Former tech club president becomes Google engineer

Alumnus David Ulloa ’25 is a software engineer at Google. 

He was selected for the coveted role even before walking across the commencement stage this past May and recently began his job at the tech giant. 

Ulloa is a force to reckon with. Since his freshman year, Ulloa hit the ground running at FIU. He wasted no time getting involved in FIU's largest student tech organization, INIT FIU. He later served in two executive board positions, eventually becoming the club's president. He completed internships at Microsoft and Google.

He developed expertise in Artificial Intelligence and large language models, participated in three hackathons (codefests in which people collaborate to build software projects) and created an impressive portfolio that caught the attention of folks at Google. Ulloa graduated with his bachelor's in computer science in only three years.

Today, Ulloa is living his dream at Google. He works on integrating Gemini (Google's AI) into Google Cloud, which is a web services program that offers web hosting and renting of servers to a variety of users, including big and small businesses. Ulloa is part of a team that evaluates the effectiveness of an AI assistant designed to support engineers and other tech folks using Google Cloud. 

So, what's it like to work at Google? Ulloa says it's everything he hoped it would be.

"The biggest thing is that they help you do the best work you possibly can," he says. 

The ambiance sets the tone. "Google has that vibe," he says. "The offices are colorful. There's open spaces, no cubicles. There are colorful bikes people ride. If you stay late, they give you dinner. You can play basketball or take a swim in the pool."

These are not just perks, he says. These things help fuel creative genius — and loyal dedication. 

"Google is motivating us to love coming to work and to put in that extra 10 percent," Ulloa says. "The engineers really put their heart and soul into their work. They genuinely care about their work because of the impact that it has."

The spark

Ulloa's love for technology began early in life. He was inspired to learn more about computers by his dad, who worked in IT for 18 years and whose career blossomed in technology. Ulloa built his first computer in middle school. 

One year before Ulloa began at the university, he heard about INIT FIU, the tech student organization. His cousin, a computer science major who knew Ulloa wanted to pursue the same major at FIU, recommended Ulloa get involved with the student group.

Ulloa became an official member of the club his freshmen year — and he credits that move as one of the most important factors that launched him to success. He recalls attending a panel discussion organized by the club. Panelists had three things in common: they were all alumni, former members of INIT FIU and either working full-time or interning at Microsoft.

“That was when the light bulb switched on for me,” Ulloa recalls. “It made me see, ‘I can do this, too.’ During the event I asked, ‘How do I get started? How do I get to where you are now?’”

Through the student organization's network, he found student and alumni mentors who provided informational interviews, reviewed his resume and shared tips on earning competitive internships.

By the end of his freshmen year, Ulloa was selected for a summer internship at Microsoft. He traveled to Seattle and worked on a team that looked into using large language models — a type of AI that can understand and generate human language — to enhance user experience in search results on Bing.

Panther community

After completing the internship, Ulloa embarked on what would become one of the highlights of his FIU career: he became the president of INIT FIU. The student organization is known for its deep alumni and industry network and for hosting major events like Shellhacks, which is Florida's largest hackathon.

"About 1,400 people attend Shellhacks and 20 or 30 tech companies came last year," he says. "Being president of INIT FIU and having the responsibility for these huge events...that was a real chance to give back and do something great. It was a super hectic, super amazing year."

He says it was this environment of collaboration, learning and peer mentorship that profoundly marked his own academic and professional career.

"Interacting with all the amazing people in the student body and INIT FIU was the most memorable part of my student experience," Ulloa says. "There’s this special thing when students are helping other students succeed. Right after I got my first internship, I was like,  'I know how this works. I can guide other students and help them.' The community at FIU is like this little golden pocket of people. These students and organizations at FIU, they want to see you succeed."

The '305' motivation

The next year, Ulloa interned at Google, where he worked on a team handling Google's developer-facing products. Ulloa built a chatbot service through which users could ask questions about a product, and he incorporated machine learning into the project.  

"What’s special at Google is the scale of engineering," he says. "I learned so much during my internship. I learned how to be a good engineer, expectations and how to write good code for Google."

After successfully completing the internship, he received notification that Google was interested in hiring him full-time after graduation. 

"I just thought, 'Thank God.' This was the plan, to come work at Google," he says. "Becoming an engineer at one of these top companies is setting a high bar for yourself. FIU made it practical to go to school and get a degree. FIU does a good job of reminding you that if you put in the hard work and take advantage of the opportunities in front of you, you can end up wherever you want to go."

Born and raised in Miami to Cuban and Nicaraguan parents, Ulloa says the '305'-style culture played a part in his rise to big tech, too. "The 'go get 'em' attitude a lot of us have in Miami, wanting to build our own future and improve our lives...we have this drive to succeed."

Ulloa is proud to say that this September he will be visiting FIU to attend his fourth Shellhacks — this time not as a participant but as an alumnus coming as part of a Google team that will interact with hackathon participants, give them tips on job searches and review resumes. 

Perhaps Ulloa will meet the next Panther who will start his or her journey at Google, too. 

This year's Shellhacks will take place Sept. 26-28. Visit INIT FIU's Shellhacks website to learn more.