Matthew Panebianco ’15 is one of the minds behind an app that is one of Western New York’s favorites – Wegmans Meals 2GO. As a software engineer at Wegmans, he helps power their Meals 2GO platform with a team that develops app infrastructure and order fulfillment systems.
“Our team works on a lot of behind-the-scenes infrastructure,” Panebianco said. “A lot of operations you would never see if you’re just opening the Wegmans app. But when it’s something as important as providing food for the community, it’s easy to see your work’s impact.”
Panebianco transferred to Brockport from Jamestown Community College, drawn to the small town, close-knit community that reminded him of his hometown in Western New York. The University also allowed him to continue swimming competitively while double majoring in computer information systems (CIS) and marketing.
“It felt like I could connect one-on-one with the people who were teaching me my craft.”
Matthew Panebianco
“It felt more like home than anywhere else,” Panebianco said. “It felt like I could connect one-on-one with the people who were teaching me my craft.”
When deciding what to study, Panebianco was inspired by the technology he had been exposed to while growing up.
“I found that in my freshman year, I spent a lot of time on my computer,” Panebianco said. “Growing up in the era of AOL, AIM, and Facebook, I wanted to understand how it all worked and that swerved into my interest in website development.”
Professors in the Department of Computing Sciences, including Professor Sandeep Mitra and Dr. Mehruz Kamal, played a critical role in his academic growth.
“Professor Mitra pushed me to be a better software developer,” Panebianco said.
An instrumental experience was a class led by Dr. Kamal, which paired students with real-world businesses to solve practical problems.
“That was probably one of my most stressful classes, but also one of my favorites,” Panebianco said. “You had to go as a team and talk with a client to help them solve a business problem. I got a lot of value out of it.”
After graduating, Panebianco spent several years at Paychex before joining Wegmans.
“Wegmans is one of the places where everybody loves to work.”
Matthew Panebianco
“Wegmans is one of the places where everybody loves to work,” said Panebianco. “We want our people to be able to provide good customer service. Employees get orders they need to prepare and our team handles the application infrastructure and user interface needed to fulfill orders.”
As part of the Meals 2GO team, Panebianco solves problems that help customers every single day.
“I see the impact every time I go into the store,” Panebianco said. “The stuff I write interacts with people every day. To me, the user experience is the most important part of my job, making sure that the software I write is easy for people to use.”
Matthew Panebianco with SUNY Brockport students.
Mitra frequently invites Panebianco to share insights with current students on the importance of real-world projects and staying current with skills to excel in competitive careers.
“Matthew’s continued engagement has proved invaluable to me,” said Mitra. “It is through the willingness of alumni to give back, like Matt, that we can enable our students to stay current in rapidly changing disciplines such as software engineering.”