Iterating in the Bay: How I learned to mix technical skills and creativity
By Sonakshi Singh
When I tell people I’m studying Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship, I hear: “Wow, that sounds interesting! What is it exactly?”
I’ve always responded that it’s the intersection between computer science, media, journalism, and business. I’m a computer engineer from Mumbai, India, who thought to try applying her skill set in a different industry. Some people might say that’s a “pivot.” I don’t necessarily think that.
Being an innovator is a tricky thing. Essentially, you’re a thought leader who has to sell a dream. Pitch yourself or your product. I suspect everyone has innovated in their life at some point, but had no idea that they were doing it.
I decided to pursue a master’s in journalism specializing in media innovation because I knew that the media industry isn’t as nimble as the tech industry. I couldn’t think of a world without a robust news ecosystem. Watching the news or reading the morning paper with my parents were among my first memories of when I realized how big the world truly is.
I’ve also always been curious about journalism and media. It was a natural step for me to take my engineering degree and look for its application in the media industry while not stepping away from my technical background completely.
Moving from the technical to the creative
For the first time in my life, I was preparing to take courses that were very different from engineering classes. I never took anything that wasn’t related to the sciences in college.
One of them was a reporting and writing class, which immediately taught me that I’m still very much a technical person. I figured out that I’ll always like writing more as a hobby than as a primary focus of my career. The experience validated what I’d hoped to get out of this program, which was to understand the role technology plays in journalism and media.
Finding the sweet spot
I was glad to shift base to San Francisco for my second quarter, where I took courses such as Business of Innovation, Mobile Web Development and Design Thinking and Research for Media Products. I also had a product management internship at Quantcast, an ad technology company that specializes in AI-driven real-time advertising, audience insights, and measurement.
While my strengths are predominantly technical, I learned during my internship that when I get to do something creative, I enjoy myself even more. For instance, when I had to create a target persona for my Business of Innovation class, I got a chance to tell a story while calculating the total addressable market and financials of my product. In my design thinking class, I got to ideate on more than 100 ideas for a possible product for the San Francisco Chronicle before zeroing in on three main experience prototypes. I got to code in Mobile Web Development, but only after storyboarding the whole experience.
This program has given me space to explore. I understand myself a bit more and know that after I graduate, I’ll be able to use my technical skills while still getting to be creative.
About the MSJ media innovation specialization
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