A Little Bit About Me

Born in Puerto Rico and raised in a sleepy town just north of Tampa, FL, I obtained my high school education and undergraduate education from institutions within the area--Tampa Catholic and the University of South Florida, respectively.  Apart from my formal education (more on that later) I have many passions and hobbies that I have honed over the years.  One such passion is mechanics.  I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to spend close to two years as a mechanic at a local dealership group working on a variety of European marques and accruing numerous automotive certifications during that time.  That experience has transformed into a pass-time that I practice regularly with my own vehicles and even acts as a source of stress release. One of my other pursuits is photography.  While I've never had the opportunity to work as a paid or "pro" photographer, I have taken the effort to refine my abilities over the years.  This passion can traced back to my father as he taught me the fundamentals of photography and taught me how to observe the world through a view finder.  

After obtaining my bachelors degree in Geography from USF, I was hired by the Pasco Sheriff's Office as a GIS Analyst to restructure and establish modern geospatial capabilities for the agency.  At the time of my appointment, the agency's mapping capabilities were minimal and were relegated to secondary duty.  Essentially, it was an "if we get to it" assignment.  Within a few months, I had transformed the mapping from rudimentary and simplistic to an effective and tactically useful product.  My products were being received and consumed by almost every member of the agency and did not go unnoticed by the executive staff.  As a result of the work that I completed, I was tasked with creating documents to support validation of a budgetary increase.  These documents were presented to the State of Florida Legislature and subsequently approved by the state.  This work earned me recognition from the Sheriff as well as executive staff and changed the way the agency viewed my work. 

 As the position evolved and the demands of the agency increased, my desire to enhance the final products also heightened.  I began researching and developing new methods to extract information out of the mountains of data that I had available to me.  During this time, I was also completing a graduate certificate from Penn State University's World Campus concentrating in Geospatial Intelligence.  This program instituted the fundamentals of deriving spatial intelligence from information that was gathered in a variety of means and taught me how to apply it to my daily duties.  Upon completion of the GEOINT program and after having numerous prominent successes with the implementation of advanced data mining and intelligence extraction techniques, my position was reclassified to GIS Intelligence Analyst.  Concurrently, the unit also changed its focus from a retroactive analysis unit to a proactive intelligence focused unit.

With the expanded roles of the unit came new and different roles for my position.  My primary responsibilities upon the change in focus was the automation of existing daily products using tools such as ModelBuilder and Python.  By automating these tasks, I was able to free up the a good portion of my day to facilitate the needs and requirements of the newly formed division.  Apart from my daily duties, with the help of my colleagues, I was able to expand the capabilities of the agency in ways never before thought of.  We took on a more 'experimental' approach and I was able to establish a 'Research and Development' style to the geospatial product deliveries that we were producing as a team.  We had some excellent success, and we had some even more awesome failures.  But, the bottom line is that in the two and a half years that I was in my position, I helped establish new capabilities and completely reinvent what the agency was capable of.

Since leaving the PSO in 2012 and moving with my family to Las Vegas, NV I have had one primary focus: completing my masters degree from the University of Southern California.  I started the program shortly before leaving Florida, and since arriving in our new home it became my 'job.'  I completed the bulk of the course work within a twelve month period before tackling the thesis portion of the degree.  The thesis was far and away the toughest thing I've ever had the pleasure to be a part of.  In the end, the document was over 18,000 words and over 90 pages.  The amount of work that this project taxed on me is beyond comprehension.  But, beyond all that, I can say that I completed it and successfully defended it as required by USC.

Where I'm at Currently

.Since completing my masters degree, I've moved on to the next portion of this evolution: finding a job.  And, if I'm honest, that's why you're here.  At some point or another our paths have crossed and you'd like to know if I'm a good fit.  Hopefully by reading through this site, you'll get a better understanding of what makes me, me and why I'd be an excellent addition.

 

"Ohh, the future... I can tell you about the future."

Unfortunately, I'm not Doc Brown and I don't have a time machine made out of a DeLorean.  What this means is that I don't really know what the future holds for me or for anyone else.  The one thing that I do know is that I've done what I think is the right thing in order to give my family and myself the best possible chances to succeed.  I'm dedicated to a fault and have a strong desire to be the best in any task I do.  It's who I am, and while I know that sometimes it can be my undoing, it's a trait that I'm proud of and take full advantage of (by the way, if you're wondering, I can trace this trait directly to my mother).  I am, at times, my own worst enemy since I never think my work is detailed enough or sufficiently meticulous.  Because of these traits, I feel like my future is bright and that I've done all I can to give myself the best opportunities to succeed.