Rudny Gacin

Current position: Principal IoT Engineer

Education (degrees and school):

University of Rhode Island - Bachelors of Science Electrical Engineering

Hobbies:

Video Games, Volunteering , Hiking , Traveling

Where were you born and where did you grow up? Where did you go to high school?

I was born in St. Maarteen and came to America when I was 3. We moved to the south side of Providence, Rhode Island, and went to school at Mount Pleasant. Go Killities!!

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

I enjoyed cooking and wanted to be a Chef.

How did you get into computer science?

I found that part of the appeal of being a chef was the ability to create something with my hands and trying it out immediately after. With coding, the same applies. I can code up an application, a website, a robot, and view/interact with it right after.

What other jobs have you had?

I’ve had a lot of jobs including : Youth Coordinator, Tutor, Dish Washer, Marketing, Group Home Staff, Test Engineer, etc.

What is an average day at work like for you?

The day starts with a “Stand-Up” meeting, engineers are able to tell the team what they are working on and the potential issues they may have. From there I grab a coffee and either jump into coding or do some design work for systems I am working on.

What is your favorite part of your job?

My favorite part is also the cause of a lot of stress. The work I do is challenging. There will be days where I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing but know that I can figure it out. Gaining competency in areas I had no prior knowledge in and building something I never built before is amazing. I did that!!

What is the best opportunity you have had because of computer science?

The salary you get from being an engineer allowed me to do a lot of things outside of work. Whether that is helping the family with bills, being able to travel all around the world, purchasing my own house, etc.

Any great stories about working in computer science?

I have worked for a few startups. One of the startups the main office was actually in a mansion in Boston that was once owned by the governor of Massachacuttt’s. That was an interesting experience taking a gold plated elevator up to the tech office.