Opportunity, Location, and Scholarship
Building Professional and Leadership Skills
Yslam Ismailov has found real-world experiences and leadership building through connections he has built on campus at Illinois Tech.
Yslam Ismailov (CS 3rd Year)Yslam Ismailov (CS 3rd Year) has found opportunities to apply his computer science classroom skills to real-world problems, a location that makes it easy to build a professional network, and scholarships to make higher education more affordable as an Illinois Tech student.
That includes an internship he completed in 2025 and research he conducted side by side with Illinois Tech faculty through the Pritzker Institute of Biomedical and Science Engineering’s RES-MATCH program. He also serves as a webmaster for Illinois Tech’s student chapters of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) and Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).
“I like working on the projects because it allows me to put my knowledge into practice, and it makes me feel more career-ready,” Yslam says. “All of these opportunities gave me hands-on experience that is being used in the real world. Having that on my resume proves that I can do something with my skills.”
Yslam says he has also found opportunities to build leadership skills during his time at Illinois Tech. As a new student orientation SOAR leader, he helps incoming students transition to college life and discover tech-related clubs on campus and learn about housing, computer science courses and professors, and off-campus opportunities for computer science students. Serving as a mentor lead with Illinois Tech’s Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) chapter, he also helps underclassmen navigate academic issues.
His associations with ACM and SHPE have made meaningful professional impact, as both chapters invite engineers from companies in Chicago to share their experiences. This has allowed Yslam to learn from them and build a professional network.
“The Chicago network helped me a lot,” he says. “I got my first internship through one of the networking events I attended in Chicago. Illinois Tech has a lot to offer to students, especially being in Chicago.”
Plus, his Transfer Leadership Scholarship has had a huge impact on affordability and allows Yslam to be able to attend Illinois Tech.
“Illinois Tech is not too big in size, which helps to build closer relationships with professors,” Yslam says. “The focus on experiential learning looks very appealing while applying to jobs. Looking for opportunities beyond the classroom, you can find resources that meet your needs. It makes me feel like I belong here.”