Spotlight Series: Matt Dunn
Matt, our Jack of all Trades:
Hey folks! My name is Matthew Dunn and I’m a fourth year Computer Science major with a concentration in cyber operations. It’s a mouthful, but it basically means I’m interested in cybersecurity. I’m originally from Kings Park, NY, a suburb on Long Island but since coming to Northeastern I’ve really fell in love with Boston. I’m also the biggest Houston Astros fan this side of the Mississippi.
Coming into Northeastern’s College of Computer and Information Science (CCIS), I really didn’t know whether computer science would be right for me. I had taken a class in high school, and was interested in both computer science and criminal justice, which led me down the cybersecurity route(although CCIS now offers a Computer Science and Criminal Justice combined major). While CCIS helped me find out some of my passions, I would be lying if I told you I knew what I wanted to do after I graduate next December. However, thanks to Northeastern and CCIS, I’ve been able to try my hand at a wide variety of experiences.
Everything really started with my first co-op as a software engineer with SparkFund, down in Washington, DC. I had the opportunity to contribute to the company’s fund management engine, while also building out a library to manage Google Drive and Spreadsheets using Clojure. Besides allowing me to contribute to these projects, I got the chance to experience growth at a small startup, and of course explore the District.
When looking for a second co-op, I decided I wanted to do something more security oriented. This led me to Barkly, where I worked as a malware researcher full time for 6 months, and then part time as a malware research engineer for the 8 months following. I was able to analyze prevalent malware such as Virlock, Cerber, and Locky while also helping the team in develop our product to protect against such prevalent malware.
As I conclude my year+ long adventure helping Barkly fight malware, I realized I had loved the research aspects of my time there most. This summer, and leading into the fall I’ll be doing research with Christo Wilson, starting with taking a look at threat intelligence data. I want to find out if research is what I want to do, and thanks to CCIS I can find that out before I graduate.
Besides work experience, I’ve also gotten the opportunity to try different things through extra curricular activities. Since I was a freshman, I’ve been involved with Husky Ambassadors, but recently took on a larger role as the Operations Chair. Being able to use my background in CS differently was a nice change, and I took that opportunity to automate roster management tasks as well as launch our frontward facing site. On the other hand, I also get the pleasure of working with first year computer science students as they transition to Northeastern both as a P2P mentor and then as a teaching assistant and mentor for our Overview 1 class (think Intro to College, CCIS remix). I’ve been able to assist students adjust to campus life, classes, career thoughts, and with their co-op searches.
When I was deciding on college four years ago, I thought I would have figured out what I wanted to do by now. I still don’t know, but because of my experiences at Northeastern, whether it be mentoring, web development, software engineering, or security research, I feel confident knowing I can handle any of those paths.
If you have any questions, feel free to email at [email protected] ! I like to believe I answer quickly.