John Canela - SVL Collegiate Cultura Ambassador

April 05, 2015

John Canela is a senior at the New Jersey Institute of Technology majoring in IT Network Security and is expected to graduate Cum Laude in May 2015. He is also the Vice President of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) at NJIT, an organization that provides opportunities for students to not only achieve their professional and academic goals but also inspire them to reach their fullest potential. In the summer of 2014, he interned as an IT Analyst at Cisco Systems in San Jose, CA where he engineered a proposed security roadmap for his team and developed a script to automate the discovery of security vulnerabilities within application source code. At the end of the summer, he was offered a full-time position to work as an IT Engineer within Cisco’s Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) and will begin working in July 2015.

John Canela - SVL Collegiate Cultura Ambassador

Canela is a first generation American and is the oldest of four siblings. His parents were both born in the Dominican Republic and immigrated to New York in the mid-1980s. He was born in Brooklyn, NY and grew up in Kearny, NJ where he attended public school. He later enrolled at NJIT where he has excelled both academically and as a campus leader. At NJIT he has worked as a Tier-2 IT Technician, Resident Assistant, and a mentor for college freshmen within the Educational Opportunity Program. As Vice President of SHPE, he has helped the group bring prominent speakers to campus and organize career workshops, as well as establish corporate relations with the goal of obtaining sponsorship for future events. In spring 2014, Canela earned Resident Assistant of the Year and the Outstanding Student Staff Member awards for exceeding supervisor expectations and going above and beyond the required responsibilities. He is known for his “go-getter” attitude, high level of integrity, and his passion for serving others. Canela is excited to start his professional career in Silicon Valley and looks forward to one day becoming a prominent leader within the tech industry.