WIMTACH Student Profile: Ildaphonse Cornolius

Ildaphonse Cornolius always aspired to help those in need by any means he could. When he joined the Software Engineering Technology program at Centennial College, his goal was to gain the skills and experience necessary to achieve real change through his software. As WIMTACH frequently works on projects that aim to assist and help different communities, Ildaphonse was extremely excited when he was offered a position as a Student Researcher. “I just want to make the world a better place using software, helping people access fundamental services more conveniently,” he said.

Upon joining WIMTACH, Ildaphonse was assigned to work on the Reading Partnership project that aimed to improve the literacy rate among kids by developing a new assessment tool that would enable easier and more convenient testing. Crucially for Ildaphonse, this project would be launched in his community, and he saw the opportunity to achieve real value through the software he would be developing. “As I live in Scarborough, working with a local community group to improve literacy for kids is a great cause, and I am extremely proud to be a part of it,” he said. Ildaphonse took on the role of a Student Business Analyst, creating user stories which are a core aspect of how the final user would perceive the software. He also worked closely with the Technical Leader and the Project Coordinator to determine that all the project’s functional requirements were met. Such responsibility enabled Ildaphonse to grow as a proactive leader capable of achieving success.

Due to his passion for the project, Ildaphonse also took on a Student Front-end Developer role. When completing his tasks, he had the opportunity to work with various software like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Python, ReactOS and others while closely collaborating with the back-end team. Collaboration was exceptionally useful when Ildaphonse was helping develop the explanation screen for the new testing software. “I needed [the explanation screen] hosted on AWS, so I remained in constant open dialogue with the back-end team and worked with them continuously,” he said. Ildaphonse has proven to be extremely proactive, providing input to other front-end tasks like the new admin panel. “Whenever there is work to be done, I am the first to say, ‘I can do this,’” he said. “I love being challenged, and WIMTACH enabled me to challenge myself every day.”

Ildaphonse has only joined WIMTACH recently, yet he is already gaining skills essential to his career as a Software Engineer. Throughout various assignments, Ildaphonse has proven to be very skillful at time management. “Being on time is half the job,” he said. His ability to think on the spot and work well under pressure also proved vital and enabled him to grow as a natural leader. So far, he has proved to be extremely proactive in his work and plans to continue developing his public speaking skills. “The skills I have gained while working at WIMTACH give me a major competitive advantage in the industry of Software Engineering,” he said.

Ildaphonse has a long journey ahead of him, with many great opportunities to grow and develop his software engineering abilities. He is especially passionate about expanding his skill set and gaining real work experience on subjects he only theorized about in class. Furthermore, as WIMTACH continues to work closely with the local communities, Ildaphonse is terrifically happy to be able to help real people with the software he helped create. “WIMTACH is the best place I have ever worked in my entire life,” he said.

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