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From childhood dreams to professional achievements, Sophia Matar is blazing a trail in computer science, inspired by her mother’s legacy and driven by her own passion for robotics and AI. 

Matar, a graduate student at ����Թ�, is following in the footsteps of her mother and pursuing her master’s in computer science while working a full-time job at Sherwin-Williams in Cleveland.

Matar’s mother, Maha Allouzi, Ph.D., earned her Ph.D. in computer science from ����Թ� State in May 2022 and is now an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science.

Working at Sherwin-Williams

Matar interned at Sherwin-Williams during her senior year at ����Թ� State and signed on to a cooperative education program (co-op) after 12 weeks. She earned her degree in computer science in May 2024 and now works full-time at Sherwin-Williams as an advanced information technology (AIT) analyst and software developer 1. 

“[My degree] is very valuable to me. I wouldn’t be in the place where I am right now without it,” Matar said. “I love learning, and I love being at school, so having the opportunity to have this degree and to be able to use it every day is such a blessing.”

Matar started on Sherwin-Williams' industrial controls team, where she created the user interface (UI) for screens used by the operators at the company’s paint plants. She is currently working on the shared data platforms team, mastering customer data. 

Matar’s hybrid schedule allows her to focus on her career while taking classes part-time. She developed skills at ����Թ� State, such as working on group software engineering projects, which have helped her at her job. 

“I think throughout my college career all the classes that I took where I had to work on teams helped prepare me for corporate life or corporate work,” Matar said. “Everybody brings their own knowledge, and you create a product at the end.”

Pursuing Her Master’s Degree

Now in the second year of her master’s program, Matar is working with Jong-Hoon Kim, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Computer Science, to create an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant tool to help visually impaired people learn how to program.  

“I want to further my education to make sure that I’m able to do as much research as I can in this field, access computing, which is very important to me,” Matar said. “[It’s about] making sure that everybody gets the chance to enjoy computer science, specifically robotics, as much as I did from a young age until now.” 

Inspired at a Young Age

Matar was born in ����Թ�, Ohio, but her family is originally from Jordan. Growing up, she spent time living in California and Jordan, before moving back to Ohio in 2012.

At a young age, Matar got a glimpse into the world of robotics at ����Թ� State. 

“When I was younger, I’d come with my mom to the department if she had some grading to do over winter break,” Matar said. “On the way to her office was Dr. [Jong-Hoon] Kim’s with its glass doors, so I was able to see all of the robots they were working on. Since middle school, I’ve wanted to work on robotics and be in that lab.”

Matar’s passion for computer science and robotics deepened in ninth grade when she took her first programming class. 

“That’s when I remembered, little Sophia wanted to be in that robotics class,” Matar said. “So, that’s when I started putting in more time in programming and in computer science in general.” 

During high school, Matar participated in the IT Academy with CISCO Cyber Security STEM where she learned more about the hardware and software sides of computers. Through this experience, she fell even more in love with computer science. 

“I was like, yeah, it’s decided,” Matar said. “Talking to my mom, I was like, ‘I’m going to be in your department; You’ll see me every day now.’”

In her first year as an undergraduate student, Matar joined the ATR Lab team and has been a part of it throughout her entire time as an undergraduate and graduate student. 

Matar also worked at the TechHelp Service and Repair Center where she helped troubleshoot tech issues and learned how to communicate them effectively to a lay audience. She was involved in HacKSU, where she learned about software and programming languages and developed additional skills outside of the classroom. 

Matar has fond memories at ����Թ� State, including spending time at the ATR Lab, presenting during the late hours of the night at virtual conferences hosted in Uzbekistan and South Korea and spending time with friends at the University Library cafe.

Her capstone project involved the creation of a website where departing students could sell their books or furniture to other students. She and her group created the website, a database and a back end and merged them together. 

Advice for Current Students

Matar emphasized that studying computer science is hard work and that everyone learns at a different pace. 

“Don’t compare yourself to others. Make sure that you’re focusing on yourself and giving yourself time...everybody grows and learns at a different speed...,” she said. “Everybody’s learning, you know, even your professor is going to be learning something new every day.” 

Giving Back as a Mentor 

In her free time, Matar enjoys reading and giving back by volunteering as the lead mentor for a team. The team consists entirely of high school-aged girls from the Cleveland Metropolitan School District who are interested in robotics and STEM. Matar helps the team learn about robotics and programming, assists with working on the robots and conducts research. 

“As soon as I started, I fell in love with being a mentor,” Matar said. “It felt like what I was doing had an impact on the girls’ experience...so, it’s a very important part of my life now.” 
Looking ahead, Matar hopes to earn her Ph.D. in computer science, as well as applied mathematics. She plans to continue being a mentor and may pursue teaching in the future. 

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