25+ Year Innovation Arc

Academic Rigor Meets Industry Innovation

Platform Architect → Community Builder → Academic-Industry Bridge → Experiential Learning Pioneer

My journey from platform consulting to Red Hat engineering to Boston University research has shaped a unique perspective on responsible AI integration, community building, and cross-domain innovation transfer.

The Innovation Pattern

Gap Identification → Institution Building → Sustainable Community Transfer

1

Gap Identification

Recognizing unmet community needs and emerging cross-domain opportunities

2

Institution Building

Creating sustainable frameworks, methodologies, and community structures

3

Sustainable Transfer

Transitioning successful implementations to community ownership and broader adoption

Career Progression

2021–present

Clinical Assistant Professor & BU Spark! Technical Director

Boston University

Faculty member at Boston University’s Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences, providing strategic technical leadership for experiential learning ecosystem serving ~600 students annually across 65-70 industry projects per semester. Direct teaching load of ~140 students per year across data science and engineering courses.

25+ Years

Cross-Domain Innovator

Multiple

Demonstrated consistent pattern of identifying emerging gaps, developing innovative solutions, and transitioning successful implementations to sustainable community ownership. Expertise spans platform architecture, educational innovation, standards development, and community building.

2020

Academic-Industry Bridge

Red Hat / Boston University

Strategic career pivot from Red Hat Technical Marketing leadership to academic innovation. Chose mission-driven educational impact over continued corporate advancement, bringing enterprise platform expertise to experiential learning and curriculum development.

2012–2020

Red Hat Platform Architect

Red Hat

Nine-year progression from Developer Advocate to RHEL Platform Architect—the sole architect responsible for all developer-focused tools and features across the enterprise Linux platform. One of 7 RHEL architects coordinating the complete ecosystem. Led platform strategy enabling multiple software versions without system conflicts, technology that became RHEL AppStreams. Transitioned to Principal Technical Marketing Manager during academic career preparation.

2008–2012

Consulting Leader & Startup Co-founder

FishJump Consulting / OHO Interactive / Startups

Founded FishJump Consulting practice serving enterprise clients including DNSstuff, Elsevier, NYPTI, and 7th Generation. Brief Chief Architect role at OHO Interactive leading technical innovation and client architecture. Concurrent startup co-founding: iBrowse (e-commerce platform with k-means clustering) and vrevo (vacation rental technology, COO role).

1997–2008

Consultant & Technical Leader

GE Corporate R&D / RAD Inc. / NetNumina/Keane

Advanced through technical consulting roles from individual contributor to executive leadership across multiple organizations: GE Corporate R&D (RHI Consulting, speech recognition/news summarization), RAD Inc. (NYS Office of Mental Health patient management systems), leading to NetNumina/Keane executive progression.

2000–2008

VP Innovation

NetNumina/Keane

Rapid progression from consultant to VP Innovation at major IT services company (acquired by Keane, ~$1.1B revenue). VP Innovation with full P&L responsibility for boutique IT consulting practice (~400 people), reporting directly to CEO. Coordinated architecture and ROI analyses for major clients. Strategic exit following principled disagreement with corporate direction—board validated position by replacing CEO six months later.

College Era

AI Researcher

Independent / College

Self-directed AIDS prediction research using neural networks, securing independent grants and presenting at major mathematics conferences. Featured in Albany Times Union for innovative application of emerging AI technologies to epidemiological modeling.

Signature Capabilities

Distinctive strengths developed across 25+ years of innovation leadership

🌐

Cross-Domain Innovation

25+ year pattern of identifying unmet community needs and building sustainable institutions.

Examples:

  • DevConf.US founding
  • TRACE methodology
  • AI attribution standards
🏢

Academic-Industry Translation

Unique positioning bridging Red Hat platform expertise with educational innovation requirements.

Examples:

  • BU Spark! ecosystem
  • Linux Foundation partnerships
  • Industry project coordination
👥

Community Building Excellence

Proven track record of creating inclusive, sustainable technology communities.

Examples:

  • 40%+ women speakers at DevConf.US
  • Fedora Council governance
  • BOSSI meetup
💡

Methodological Innovation

Creating transferable frameworks across domains with measurable impact.

Examples:

  • TRACE for journalism
  • GenAI integration protocols
  • Software Collections architecture

Current Impact at Scale

👥

600+

Students Annually in Industry Projects

📚

130+

Active Industry Partnerships

🏆

25+

Years Innovation Leadership

Strategic technical leadership for experiential learning ecosystem with hands-on engagement for highest-impact initiatives—similar to CTO role at mid-sized consultancy. Technical accountability and quality oversight across full portfolio.

Philosophy & Approach

"By putting the means to create and use software in the hands of anyone who wants access to it, we remove arbitrary barriers to entry. Every innovation should create bridges, not walls."

Consistent focus on democratizing technology access, building inclusive communities, and creating transferable methodologies that benefit entire ecosystems rather than individual organizations.

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