Academics, Alumni and Friends, College of Science and Mathematics

DeJean Dunbar ’17 putting computer science master’s degree to work

By Jan Joslin | September 20, 2022

Dr. Yu-Ju Lin presents DeJean Dunbar the Outstanding Graduate in the Master of Science in computer science award at the annual Award’s Day in April. Photo by Ty Cornett

DeJean Dunbar is currently completing a Master of Science in computer science at CSU and is a 2017 BS graduate. He has worked at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions in Aiken for the last five years. As an undergrad Dunbar won a mobile app competition sponsored by Charleston Defense Contractors Association. He also volunteered with CodeON, Coding in Our Neighborhoods, a free coding lab program for children in underserved neighborhoods, coordinated by Charleston Women in Tech.

Pursuing a Master’s Degree

When I first got my full-time position at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, I was told of a program they had that paid for school expenses with the condition of receiving a B or higher. Finances were the only concern for me when going back to graduate school, so the fact that my job offered this program solidified my decision to go back to CSU for graduate study.

Master’s Program Impacting Career

Most of the material I learned in college focused on theory; however, some projects in school allowed me to learn some new frameworks I haven’t used before like ASP.NET MVC. There is a section of developers at my job that code in C# and ASP.NET MVC , so it gave me the tools already needed if I ever got involved with another team using those techniques. With my current job, we use a testing framework called Jest, which is something I learned during my Software Testing and Maintenance class.

Daily Duties

I have moved to a new position where we use a front-end web framework known as REACTJS to design websites for our customers. For three years I was the subject matter expert of a laboratory information management system known as LABWARE which was used by chemists to track their sample data and results.

Working at Savannah River Nuclear Solutions

SRNS is near where I live, has a stable history of work excellence, offers nice retirement benefits, and nice pay increase incentives based on performance , length of time employed, and market competitive rates. The combination of these factors makes it a great place to work in South Carolina.

Community Service

I am heavily involved with my church, New Beginning Ministries, where I am a part of the media team, so I am able to use some of my computer science skills in that role. I also assist in plays done by a local group called READY OR NOT PRODUCTIONS where they bring out a combination of comedy, tragic events, and Christianity to change the audience lives for the better and promote the desire to establish a relationship with Jesus.

Family Fun

During Spring break, my family had the opportunity to take my five-year-old niece to Disney World. I have not been there since I was five, so it was an awesome experience seeing all the attractions again.