Category: Personal Thoughts

May 2, 2020May 2, 2020Personal Thoughts, Systems Models

A Different Perspective on COVID Numbers?

Since I have more time on my hands than I really wanted or planned, I’ve been working through various analysis and visualization options in the R statistics ecosystem. The latest exploration exploits the fine data collection that the NY Times makes publicly available at its […]

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I’ve been privileged to work on many projects, studies, designs and commercial ventures in many fields … and I’ve worked with impressive set of collaborators.

Until recently, I was bogged down as President of my HOA. Freed from those obligations, I can refocus. This blog has been on my roadmap for a couple of years, but I’m only now finding time to bring it to life.

See my “About” profile to understand where a lot of these ideas come from. In particular, I’ve been working with “systems” my entire (nearly 50 year) career. Over that time I was privileged (or cursed) to deal with complex systems in a wide range of settings and activities: Multiple industries. Academics. Multiple disciplines within organizations.

Added: Now that I’m formally retired, this is my “professional memoir” … where I can share random insights that I picked up and I can analyze current events in terms of my understanding about the systems issues that drive them. After working with so many different problems, new situations usually remind me of stuff I saw or did in some previous context.

Vic Uzumeri, PhD

P.S. This site is dedicated to my son David … who has an equally keen (albeit very different) understanding of complex systems.

This article derives from my long-held interest in exploring video technology as a routine business tool … not just entertainment. For example:

Using video for day-to-day problem-solving
Using video to enhance operational models
Building video e-Learning training tools

25 years ago, these were futuristic dreams. Now they’re mainstream. Witness the YouTube “how-to” videos that most companies feel obligated to make for their customers.

A Maverick's View of Higher Education

I spent 25 years in higher education: four years as a PhD candidate at Rensellaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and 21 years on faculty at Auburn University School of Business. My experience was a bit schisophrenic:

I deeply love the concept and practice of classical academia … both research and teaching.
I’m very disillusioned with the “industry” that American Higher Education has become … both research and teaching.

For 20 years, I looked for any way to reconcile and please both masters … and I ultimately failed.

Nonetheless, my desperation caused me to look at strange things in weird places and I still believe that some of the ideas I explored would make a positive difference.

Whether the Higher Education Industry would tolerate these improvements is another matter.

iPOV Backstory

How to run a small, high tech business … with no money and both hands tied behind our back.

From about 1998 to 2018, I was a founder and CEO of a small, bootstrap technology company named interactive Point of View (iPOV). I ran it while I simultaneously taught at Auburn and for a while after I retired from Academia. It lasted longer than many small businesses and it had more than its share of ups and downs.

What I value most from the experience are the lessons that I learned. iPOV was a pure bootstrap tech company. Virtually no capital investment. Everything was built by sweat equity and the proceeds from selling services to Fortune-100 class companies. We grew, lived and died almost solely on fees for services rendered … paid in arrears and only when the job was well done. Over a 10 year period from 2000 to 2010, the company earned about $4M and I ploughed at least half of that back into R&D trying to stay up with the big boys. For quite a while, we could stay even, but not pull ahead.

That is about as tough a business course as there is. We were always on the verge of failing … but we stubbornly refused to die. In the process, we helped at least 50 students pay their way through Auburn … most going on to great careers in a wide range of fields. Many are still Facebook friends.