Amos Kungu is originally from Nairobi, Kenya, but his information technology career took him to more than two dozen countries around the world 鈥� including the United Arab Emirates, where he and his wife lived for three years with their three young daughters.
Life in Dubai wasn鈥檛 conducive to raising a young family, they decided, so in 2016 they immigrated to the United States. Resettled in Norwood, Massachusetts, Kungu soon landed a business system analyst job at 4G Clinical, a startup based in Wellesley, Massachusetts, that makes clinical trial software for pharmaceutical companies.
While all that change would have been enough for some, Kungu was just getting started.聽
鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted to go into business 鈥� my end goal is to have my own startup 鈥� but I didn鈥檛 have the business skills,鈥� he says.
So he researched online business degrees and discovered that UMass Lowell and the Manning School of Business had exactly what he wanted.
Four years later, he is graduating from UML with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in business administration and continuing on for a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship through the bachelor鈥檚-to-master鈥檚 option.
鈥淚t hasn鈥檛 been easy the last four years juggling work and family 鈥� and last year, the pandemic 鈥� but UMass Lowell has been really supportive,鈥� says Kungu, who likens working full-time at a startup while in school to having a supplemental textbook for his courses.
鈥淚 can relate whatever I鈥檓 studying to whatever I鈥檓 experiencing with the company. It鈥檚 been very enriching to share all these experiences,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut finding time to study during the week was challenging. I would spend the weekend catching up with reading and assignments, and my youngest would always complain that I don鈥檛 have time to spend with her.鈥�
Kungu鈥檚 oldest daughter just finished her sophomore year at Emerson College.
鈥淏eing in school at the same time has been really interesting,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun comparing notes.鈥�
As an online student, Kungu says he made a point to become involved in as many activities as he could. He was recently inducted into the Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society, where he has been able to network virtually with students through his work on the communications committee.
He also participated in the Manning School鈥檚 Global Entrepreneurship Exchange (GE2) program, which brings together students from around the world to collaborate on innovative business solutions.
In a pitch competition during GE2鈥檚 virtual summer 2020 program, Kungu鈥檚 team won the health care category with its idea for a self-disinfecting, dual-layer surgical glove that is reusable and biodegradable. Kungu continued with the idea last fall and won GE2鈥檚 10K Global Venture Plan Competition.
He credits the support of Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Innovation faculty Ashwin Mehta and Yi Yang for 鈥渞eally helping me figure out what I need鈥� to take the next steps.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping I鈥檒l have something in the next couple of years,鈥� he says.
Spoken like a true entrepreneur.