Technology Trouble Shooter: Alumnus Helps IT Industry With Problem Solving
College Spotlight on Allen Furmanski
By Katherine Palacio
Allen Furmanski helps information technology professionals around the world solve complex problems every day. That’s his job.
A 2007 graduate of the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, Furmanski is a technical support engineer for Citrix Systems, Inc., in Fort Lauderdale. The software company, whose products are used by Fortune 100, Fortune Global 500, and other organizations worldwide, allows enterprises to deliver their business applications to users regardless of their locations.
“It is demanding, yet rewarding, and I enjoy the opportunity of working with cutting-edge software and the world-class team of employees that share the same vision,” said Furmanski, who also is responsible for contributing technical articles and has developed software utilities to assist the Citrix community.
Furmanski began developing his goals as a student in the Division of Math, Science, and Technology at Nova Southeastern University, where he graduated with a bachelor of science degree in computer information systems.
Furmanski credits his NSU professors for helping to prepare him for a career in information technology, especially Paul Kenison, D.Sc., Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Math, Science, and Technology.
“He had the most positive impact on me,” Furmanski said. “I took four classes with him, including various programming courses and a directed project in which I created an online statistical tracking program for a professional basketball team…Professor Kenison constantly challenged his students to think critically and examine all possible outcomes and solutions of a problem.”
Kenison said Furmanski excelled at the directed project, which won second-place honors in the science research category at NSU’s Undergraduate Student Symposium in 2007.
“As the project progressed, I saw a few additions that I felt were needed in order to make the project more complete,” Kenison said. “Allen did not mind me adding more features. He wanted to use some tools for the project with which I was not familiar…From his research on available tools, he knew that these would work well for the project. He learned everything he needed to know about the tools. The project was more complete and user friendly than I had expected. He did a magnificent job.”
During the 2005-2006 academic year, Furmanski served as president of the campus chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), leading the chapter to its most active year in the club’s history, according to Kenison. Chapter members organized on-campus events such as the Linux Install Fest and Community Computer Day. Their meetings were usually discussions of the latest trends in the information-technology industry.
“NSU’s undergraduate program laid a solid foundation of knowledge for me and helped jump-start a great career in the [information technology] industry,” Furmanski said.
“He has located a job in which he is very happy,” Kenison said. “I am confident that he will be very successful in work and in life in general.”
Katherine Palacio is a student in the Master of Arts in Writing Program offered by the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences. She teaches writing at Monsignor Edward Pace High School in Miami.
