Richard
Operations Research Associate Consultant, Princeton Office
Education
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
S.M. in Ocean Systems Management, 2004
Activities at MIT: Intramural Softball, Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
WEBB INSTITUTE
B.S. in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, 2003
Hometown
Princeton Junction, NJ
ZS Career Path
Operations Research Analyst, 2005
Operations Research Associate Consultant, 2007
On the work
"I worked on a project for a large pharmaceutical client to develop a software tool that would allow the client's hospital sales force to evaluate physicians' prescribing potential based on a simple survey about the physician. Prior to becoming part of this project team, I had been responsible for maintaining the earlier version of the tool and generating the management reports associated with it. Now my role involved transitioning the data from the old tool to the new tool, redesigning the reports to incorporate the new product and other changes associated with the new version of the tool, as well as performing analysis to verify the algorithm for the old survey questions and to run regression analysis to develop the algorithm for the new survey questions. The project required that I be versatile, working with a Consultant and Business Associate on the market research, an Operations Research Consultant on the algorithm development, a Business Information Specialist Consultant on the data migration, and with the Software Development team on the new software. Now the software is in the field, being used successfully, and I am responsible for providing help desk support to the client."
On ZS values
Treat People Right: "I had the opportunity to work one on one with a manager developing a call plan for a small startup pharmaceutical company. With one product of their own and another product they co-promoted with a larger partner, the client wanted us to provide for them a list of physicians their sales force would call. I was responsible for writing the code that would process the sales data and produce the necessary list of physicians. Working one-on-one with the manager was a great experience, especially since he had started with ZS as an Operation Research Analyst. Not only did he help me understand the concepts behind the project, but when the work load got heavy he sat down beside me and began writing code as well."
On life outside work
"Outside of work it's obviously important to be able to have time to pursue my personal interests. I am an avid sports fan and play golf and intramural softball with the ZS team. As shown by the strong turnout at every softball game, ZS is a great group of people with whom I can socialize outside of the office. However, I am also engrossed by writing. After finishing graduate school I took a year off to write a novel. I hadn't quite finished it yet when I took the position with ZS, and despite the sometimes long hours, I was able to finish it within a few months of joining. I haven't published it yet, but hope to have that happen someday. As of now, I still find time away from work to continue writing and to placate my desire for fiction, reading several novels a month."
On the Princeton office
"I grew up in the Princeton area, so after having spent five years away for school, I was able to return to familiar surroundings. My family lives only a few miles away and I am able to see them several times a week. Princeton has a dual nature where you can enjoy the town atmosphere by taking a walk down Nassau Street or going to a nice restaurant and you can also enjoy the suburban atmosphere where you can get away to a park, find a nice golf course, or go hiking or biking along the canal. Yet, if you can't find what you want in Princeton and you want to do something in the city, you are only an hour away from both Philadelphia and New York."