Lessons from a CICS Alum
Kevin Gurney '16
It was late at night during his freshman year when Kevin Gurney ’16—fueled by an “unhealthy amount” of cheese pizza from the dining hall—struggled to solve an extra-credit assignment for his data structures class.
A small, unintentional hiccup in the problem statement made the challenge trickier than intended. However, rather than being frustrated, Gurney recalls feeling energized by the experience.
“Reflecting upon this experience today, I think it is really a testament to how incredible the UMass computer science (CS) program is,” Gurney said. “All it took was a fantastic professor to motivate hundreds of CS students to try and achieve the impossible.”
Today, Gurney is a software engineer on the MATLAB I/O Team at MathWorks, where he builds tools used by scientists and engineers around the world. However, his love of problem-solving and his belief in the power of community took shape long before his professional career began.
During his early days as a CS student, Gurney was captivated by the feeling that “new discoveries were around every corner.” Whether exploring campus, attending class, or tackling projects, the possibilities seemed limitless.
“It always felt to me that the faculty at CICS were cheering me on to go deeper, climb higher, and achieve bigger and better things,” he said. “If I ever got lost (literally, in the tunnels beneath the Lederle Graduate Research Center, or figuratively, with some tricky lecture content), there was always someone in CICS who was ready to lend a helping hand. There was a real sense that we were all in it together—it was a community, not a competition.”
That feeling carried through the rest of Gurney’s undergraduate career, shaping the skills and mindset that led him to his current role at MathWorks.
Turning Curiosity into Impact
One of Gurney’s favorite classes was CS 328: Mobile Health Sensing taught by Professor Deepak Ganesan, who he credits with making complex concepts approachable and fun. Alongside his classmates, he learned how to leverage smartphones as powerful tools for measuring heart rate, plotting GPS coordinates in real time, and detecting physical activity.
“For the first time, I believed that computers weren't just toys, but rather tools that could impact our lives and health for the better,” he said.
“My UMass education instilled in me a sense of civic duty—a duty to care for my neighbor—whether they live next door or on the other side of the planet,” he said.
This insight—how computing could serve people—has become a defining thread in his career.
Despite the technical skills that CICS helped him build, Gurney said the most important lesson he learned was simple: put people first.
“Learning to respect, appreciate, and learn from one another is what I believe a UMass education is truly all about,” he said.
Gurney has carried this adage with him throughout his career, whether he’s sticking up for a colleague during a meeting, asking a coworker how they’re doing, or engaging in respectful debate.
“My UMass education instilled in me a sense of civic duty—a duty to
care for my neighbor—whether they live next door or on the other side
of the planet,” he said.
This story originally appeared in the Winter 2025–2026 issue of Significant Bits magazine.