Faculty Spotlight - Allan Tokuda

Tell us about yourself

I graduated from the MSSE program in 2012. I am a Staff Software Engineer at Zipnosis, Inc., where I am part of a scrum team that develops a health care web application. I have been a Vim nerd for many years. I am also a year round bike commuter and generally love the outdoors and the natural world.

What led you to the field of software engineering?

Despite having already been programming for years, in college I chose to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering. At the time, I believed software was most useful when paired with something in the physical world. For example, a device may be run by software embedded in it, but must still be hardware in the end to have physical benefits in the real world. Thus, I saw software as a means to an end and I remained interested in the mechanical side of things. One thing I didn't understand yet was the richness and depth of the challenges on the software side. Working in the hard disk drive industry as a mechanical product development engineer, I discovered that my programming skills constantly came up and were useful in many endeavors. I also found that developing software projects was fun and challenging. Within a few short years, it became clear to me that software engineering was a desirable end in and of itself. When I found the MSSE program, I totally devoted my career to software. Since then, I learned that there are massive areas of opportunity that are 100% software (such as Zipnosis). In my spare time, I still love building physical things.

What are your areas of interest in the field?

I am interested in user-centered design. This is usually seen as a UI visual design exercise, and while I enjoy this as well, what really drives a usable design is a strong data model. Thus, understanding and studying the shapes of data is high on my list of interests. I also care a lot about automated testing strategy. I believe good test-driven development is good engineering.

What do you enjoy most about teaching in the MSSE program?

I think at all levels, even in kindergarten, teachers can learn from their students. I believe deeply in interactive, conversational teaching. I believe that the Masters level is the crossover point where the students have just as much to offer to the instructor as the instructor has to teach the student. For me, this is both a challenge and a humbling opportunity to better myself. 

Describe your teaching philosophy. How can a student be successful in your course?

To succeed in my course, or to have success in any of life's endeavors, test yourself constantly. Passive listening is not effective. Completing prompted exercises is better, but is not enough. Learning has occurred when you can produce the information yourself, for your own purpose. See if you can explain the concepts to others. Try to apply them to your own situations.

If you could give students one piece of advice, what would that be?

There is a lot of software out there that is profitable but does not better mankind. We live in a generally prosperous time but everywhere there remains massive human problems. In software, we have the luxury of many available jobs and organizations that are eager to hire, so let's choose where to focus our energy.