WIMTACH Student Profile: Archana Chandra Kumar

Providing Centennial College students with experiential learning opportunities is one of the core pillars of WIMTACH’s operations. WIMTACH provides paid working opportunities in applied research projects with Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). This work experience may lead to students finding employment with other development companies, which occurred with student researcher Archana Chandra Kumar.

Archana is a recent Centennial College graduate from the Health Informatics Technology program. She has worked with WIMTACH for the past four months on various client projects, including Alpha Globe Med, WAVEZ, and WIMTACH’s most recent collaboration with InterdevTech. Throughout her time at WIMTACH, she was able to fulfill the role of quality analyst, scrum master, and project manager on several different projects, allowing her to gain valuable high-level work experience. What appealed to Archana the most about Centennial was its practical learning environment. “Centennial College is a great place for practical learning and finding your capabilities. It is a great platform [that provides] vast opportunities,” she said. 

Archana found working with WIMTACH was a unique experience. As someone with a strong interest in IT in the healthcare sector, WIMTACH provided Archana with the necessary tools to further her knowledge. While she enjoyed working directly with industry partners, she most enjoyed taking on different roles to help diversify her work experience.

“My favorite part was taking three different roles on three different projects and multi-tasking at the same time,” said Archana. She notes that the support and guidance from her supervisors at WIMTACH made it possible to take on so many projects at once. They helped her explore her capabilities whenever Archana’s skills were put to the test. With their assistance, she could fortify her strengths and discover new skills that she was unaware she possessed. She notes that supervisors made sure not to push the tasks too hard on their research team but promoted good work ethics and strong working habits to ensure tasks were completed on time. 

Archana also briefly spoke about her future endeavours. “I see myself working in Quality Analysis and as a Project Manager in IT solutions,” she said. “Eventually I would like to look into creating my own business but I want to gain all the experience I can get before doing so,” she concluded. 

WIMTACH provided Archana with an opportunity to experience what it is like to work in quality assurance and as a scrum master. “I’m glad to know that I could handle everything that came my way,” she stated. She also notes that WIMTACH helped strengthen her work ethic and organization skills, as well as her teamwork and leadership abilities. When asked what tips she has for any student looking to work at WIMTACH, she had this to say: “No matter what, stay focused on your goals. Nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it. Always ensure to apply [both] smart work and hard work in everything you do.” She also emphasized the importance of learning how to sell your skills to the market and potential employers, highlighting it is the best way to land the position you are after. 

As she concludes her experiential learning opportunity at WIMTACH, Archana is ready to begin her new role as a quality analyst at a high-profile GTA healthcare technology company.

For more student success stories, please visit: https://wimtach.centennialcollege.ca/news/

For information about WIMTACH’s operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit: https://mailchi.mp/d9a20aac07f0/covid-19-update