About

MY VISION STATEMENT

Developing, mentoring, and helping other people recognize the right ideas/connections from a diverse technical perspective. As an expert in the field of data analytics I will lead the effort to convert data and information into usable knowledge for the purposes of enabling strategic decisions that fits the business needs to extract the best possible results and highest value. Enabling strategic decision through data analytics means always striving to be in the forefront as a thought leader independent of industry.

WHO AM I?

I love to travel and learn about different cultures and customs, which is evident in all the places I have lived thus far. I have lived in Florida (19 yrs), Colorado (1 yr), Pennsylvania (3 yrs), Oklahoma (3 yrs), South Carolina (7 yrs), and Texas (1 year).

I began college at the age of 15 at Miami-Dade College under the Miami-Dade County Dual Enrollment Program. Eventually, I transferred over to the University of Miami, where I would eventually earn my bachelor degree in Meteorology and Applied Mathematics (Dec. 2007). Shortly after, I studied at Pennsylvania State University, where I have received a Teaching Certificate (Sept. 2009) and a Master of Science in Meteorology (Dec. 2010). I graduated with an M.B.A. and M.S. in Management of Information Systems from the University of Oklahoma (May 2014). I completed my Doctoral degree in Computer Science with a concentration on big data analytics (Jun. 2017).

My goal is to become the leading expert in IT Business and Data Analyst. I am incredibly grateful to have my scientific and applied mathematics background, which has built the greatest set of analytical skills set and tools that have become my foundation for most of my analyses. My current training in Six Sigma can help out lean business processes to yield greater returns on investment. Given all my leadership positions and experience in managing projects throughout the project life-cycle, for academia, non-profits, and for-profit corporations I was able to leverage that experience and technical knowledge to pass the Project Management Professional Certification Exam (May 2014). Then to become the best IT Business and Data Analyst there is, I ventured into learning the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) best practices and have achieved an Expert level certification (March 2016). Finally, given my training in business school, I have been able to apply those skills along with my 8 years of experience with technology, data modeling, and Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Dashboards to formulate effective and efficient IT solutions using analytics for any business process. These IT solutions result in a better targeting core business strategies. All the work that I have done so far is molding me into the strongest candidate to become a great IT Business and Data Analyst.

For more information about me, please visit my Linkedin page.

Teaching Philosophy

My motivation for teaching is the reward that comes my way when I am able to generate a passion for math and science within my students. And how might I do this? By developing conceptual models of the math and science material within a course and demonstrating to my students how mastery of the models and their details is relevant to their lives and can improve them. With a conceptual model at hand there is no need to memorize facts brute force. Rather, facts come naturally to the memory of students as they flesh out the details of a conceptual model. If students comprehend the details of a conceptual model fully fleshed out, they will have an organizational principle behind the facts, making it easier to remember them and to apply them to real world problems.

Since my approach to teaching emphasizes learning concepts, rather than brute force memorization, my approach to teaching is as a dynamic discourse. The first thing that I do in a class is elicit connections to model concepts from student’s existing experiences, knowledge and intuition. This approach, along with in class activities that further cement the connection between concept and real-world application, creates a positive environment for learning and provides the students a chance to further develop concepts in a nonthreatening environment. At the end of each week I provide for time for student feedback, either in class or by anonymously turning in unsigned descriptions of concepts they have not mastered and why the concepts are difficult to grasp. At the beginning of the following week I provide a review of the difficult concepts together with supplementary material and exercises that allow students to iterate on mastering the difficult concepts. Questions during this process are most welcome and I work to have students ask them free of any perceived intimidation. This process of iteration extends throughout the entire course and for troubling concepts that might have been initially considered on the very first day of class.

My goal is to always teach my students exactly what they need to know to have successful careers. Rambling about topics not related to the material at hand is not acceptable to me. I find the greatest reward in assisting my students in reaching their fullest potential as it relates to the course material and its application to real world problems. Through my teaching and working alongside my students on cutting edge assignments of high relevance to the job market, I aim to prepare students well for additional studies in graduate school or for rewarding careers.