Career Development for Information Professionals

So, here you are at the iSchool. Congrats! Now that things are underway, take advantage of your new community and the many connections within it. Join us for a speaker series over the coming academic year as we explore the many possible career paths open to iSchool graduates. ASIS&T UW, AIMS, and IUGA will each host three speakers per quarter that will feature experienced industry professionals talking about their job roles in the information profession, how they got there, and what they do on a day to day basis. Lunch will be provided!

Oct 18th – REI

Will be a panel from REI — members to be announced

Samantha Starmer leads the cross-channel Experience, Design and Information Architecture teams at REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.). Her passion is evangelizing and creating holistic customer experiences across channels, time and devices. She regularly teaches at the University of Washington’s Information School, and enjoys leading workshops, presenting and generally being active in the experience and design communities.  You can follow Samantha on Twitter via @samanthastarmer.

Nov 1st – BlueKai

led by R. Bale

Sanjeevi Sturges is a recent graduate of the Master of Science in Information Management program at the University of Washington.  During the program, she started an internship at BlueKai and since graduating earlier this year, has continued to apply information management principles as one of BlueKai’s full-time Classifiers.  Within BlueKai’s taxonomy and classification team Sanjeevi specializes in project management and providing first class customer service to internal stakeholders.

Joel Shapiro graduated from the University of Washington in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Informatics with a focus in Human Computer Interaction. He built the video production department at the Daily of the University of Washington and was a long-term Intern at Apple while in school. Currently he is an Interaction Designer and Web Developer at BlueKai and a freelance designer/developer for small businesses, web startups, and number of popular technology blogs.

Tyler Scott has taught “Current Practices in Technical Communication” (HCDE 421) in the Technical Writing and Editing Certificate program for the Professional and Continuing Education program at the University of Washington and “Introduction to Technical Writing” (HCDE 231) for the Department of Human Centered Design and Engineering. He has Bachelor of Arts degrees in English Literature and Philosophy and a Master of Science degree in Human Centered Design & Engineering from the University of Washington. He is currently a User Experience Engineer for BlueKai and freelance design consultant.

Robert Bale currently works at BlueKai as a Taxonomist, leveraging his MS degree in Information Management from the University of Washington. Also holding a BS in Speech & Hearing Sciences and a BA in Linguistics, he has worked in audio production for a voice portal, AolByPhone, and coordinated clinical research at the UW. He remains perpetually intrigued by topics of linked data, semantic web, and personal information/identity management.

Nov 15th – Boeing

led by Kevin Cushman

Kevin is currently an Enterprise Information Architect in the Boeing Information Technology (IT) Enterprise Architecture (EA) group. During his 20-years at Boeing he has worked for two years in 747/767 Manufacturing Engineering, three years in 747/767 Tool Design Engineering, eight years in Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) Information Systems and seven years in Boeing IT.

As a Data Management Specialist in BCA Information Systems Kevin held technical leadership positions within the Define and Control Airplane Configuration/Manufacturing Resource Management (DCAC/MRM) Data Conversion organization, DCAC/MRM Integrated Design Team (IDT) and BCA Information System Transformation (IST) program.

Since the formation of Boeing IT in 2004, Kevin has worked as an Information Architect and subsequently an Enterprise Information Architect supporting the 787 program, many application development projects and maturation of the Information Architecture discipline in Boeing. In his role, he focuses on a wide variety of subjects including:  enterprise information architecture, enterprise information management, Kevin is currently an Enterprise Information Architect in the Boeing Information Technology (IT) Enterprise Architecture (EA) group. During his 20-years at Boeing he has worked for two years in 747/767 Manufacturing Engineering, three years in 747/767 Tool Design Engineering, eight years in Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) Information Systems and seven years in Boeing IT.

As a Data Management Specialist in BCA Information Systems Kevin held technical leadership positions within the Define and Control Airplane Configuration/Manufacturing Resource Management (DCAC/MRM) Data Conversion organization, DCAC/MRM Integrated Design Team (IDT) and BCA Information System Transformation (IST) program.

Since the formation of Boeing IT in 2004, Kevin has worked as an Information Architect and subsequently an Enterprise Information Architect supporting the 787 program, many application development projects and maturation of the Information Architecture discipline in Boeing. In his role, he focuses on a wide variety of subjects including:  enterprise information architecture, enterprise information management, data warehousing, business intelligence, governance, data quality, information asset management, master data management, content management, enterprise architecture and process development.

Beyond his normal assignments, Kevin has worked to stretch himself through continuing education, leadership development and university relations activities. Kevin graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) from the University of North Dakota, in 1994 with a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from Seattle University and in 2005 with a Master of Science in Information Management (MSIM) from the University of Washington.

Kevin is a 2008 graduate of BCA’s Leadership Development Excellence (LDE) program. He is the Boeing University Relations focal to the University of Washington Information School (2006-present) and also a member of the Information School’s Informatics/MSIM Advisory Board (2009-present).

Kevin is married to Kelly, they have one child (Kimberly – 2) and they live in Seattle, WA.