Erik Uri graduated high school in 2012 with a love of computers and offers to work in start-ups. But after a couple of years, he found his lack of a college degree was stopping him from getting the jobs that he really wanted.
“The process of going to college was not very clear to me,” said Uri, who calls himself a first-generation college student.
However, he also found “the myth that you can get ahead without a college degree” was proving to be untrue. The lack of a degree was becoming a barrier to the jobs that he really wanted.
Today, Uri, 30, credits faculty in the Bellevue College’s computer science program, as well as support staff in its Neurodiversity Navigators (formerly known as the Autism Spectrum Navigators program), for helping him land the job of his dreams at Microsoft shortly after being one of the first students to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Bellevue College in 2018.
At Microsoft, Uri has spent the last few years working with cutting edge technology and the software needed to support it, ranging from Microsoft’s HoloLens, a mixed reality (MR) device that allows the viewer to see digital images imposed on the real world, to Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Services, which works with businesses to optimize the potential of artificial intelligence. Uri relishes solving the software challenges found in making these powerful technologies work reliably and quickly in a real-world environment.
Last Updated May 5, 2025