Z Ambassador Program (Powered by IBM & YBY)
My Journey Is…
Sabine Diemt, IBM Z Ambassador
Sabine Diemt is a part-time computer science student at the FernUniversität Hagen, Germany (an open university). She is from Austria, and currently living and working in Bahrain. Besides aviation, computer science is her other passion. After being a software developer for several years, she crossed industry lines and entered the aviation sector. Recently, during her studies, she came across the Master the Mainframe program and got very interested in the mainframe and its capabilities. She is passionate about making science available to the broader public, by volunteering for Starmus and as an IBM Z Ambassador.
What is your role as a Z Ambassador?
The main role of an ambassador is to advocate for IBM Z and enterprise computing, to spread the word about the Master the Mainframe, and the Global Student Hub and help other students along their way. We also support building the IBM Z student community by hosingt student-led webinars to share our skills forward with our community, whic you can check out here http://ibm.biz/studenthub!
What inspired you to join the program? You have a very interesting background, from computer science to aviation.
I started off as a software developer and later changed to the aviation business, now I'm a pilot on a private jet. But I’m still a part-time student for computer science. How I got involved with the IBM Z Ambassador program was thanks to my dad, he was the head of an IT department in a big company in Austria, and he worked a lot with IBM Z. I loved to go with him on the weekends when he had to work, and just watch him work. So when I read about the Z Ambassador program, I wanted to know more about it. And well, what better chance is there? I wanted to be part of such a great student program.
That's super cool. And I love how you have diverse interests. And you're able to kind of integrate that into your day-to-day life, from computer science to aviation. What are some of the highlights or challenges that you faced in the program?
The challenges were mostly personal. I’m not exactly the best public speaker, so hosting events was the biggest challenge for me. It took me a bit of time to be able to talk in front of an audience. But in the end I did like hosting the webinars, they pushed me out of my comfort zone. So although it was a challenge, it gave me the opportunity to grow.
What resources kind of helped you with the program?
The greatest resources I had was the peer support, and all the IBM-ers that supported us as well. For instance, when we're looking for panelists for webinars, there were so many great IBM-ers and also high level executives willing to join a webinar. Also, for the Master the Mainframe competition, I just started with the last level and did not see a way to finish on time, I thought it would be impossible. But I teamed up with two Z Ambassadors who were in the same boat as me, and we supported each other to finish the whole competition with all its challenges. The peer support and community was really great. I also had the idea to publish some articles about different IBM Z topics for my university magazine, such as quantum computing, but I was not an expert at any of these topics so some ambassadors were immediately willing to help write the articles with me, and we put something really nice together.
Teamwork makes the dream work! My final question to you would be for those young people who are thinking of applying or on the fence about it, do you have some advice for them?
Well, if anybody has any doubt, I would say, just do it. It's an amazing opportunity. You can build a great network. You get in touch with industry experts. You learn a lot from your peers and especially in today's working environment, you never know where your path will lead you to, and you can never learn too much. I think everyone who’s interested should try it out.