM ’15), speaking not only of her time growing up on Chicago’s South Side, but also of her evolution as a student and her start in a career that appears to perfectly integrate her soft skills with the technical instincts she’s honed all her life.
Working as a staff program manager for design at Visa, Hardwick now empowers multidisciplinary teams of designers, researchers, and engineers to create global, future-focused products and services for the company. She was also recently honored by the Greater Austin (Texas) Black Chamber of Commerce as its 2022 Emerging Business Leader of the Year.
“Problems don’t scare me, they excite me. I can wrap my arms around them,” Hardwick says. “I love to uncover who the players are, what the landscape is, and where those problems might scare people.”
This story was featured in the fall 2023 issue of Illinois Tech Magazine. You can read the full story on the Illinois Tech Magazine website.