ISC service(s) or programs/projects:
- For HireIT: AV Manager, Operations Management Team, Web development manager (administering WordPress sites for Wellness, VP Student Engagement, Civic House and other HireIT clients), Zoom Admin; managed early/middle stages of HireIT return to campus during pandemic
- Member of Zoom Working Group, URL Defense team, DE&I Environments group
Length of time in ISC: Joined ISC in 2019 and Penn in 2012
Previous work experience: I provided IT support in Penn's Perelman School of Medicine for seven-and-a-half years. Prior to that, I ran a small company providing IT support for small businesses and residential customers in Philadelphia and its collar counties. I’m a proud Pitt (University of Pittsburgh) grad!
Tell us about a challenge at Penn that made you proud to be part of ISC.
I’m very proud of the select ISC team that was working on campus pre-vaccination — a bunch of people who wanted to help on campus in the middle of that show-stopping human event. It was a hugely successful 2020 under very stressful conditions: many VIPs, student-facing missions, bespoke apps, and a risky return to campus. For one of our new client groups, my team had to order and ship the machines, then set up and support live people they had never met, completely virtually — and they did an absolutely stellar job!
What’s an interesting technical or business problem you’ve faced with ISC?
I love interacting with and managing people, and getting them excited about supporting the mission of our clients. I get especially excited about PennNet — dissecting network problems, and building the relationships across the organization necessary to fix them.
What do you like best about working with clients?
Getting to know them and their mission. It’s also the best way to make work easy — to understand what the user needs to do. If you can understand why that person is doing what they’re doing, you’re more likely to solve their problem.
How has the pandemic changed the way you approach your role?
The pandemic hit seven months after I started, and a month of that was paternity leave time. There’s never been a dull moment since. HireIT’s natural state is to want to be together, so overall the team is eager to fully rejoin life on campus.
What are you passionate about in your free time?
Definitely family — now with another new baby. I’m passionate about music, and I love to sneak away to a concert when I can. I do some gardening with my wife; we love to cook and drink good beer together. When I can, I love to go bass fishing. Whether you catch anything or not, any day you can get the line wet is a good day.
What else would you most like people at Penn to know about you?
I’d like to meet you! I love to meet people and discover their interesting stories. At Penn there’s such a diversity of professions and backgrounds and even native countries. It’s a pleasure to talk with folks here with such ease and learn from their experience and expertise.