This week’s Student Spotlight is Cody Kihlberg, Data Science major. Continue reading to learn more about Cody, his professional experience and time at CECS.
What interested you about CECS?
“CECS helps you develop skills for the real world. When I first started at UT, CECS wasn’t originally here. Once I heard about it, I switched majors because I felt the skills were really useful for what I wanted to do in my career. Having those skills set me apart from other candidates for different internship opportunities, as well.”
What’s your major now? And what courses are you enjoying?
“Now, I’m doing Data Science. I’ve taken almost all of the data science classes. Right now, I’m in Data Wrangling and Data Stewardship and Ethics, as well as the capstone class. The data wrangling class is really good. I’m learning how to interact with different sources in order to accrue data which is an important skill for what I want to do in the future.”
What is your capstone project?
“We’re partnering with EAA, a consulting firm in the medical industry. We are creating a chat box that will assist in response times and with fixing medical equipment that breaks down.”
Why did you choose your major?
“I started working with One Knox SC, and one of the people I worked with was a data scientist. He suggested that I change to data science because a lot of the stuff we were working on in my other courses were not teaching me the tools or skills I needed in my real-world work experience.”
“Also, I wanted to be more challenged in my coursework. I figured if I am pursuing my education, I might as well learn something new and challenging.”
What is your favorite part about being a CECS student?
“I think the capstone projects are very interesting because you get to meet people in the industry, work with and learn from them. With the previous company we worked with, the lady taught us important resume and interview tips. So, even if it isn’t in the exact field you want to work in, you still get valuable knowledge.”
“For my data classes, I’m coding in each class, so I’m always learning something new. My favorite professor is Michael Gelantalis!”
What is the most valuable lesson you have learned in your time at CECS, so far?
“I was unsure if I would be successful in my classes because I did not have a background in coding. But the curriculum and the professors are prepared if you don’t have background experience. Usually the first week of each class, we review the basics.”
If you could tell other students one thing about CECS or our courses, what would it be?
“The skills I’m learning right now are the ones that employers are looking for which will set you apart in the job field.”
What do you hope to do after graduation?
“I hope to continue working in sports analytics and soccer—maybe as a video analyst.”
What were your internship experiences like?
“I started at One Knox during my 2nd semester of my freshman year as an intern in their data analytics department. We were mainly concerned with players’ performance metrics like, distance covered, acceleration, deceleration, etc. I got to work on some data projects for them which is how I met the data scientist that told me I should switch to a data science degree.”
“From there, I went to Nashville in January of 2025 to work with the Nashville Soccer Club in their video analysis department for about seven months. I completed the CECS internship courses through my work experience. They also have a data scientist working for them, and he showed me some cool data projects. And that is how I actually got the job working for the UT Women’s Soccer team for the fall season where I was also working on video analysis.”