A love of technology leads Joseph Lowe to pursue a second master’s degree

For more than 14 years, Joseph Lowe has lived by advice he received from a U.S. Army major that came as he was transitioning from a decade of military service into a civilian position with a federal department.

“He helped create a pathway for me in ways that I couldn’t have accomplished alone,” said Lowe. “While departing the Army as a soldier and preparing for life as a civilian, I said, ‘I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me.’ He said, ‘Just pay it forward.’”

Now a student in Virginia Tech’s online interdisciplinary Master of Information Technology program based in Alexandria, Lowe has done just that. He works full-time for a federal department based near Richmond and is an adjunct online instructor in computer science and information technology at Park University in Missouri and Bryant & Stratton College, based in New York.

Lowe said he comes from a proud military family. His parents were in the U.S. Air Force, a grandfather was in the Navy, and his brother is a command sergeant major in the Army. Lowe enlisted in the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

He has worked in information systems and technology for most of his civilian career and said he was always a “technology geek,” learning basic programming in high school. He is now an enterprise architect, a field focused on the structures of a business, organization, or agency.

“When we refer to the enterprise architecture, we're describing an organization: its people, business processes, capabilities, technology, data, and security,” he said. “These domains and their attributes all have some type of relationship or association to each other. And it all eventually traces back to the organization’s strategic objectives.”

A return to graduate education

The Master of Information Technology will be his second master’s degree. He earned an MBA with a concentration in information systems management from Park University. He decided to pursue the Master of Information Technology because of a desire to know more about artificial intelligence (AI) and how it affects an agency or organization. The proliferation of AI prompted Congress to pass the AI in Government Act of 2020, which includes developing policies and best practices regarding its use.

“Over the past few years, the interest in AI has peaked to a point where it behooves employees from all industries, especially those who are in the information technology field, to adopt and to understand this technology,” Lowe said.

Ethical and security concerns also are important when considering AI, he said, and the work done by enterprise architects guide senior leaders and technical personnel in understanding emerging and disruptive technology’s role within an organization.

“It's a formal method to say, 'Here's the technology, here are the capabilities that it supports, here are the specific people that could use it, here’s how it's implemented throughout the agency, and how it supports the mission,'” he said. “You can fit just about any type of technology into that picture and put that into the architecture exposing how it's consumed and used throughout the organization.”

A need to know more

He said several classes in his degree program have been especially helpful, including those with a focus on data management and analysis, such as a course taught by Professor Steven Sheetz.

“He was just an amazing professor. I took his course this summer and we had lengthy conversations. I looked up to him as a mentor,” Lowe said. “I absolutely loved the course.”

Lowe credits his supervisor, Henry Chambers, with suggesting he pursue more training related to data management and AI. Chambers mentioned the 2020 AI law and its focus on the need for the workforce to have these essential skills.

“Without his guidance, I never would have thought of looking for a university or college that provides some level of AI training,” Lowe said. He researched potential institutions and chose Virginia Tech. “I just kind of stumbled across it and I said, ‘Wow, they have AI-related courses and it’s available online.’ I had no idea this was an option.”

A Hokie family

His three sons, Bradley, Thomas, and Tristan, already were talking about Virginia Tech before Lowe discovered the Master of Information Technology program. Bradley is in the creative technologies bachelor’s degree program in the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design, and the other two plan to attend Virginia Tech. “So we’re going to become a Hokie family,” Lowe said.

When asked how he juggles his full-time job, adjunct teaching, his gradute studies, and family life, Lowe smiled. “It's something that my kids and I kind of have a running joke about because, believe it or not, I don't know how I do it,” he said.

That said, he strongly believes that people need to take mental breaks. Walking is great thinking time, he said. So is mowing the lawn. “You'd be surprised when you're mowing the lawn how much you can think about and how relaxing that connection can be.”

Paying it forward

Looking back at his civilian career and his work as an instructor, Lowe said his former Army major’s advice to pay it forward has been a thread that runs through it all.

“Whether it's teaching computer science courses, supporting students who are interested in the IT field, or employees that I work with every day, if there's anything I can do to help articulate, communicate, and draw that mental image to help those light bulbs go off, to help others understand the technology or the way something works, and they can use that knowledge for their career, then absolutely, I’m all in,” he said. “There's a new generation coming up that is going to have to pick up the torch and I think there's no greater ambition than helping others succeed.”