Profile
Graduated: May, 2004
After Siena: Spent five years with New York State. Four with the Department of Civil Service, and one with the Office of the Attorney General
Currently: Application Developer with Sports Technologies LLC in Canton, CT
Major: Computer Science
Hometown: Latham, NY
Webpage: http://hmark6.com
Question & Answer
What do you do?With Sports Technologies, I design, develop, and support fantasy sports games and communities on the Web for world-class brands such as NFL.com, NASCAR.com, and SportsIllustrated.com. Our games are marked by ergonomic user-interfaces based upon current Web Standards compliance. We design easy-to-play yet challenging-to-master fantasy games that are built using state-of-the-art tools and technologies. Our community Web platforms distribute aggregated news and stat feeds, editorial blogs, and live in-game commenting, and retain users by allowing them to form niche user groups and networks. Our goal is to drive communication and competition to exciting levels across the communities we build and interface with other online services and communities.
How did Siena prepare you for your career/graduate work?It is a fast-paced industry—to say the least. Technologies change dramatically or even become obsolete as quickly as one tries to learn them. Siena prepared me to learn at the speed of business.
What was your favorite course at Siena?
Looking back it is System Administration, since it was the class that most closely resembled a real-world learning environment, but in the moment I was fond of Digital Electronics.
What was your most remarkable experience at Siena?It's very difficult to single out just one. From witnessing the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center among my peers, to meeting my wife; I certainly covered the entire spectrum of remarkable experiences while at Siena.
Why did you choose to major in CS?The entry-level income is what drew me to the major, but what kept me there for four years, was the diverse fields of study each of which was breaking new ground as we were studying it. No offense, to our math friends but Calculus hasn't changed much in centuries.
What is the best thing about the Siena CS department?Their accessibility. Not just the faculty, either, everyone from current students to the Department Chair are all well-connected with each other. It's a community you simply can't find at larger, public institutions.
