Tim Richards

Manning College of Information & Computer Sciences

Tim Richards

Senior Teaching Faculty, University of Massachusetts Amherst

I teach systems software, operating systems, and web programming, including a team-based capstone where students design, build, and scale a real web system together. I spend most of my energy helping students become confident, capable computer scientists.

About

I'm a Senior Teaching Faculty member in the Manning College of Information & Computer Sciences at UMass Amherst, where I've been teaching since 2007. My courses run from first encounters with programming through operating systems and large-scale web development. I like meeting students wherever they are and building from there.

Before UMass, I taught at Trinity College, Clark University, and Springfield College, across subjects from compiler design to introductory computing. I hold a PhD and MS in Computer Science from UMass Amherst and a BA in Computer Science from Clark University.

Outside of teaching, I care a lot about sustainability, the natural world, and the quieter work of building things that last: classrooms, systems, communities. It's a way of thinking I try to bring into how I teach, and into this page itself.

Teaching

Current courses at UMass Amherst:

COMPSCI 198C

Introduction to C Programming

Foundations of programming close to the machine: memory, pointers, and the habits of mind that carry into every language after.

COMPSCI 326

Web Programming

Full-stack web development, from HTTP fundamentals to building and deploying real applications.

COMPSCI 426

Scalable Web Systems

A project-based capstone on designing, building, and scaling web systems as part of a team.

Over the years I've also taught data structures, computer systems principles, operating systems, programming methodology, and agile software project management, at UMass Amherst, Trinity College, Clark University, and Springfield College.

Awards & Achievements

Research Projects

My research lives at the intersection of teaching and systems. I'm interested in how students learn cloud-based computing platforms, languages, and tools, and in connecting foundational concepts to a real, low-level understanding of the machine, across the many different environments students learn in.

PinTrail

I'm also a core contributor to PinTrail, a student-led mobile app connecting the UMass Amherst community to campus sustainability efforts. It guides people through curated trails of the campus's green initiatives (solar panels, eco-gardens, and other projects hiding in plain sight) with an interactive map and location-based notifications. The project grew out of the campus Earth Day Extravaganza and is built and maintained together with a small team of student developers.

Contact