• Undergraduate Institution: Appalachian State University
• Position: Network Management Technology Group
• Company: Cisco Systems
• Industry Sector: Information technology
• Date Submitted: 12/05

What he does:

• He first worked for Entergy Services in the Performance Measurement and Analysis group as a Capacity Planner, gathering various utilization statistics on Unix, NT, and MVS systems and using them to do modeling and trending analysis so the company could proactively ensure all service level agreements with customers were met.
• His second job was working for Science Applications International Corporation on a project for the Department of Defense. His primary work areas were in the fields of distributed computing and application integration.
• His third and current job is working for Cisco Systems. For Cisco, he has worked in the Optical Transport Business Unit (OTBU) on software that configures Cisco's optical switches such as the 15454, 15327, 15600, and 15310. After working for two years in the OTBU he decided to work in the Network Management Technology Group (NMTG) and work on one of Cisco's Element Management Systems called the Cisco Transport Manager (CTM). Now he is currently working for NMTG on bringing the technology of Sheer Networks, a company Cisco recently acquired, to Cisco's customers.

Math on the job:

• Cris says that, "undergraduate and (especially) graduate mathematics is mostly theory. The truth is most of this is not directly useful in my career path. Mathematics does however excel as mental exercise. It enables you to be a 'self learner' and acquire new skills needed by employers. In most cases these skills will be relatively easy compared to advanced mathematics."
• Calculus and Linear Algebra have been directly useful to him, "for example, when programming a graphical user interface, in order to make use of the two or three dimensional APIs you will need your mathematics skills as the APIs assume familiarity with Linear Algebra."

Education:

• Cris has a bachelor's degree in mathematics and a minor in computer science. He also has a master's degree in mathematics from the University of Tennessee.
• Cris enjoyed studying mathematics and was successful with it. His favorite mathematical experience at ASU was the support he received from approachable and friendly faculty. If pressed for one experience he really enjoyed, "I really enjoyed when Appalachian brought in a visiting professor, Professor Xie, from China to teach Optimal Control Theory. His English was terrible, but most times when he wrote his mathematics on the board it was crystal clear. I still remember going to Dr. Anderson [his favorite professor] and saying, "Hey remember the technique you showed us for calculating exp(At)? Wait till you see how Professor Xie does it!"

Advice for students:

• Cris says, "I have known people fresh out of undergrad or graduate school that seemed to adopt the attitude that they do not have to learn anymore. When layoff time came many of these people were let go as they simply did not keep up. No matter what you majored in this attitude is a bad idea. It is especially bad if you are a math major. Remember most of the mathematics you learn may not be directly related to what you do. If you adopt the attitude that you will never stop learning and you regularly acquire new and useful skills you will go far!"