Careers in Mathematics Conference and Section NExT Symposium

Featuring:

• Presentations about mathematically focused career opportunities from leading professionals.
• A panel discussion with professionals in actuarial work, finance, statistics, government, education, and career services.
• A Section NExT symposium. Please indicate on the registration form if you wish to participate.

Registration

Online registration has closed, but you can still register on-site the day of the conference. The cost to register on-site is $30, which includes lunch. Only cash or check is accepted for on-site registration. (The cost for a non-participating chaperone of a K12 student is $10, which also includes lunch.)

Directions

All events are held in Boehm Science Center.

Get Directions to the parking lot.

Schedule

Panelists

• Kevin Byrnes, Senior Investment Analyst, DuPont Capital Management
• Greg Coxson, Radar Engineer, United States Naval Academy
• Kerri Gardi, Director of the Career Development Center, Kutztown University
• John Jablonski, Lead Data Scientist, Accenture
• Jeffrey Lienert, Advanced Fellow in Health Services Research, Philadelphia VA Medical Center and University of Pennsylvania
• Alex Nakahara, Senior Quantitative Analyst, Philadelphia Phillies
• Gaius Owie, Associate Director R&D Advanced Analytics, Janssen/Johnson&Johnson
• Rachael Poyar, Cryptologic Mathematician, NSA
• Joseph Ritzko, Data Science Analyst, LMI
• Maria Rodriguez, Senior Underwriter, Independence Blue Cross
• Natalie Wicker, Supply Chain Manager, Bimbo Bakeries
• Lauren Williams, Biostatistician, Everest Clinical Research
• Patrick Wiltrout, Principal Software Engineer, Freewheel (Comcast)
• Hank Youngerman, Actuary (retired)
• Ashley Zimmerman, Mathematics Teacher, Millersburg Area School District
• Cody Zimmerman, Demand Analyst, Retail Business Services, an Ahold Delhaize company

Panelist Biographies

Click here for a PDF version of the biographies.

• Kevin Byrnes
  • Kevin received his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Johns Hopkins University, where he studied combinatorial optimization under Alan J. Goldman. Since 2009 he has worked in the finance industry: as a quantitative analyst at a hedge fund, vice president at T. Rowe Price, and presently as a senior investment analyst at DuPont Capital Management, where he researches quantitative equity strategies and portfolio construction models. Outside of work he enjoys researching problems at the interface of graph and coding theory, and spending time with his daughter Zoe.
• Greg Coxson
  • Greg is a radar engineer who enjoys encountering mathematical problems in his work. He is currently serving on the faculty of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Previously, he worked as a radar engineer, first at Hughes Radar Systems, then at Lockheed Martin, Technology Service Corporation, and the Naval Research Lab. He has a long association with the Mathematical Association of America, having served as an officer in the MAA special interest group on Mathematics in Business, Industry and Government (BIG SIGMAA) and on the Board of Governors. He has graduate degrees in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, and bachelor degrees in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Virginia.
• Kerri Gardi
  • Kerri is the Director of the Career Development Center at Kutztown University, with the mission of engaging and empowering students to find professionally rewarding careers. She provides oversight of a comprehensive career development center by managing administrative functions including human, fiscal, and programmatic resources. Kerri develops, manages, and evaluates services and programs for students, families, employers, staff, and faculty.
• John Jablonski
  • John completed his undergraduate studies in Mathematics at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. He went on to complete his graduate studies at Lamar University working under Dr. William Ted Mahavier. After completing his education, John began work at Accenture LLP as a data analyst in the procurement BPO space. During this time John was awarded two patents for his work in predictive analytics and led collaborative research projects with Duke University and Vanderbilt University to drive business performance improvements using machine learning. John is still at Accenture and works in the programmatic marketing industry as the lead data scientist on the Data & Applied Intelligence team.
• Jeffrey Lienert
  • Jeff is an Advanced Fellow in Health Services Research at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center and University of Pennsylvania. He received his PhD in social epidemiology from the University of Oxford. His research focuses mainly on the social network determinants of health, and has developed mathematical tools to examine social networks. He has built web-scraping algorithms both for research and business purposes, which have used both machine learning and standard statistical methods. He also applied these and other methods to electronic medical records, aiming to advance the precision medicine initiative by using routinely-collected health care data in novel ways.
• Alex Nakahara
  • Alex Nakahara joined the Philadelphia Phillies in 2017 as a Senior Quantitative Analyst in Baseball Research and Development (R&D), creating analyses, models, and tools for understanding and visualizing data for the Baseball Operations department. Baseball R&D supports a variety of areas including both professional and amateur scouting, player development, player acquisition, and the major league coaching staff. The department relies on analysts who have both the mathematical ability to build models and the communication skills to discuss them with coaches, scouts, and players who may not have a technical background. He previously worked for four years at Northrop Grumman as a systems engineer in a variety of roles including as the lead researcher for several air traffic control research and development projects. He received a BSE in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010 and a MS from MIT in Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2012.
• Gaius Owie
  • Gaius-Amena Owie currently works as a Data Scientist and Statistical Modeler at Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Johnson and Johnson, where he builds artificial intelligence models for project forecasting of clinical trials, reinforcement models for criterial selection of trial complexity, and sensitivity models for early drug development tests. He is an active member of the Data and Statistical Society (DASS) at Johnson and Johnson. Previously, Gaius worked at a contract research organization (CRO) where he built stochastic models (i.e., geometric Brownian motion and Monte Carlo simulation) to estimate the risk inherent in the cost of drug development trials from phases 1 through 3. Gaius also worked at a software company as a software engineer where he developed software that bridged the gap between patients, doctors and the pharmaceutical companies using VB.net. Gaius earned a B.S. in Mathematics at Indiana University and a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Benin in Nigeria.
• Rachael Poyar
  • Rachael is a team lead in Cryptographic Algorithm Evaluation at the National Security Agency. In her job, she works with mathematicians, computer scientists, and men and women of many talents to analyze and improve the security of the nation through understanding and evaluating cryptography. Rachael has worked at the NSA since 2012, beginning her career in the Cryptanalysis Development Program, gaining experience in signals analysis, reverse engineering, data analysis, and programming. She has taught short courses at the agency in Voice over Internet Protocol technologies and cryptographic hashes. She has also served in officer roles in the Women in Mathematics Society, a group at NSA committed to enhancing the agency as a workplace that is welcoming to a diverse group of mathematicians, and she helps with recruitment and interviewing. Rachael has a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Religion from Moravian College, a M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Delaware, and a M.Ed. from the University of Delaware in Education.
• Joseph Ritzko
  • Joe is a Data Science Analyst at LMI (Logistics Management Institute), where he analyzes inventory data using Python and Excel. This includes creating relational databases, using machine learning techniques, cleaning and validating data, and analyzing item demand patterns and inventory policies behavior through simulations. Before starting his position at LMI, he was a fleet mechanic for Ronnie C. Folk Paving, Inc., where he managed a small repair shop. Joe has a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania where he was a supplemental instructor for several semesters. Joe still does research with professors from Kutztown University studying various topics.
• Maria Rodriguez
  • Maria has been a Senior Underwriter for Independence Blue Cross for the last three years. Independence is the leading health insurance company in the Philadelphia area, serving more than 2.5 million people in the region and 8 million nationwide. Her responsibilities include preparing and reviewing various ratings, analyzing cases, and employing various underwriting risk assessment techniques. Her primary focus is on larger national accounts in both retention and new business cases. She has six years of experience in the underwriting industry. Prior to her work at Independence, Maria worked for another large health insurer, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, for three years. She is a 2013 graduate of Kutztown University with a B.S. in Applied Mathematics.
• Natalie Wicker
  • Natalie is a Supply Chain Manager for Acelerada, a startup division of Bimbo Bakeries USA. Natalie focuses on the end-to-end supply chain of warehouse distribution. She leads the analysis and implementation of all new Acelerada product introductions, acting as the operational and financial liaison between all internal teams. This includes P&L modeling, packaging solutions, optimizing current supply chain processes, as well as overseeing supply chain system integration. Natalie has 8 years of experience in supply chain management, including inventory management, purchasing, logistics, and warehouse management systems. She graduated with a B.S. in Mathematics from Kutztown University class of 2013.
• Lauren Williams
  • Lauren Williams is a Kutztown University alumna. She graduated in 2014 with a B.S. in Mathematics and a B.S. in Secondary Education with a concentration in Mathematics. After graduating from Kutztown she went on to earn her M.S. in Statistics from the University of Virginia in 2016 while concurrently teaching undergraduate Statistics courses at UVA. Lauren started out working as intern for a small biotech company called Ophthotech. Then she went on to be a survey statistician for Columbia University on the PHIA Project. In September of 2017 she started working at a contract research organization called Everest Clinical Research Corporation as a Biostatistician. At Everest, Lauren provides support for many aspects of clinical trials, from study design to statistical analysis to programming.
• Patrick Wiltrout
  • After graduating as a Mathematics major from Kutztown University in 2012, Patrick was hired as a Java programmer at Penske Truck Leasing. Penske taught him all the basics of how to code in an enterprise environment with Java, Javascript, and basic HTML. He spent his time at Penske supporting the customer-facing Penske Truck Rental web application. In 2014, he left Penske to work for Comcast as a Software Engineer. Patrick now works for Freewheel, a Comcast company that provides comprehensive ad platforms for publishers, advertisers, and media buyers. He works with the ad performance data to provide clean datasets for the Business Analytics team.
• Hank Youngerman
  • Hank is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, an Associate in Risk Management, and a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist. He retired in 2014 after a 37-year career in the property- casualty insurance industry, where he worked in a variety of functional areas and as a company actuary and a consultant. He has been published in trade journals and is also a Life Master of the American Contract Bridge League.
• Ashley Zimmerman
  • Ashley is in her 6th year of teaching mathematics for the Millersburg Area School District. She works with students in grades 6-12 at a variety of levels from Pre-Algebra to Calculus and is also the 6-12 gifted teacher. While still an undergraduate, she competed in math modeling competitions and completed an REU at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio researching the growth of algebraic groups that are defined by an automaton. After earning her Bachelor’s degree from Kutztown University in 2012, she first taught for the Clark County School District in Nevada before heading back to the east coast. She will earn her Master’s of Science in Mathematics from Emporia State University in May.
• Cody Zimmerman
  • After completing his undergraduate degree at Kutztown University in applied and pure mathematics, Cody began working with AholdUSA (the parent company of the grocery store chains Giant and Stop & Shop) as a forecasting analyst. Utilizing an Oracle-based platform, Retail Demand Forecasting (RDF), he led the successful rollout to all 780 AholdUSA stores as the lead system specialist for the Supply Chain. Leaning into this work and applying his operations research/statistical background, he also implemented a new allocation process, a way to get promotional products into the store prior to their sales, using the RDF forecast, which greatly impacted store service levels, on shelf availability, and sales. After much success of this launch and with the organizational merge into Ahold Delhaize (now the parent company of AholdUSA, Food Lion, and Hannaford), Cody began working for Retail Business Services (shared services across all five banners and Peapod) as a RELEX system specialist. Currently he is working through the functional design of this product, set to merge all forty-one Supply Chain systems into one singular forecasting and replenishment system for the whole company. Outside of work his main loves are his wife Ashley, his dog Marina, fantasy football, board/card games, and video games.

Break-Out Sessions

• Boehm 104 (LinkedIn Workshop and Resume Tips): Gardi (Sessions 1 and 2)
• Boehm 105 (Logistics and Contracting): Ritzko, Wicker, and C. Zimmerman
• Boehm 145 (Government and Education): Coxson, Poyar, and A. Zimmerman
• Boehm 260 (Biostatistics and Healthcare): Lienert, Owie, and Williams
• Boehm 261 (Data Science and Software): Jablonski, Nakahara, and Wiltrout
• Boehm 262 (Finance/Actuarial Science): Byrnes, Rodriguez, and Youngerman

More Information

For more information, contact:

• Brian Kronenthal - kronenthal@kutztown.edu
• Eric Landquist - elandqui@kutztown.edu
• Tony Wong - wong@kutztown.edu