by info-services@infotechinc.com | Jun 5, 2019 | Blog
One of Infotech Consulting’s Summer 2019 Interns, Tirza Angerhofer, sat down to answer a couple of critical questions about her academic interests, her internship expectations, and her desired superpower. Check out this interview to get a glimpse of the next generation.
What university are you attending and what is your area of study?
University: University of Florida
Major: Economics, International Studies
What drew you to that area of study?
Initially, I began my college career as a business major studying Information System. In the last semester of my Freshman year, I began working for Dr. Roger Blair in the economics department who has had a huge influence on my major decision. It was through this job that I discovered my interest in economics, antitrust, mathematics, and statistics.
What has been your favorite course outside of your area of study?
My favorite class outside of Economics and International Studies was Principles of Entomology. Nature is a part of my childhood. I grew up around it and my family would always take vacations to National Parks. Learning about insects brought me back into that world and allowed me to learn about creatures that are not well understood but play a huge role in the ecosystem.
What are you hoping to gain, learn or experience during your Infotech Consulting internship?
When I leave Infotech Consulting for the last time, I hope that I can carry with me knowledge about data analytics and case development, but even more so I hope to gain a sense of pride that as an intern at Infotech Consulting, was able to be a part of cases, whose lasting impacts are much bigger than anything I could accomplish on my own.
Do you have any pets? What kind and what are their names?
I have a cat named Maya whose claim to fame is her ability to high five for treats.
If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
Teleportation would allow me to travel anywhere for free and help me save time on my morning commute.
Share a fun fact about yourself.
I can throw someone twice my weight on the ground…with their participation. I have been a part of the judo club at UF for over a year now. Although I don’t stand much chance in a street fight, I hope I have gained enough skills to be able to get away if I need to.
by info-services@infotechinc.com | Jun 5, 2019 | Blog
One of Infotech Consulting’s Summer 2019 Interns, Michael Smith, sat down to answer a couple of critical questions about his academic interests, his internship expectations, and his desired superpower.
Check out this interview to get a glimpse of the next generation.
What university are you attending and what is your area of study?
University: University of Florida
Major: Economics Minor: Leadership
What drew you to that area of study?
Economics classes were always my favorite in high school, so I knew I had a passion for the subject. Plus, I feel like I excelled in those courses as well.
What has been your favorite course outside of your area of study?
Sports, Media, and Society. This class was a really interesting elective I took in the journalism college, and the professor brought in a lot of people from the industry, such as Jeff Darlington, Laura Rutledge, and even former NFL player Chad Johnson.
What are you hoping to gain, learn or experience during your Infotech Consulting internship?
I am really excited about the opportunity to gain more experience working with data. Whether it is managing the data or analyzing the data, I believe these are very powerful skills to master. Additionally, I am excited to be immersed in Infotech Consulting’s culture. Many people here have worked here for decades, and I believe this fact shows Infotech Consulting is a good place to be.
Do you have any pets? What kind and what are their names?
I have two dogs, and they are both puggles. One is named Lulu, and the other is named Tobey.
If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
I think I would definitely have to go with teleportation. Never having to worry about rush hour traffic again is a big plus.
Share a fun fact about yourself.
I love playing basketball, and I have played my entire life. In fact, I actually help the UF women’s basketball team as a practice player.
by info-services@infotechinc.com | Jun 5, 2019 | Blog
One of Infotech Consulting’s Summer 2019 Interns, Erin Connors, sat down to answer a couple of critical questions about her academic interests, her internship expectations, and her desired superpower. Check out this interview to get a glimpse of the next generation.
What university are you attending and what is your area of study?
University: University of Florida
Majors: Statistics and Political Science
Minors: Russian and Math
What drew you to that area of study?
After the 2016 presidential election, I was really interested in election polling and how statistics are used within politics.
What has been your favorite course outside of your area of study?
I took a class that was called the Problem with Political Jokes is That They Get Elected. It was an interdisciplinary honors course where we analyzed political satire and how it affected mainstream politics. There aren’t many classes where your homework is to watch SNL videos!
What are you hoping to gain, learn or experience during your Infotech Consulting internship?
I am really excited to see the application of statistics! In my classes I have had the opportunity to study a lot of statistical theory, but not how the theory is used in an application.
Do you have any pets? What kind and what are their names?
I have a dog named Finn! He’s a French Bulldog and Boston Terrier mix.
If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
Teleportation so I wouldn’t have to drive or fly anywhere ever again.
Share a fun fact about yourself.
After this internship, I’ll be spending my entire academic year abroad – Hong Kong in the Fall and Dublin in the Spring!
by info-services@infotechinc.com | Jan 22, 2019 | Blog
Dr. Jamie McClave Baldwin
In the consulting world, experience is essential. One of the defining pillars of our team is our 500+ years combined experience. Every case provides an opportunity to add to our wealth of knowledge.
With the creation of ever-increasing amounts of data, innovation continues to be an equally important component of our service.
In October, Infotech, Inc. sponsored a three day Hack-A-Thon, an intensive collaboration session bringing talent together from across Infotech to foster innovation. This year Infotech Consulting proposed the development of software to tailor and create customer name and address databases, a key component of class certification data work.
This unique product will provide many benefits to our clients; efficient data work, improved class member identification and expedited claims processing.
This product is the culmination of experience and innovation – solving a real-world problem faced by our clients by bringing our years of experience together with the innovative, solutions-oriented team within the walls of Infotech. The utility is now in the second stage of development with the goal of a prototype available in 2019.
by Jim McClave | Jan 22, 2019 | Blog
Dr. James McClave
I am a self-admitted goal-setting addict. My addiction began in my early thirties when I listened to the motivational tapes – yep, back then we listened to tapes on our car tape players – of Earl Nightingale. “You become what you think about” was Earl’s primary thesis, and it resonated with me. So, I began to focus on what I “thought about” by following his advice to write down goals and review them regularly.
This time of year is especially important for my goal-setting addiction, since I formed the habit of formally revisiting and revising my goals on New Years Day or shortly thereafter, in the tradition of establishing New Year’s resolutions. Several principles guide my goal-setting: no more than five per year, very specific but simply stated, and a combination of business and personal goals. Some advise sharing goals with others, but for me they are my private guideposts. I revisit my goals on a regular basis throughout the year to assess progress, but in no case do I change them until the following year.
I have learned the hard way that some specific wording can backfire. For example, for some years I set the goal of “breaking par” in golf, my lifelong favorite avocation. In 1992 that happened for the first time, and perhaps because of my having been so specific, for the only time to date! More importantly, I have set numerous business goals for Infotech Consulting over the years, both cultural and monetary, and nearly all of them have been met or exceeded. Random chance? Perhaps, but as a statistician, I think chance explanations are often a cop-out.
Pardon me, but I need to get busy on my 2019 goals.
by info-services@infotechinc.com | Jan 22, 2019 | Blog
Janese Nix, Statistical Analyst
What questions can be answered with statistical modeling? We say, “All of them!” And our colleagues around the world agree.
Want to know what basketball team will win March Madness this year? Model it!
Want to know if your bidders are acting competitively? Model it!
Want to find out if our elections were hacked? Model it!
All you need is the right data. That’s where Infotech Consulting comes in. Collecting, mining, sorting, testing, verifying, understanding, and extracting information from data is what we love to do. With quadrillions of bytes of data produced daily, there is certainly no shortage of information. The efficient processing of overwhelming amounts of information is essential to our practice.
We specialize in not only finding and utilizing relationships within data but also finding data resources to expand that understanding. We find the signal in the noise and make the complex simple.
