The work Zachary Weingarten ’18 does every day makes the jobs of police officers, paramedics, and firefighters easier, safer, and more efficient.
As a software engineer at Motorola Solutions in Plantation, Florida, Weingarten works to help determine how the company can use technology to improve these public safety professionals’ jobs.
“We deliver end-to-end solutions for everything officers would need throughout their day,” Weingarten said. “I’m looking toward the future and seeing where things can go to help out the key industry of public safety.”
Motorola Solutions’ products and services include handheld communication devices, encryption solutions, and portable and fixed broadband infrastructure for first responders.
Weingarten, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer science, said his education at Florida Polytechnic University prepared him well for his current position.
“The thing that stood out to me at Florida Poly is the whole agile methodology they brought to the table in their courses versus the textbook mentality,” he said. “A lot of our projects were hands-on projects where we all worked together to get a solution – pretty much what I do now.”
The Parkland, Florida, native said the University also helped him find the position he has now via the many career fairs Florida Poly hosted and encouraged him to attend.
“I first met Motorola at the Florida Poly job fair and one of the cool things was to discover they do so much more than I thought,” Weingarten said. “I learned about their Chief Technology Office and what they do, and it opened my eyes a lot.”
In addition to his current position with Motorola Solutions, Weingarten received two other job offers before he graduated in 2018. These stemmed from another job fair and a hackathon he participated in as a student.
Weingarten said he is happy with his decision to join Motorola Solutions and hopes to have a long career with the company.
“It’s cool to see first responders use the technology we develop and how we make their jobs easier and better,” Weingarten said.
Although he has returned to South Florida, Weingarten keeps in touch with his fellow Florida Poly alumni via a Facebook group and ongoing contact with the Purple Fire Robotics, a club Weingarten co-founded.
“I was part of the inaugural class, so it’s cool to see where everyone has been going,” he said.
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Lydia Guzman
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