Kent was born and raised in Hawaiʻi and received his BS degree in mechanical engineering from San Diego State University. He moved to Colorado in 2015 to begin his PhD work in mechanical engineering. During the 2016-2017 academic school year, Kent worked as a NSF Graduate STEM Fellow in K-12 Education. This fellowship afforded Kent the opportunity to teach STEM curriculum at Northglenn High School and the Denver Schools for Science and Technology Cole. While at CU-Boulder he has been conducting research to determine the fraction of observed air pollutants emitted from specific sources in Colorado’s Front Range and the air pollutants' potential to form ozone. Since moving to Colorado, Kent has adapted to Colorado and is now an avid snowboarder and fly fisherman.