Rachel A. Pildis phone:708-358-0602
910 N. Taylor Ave. e-mail: rachel@pildis.com
Oak Park, IL 60302 http://www.pildis.com/rachel

Summary:

With a history of learning new technology quickly and providing clean, workable, and well-documented solutions for a variety of problems, I strive to provide high quality leading-edge Internet/intranet applications for world-class organizations.

Employment History:

Leo Burnett USA/re:Sources USA -- Chicago, IL 1999 - present
Development Consultant - 2003-present
Applications Analyst - 1999-2002
  • designed and led development on repeated .NET projects, extending both our codebase and our development methodology to provide on-schedule, well-tested Internet/intranet applications
  • worked extensively with XML web services, including design and creation of a suite of database services consumed by several business units, XML schema validation, and synchronous and asynchronous use and integration of external services
  • took a lead role in the design and development of Visual Basic.NET tools that transformed the Leo Burnett intranet into an intranet/extranet portal with content, appearance, and menus customized by office and client group
  • created automatic XML/XSL processes to synchronize data between Lotus Domino, Oracle, and SQL Server databases

Business Logic Corporation -- Chicago, IL 1997 - 1999
Internet Application Developer
  • acted as Development Lead for the company's online 401(k) product on Edify (a 4GL package for web and voice response units), which was installed at over five major 401(k) provider institutions
  • worked as a developer on a range of other online banking applications for leading banks and credit unions, using Edify and Java/XML/SilverStream

Northwestern Univ., Dept. of Physics & Astronomy - Evanston, IL 1996 - 1997
Research Associate
  • maintained and enlarged a large database of astrophysical information; created computer simulations to determine galaxy cluster detection rates

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics - Cambridge, MA 1995 - 1996
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
  • designed and directed research, including writing articles for refereed journals

University of Michigan, Dept. of Astronomy - Ann Arbor, MI 1990 - 1995
Graduate Student
  • designed own thesis project, including the development of new X-ray and optical data reduction techniques and the modeling of galaxy formation
  • coordinated additional project that involved maintaining a large database of heterogeneous information for collaborators across the country

Computer Skills:

Operating Systems: Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP, UNIX, DOS, OS/2, VMS
Languages/Skills: Visual Basic.NET, C#, XML/XSD/XSL, ASP.NET, SQL, Visual Basic 6, LotusScript, JavaScript, HTML, Java, Perl, DCOM/DLL implementation, FORTRAN, BASIC, PAL
Databases: SQL Server, Oracle, ODBC, DB/2
Programs: MS Visual Studio.NET and .NET Framework, MS SQL Server 2000, MS Reporting Services, MS Visual SourceSafe, Lotus Notes/Domino, MS Project, Edify, SilverStream, PVCS Tracker and Version Manager, standard MS Office and WordPerfect Office packages, numerous astronomical packages

Education:

Ph.D., Astronomy
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thesis: Compact Groups of Galaxies
 1995
M.S., Astronomy
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
 1991
B.A. summa cum laude, Physics
Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota		 1989

Memberships and Awards:

member of American Astronomical Society
awarded the 1996 Ralph B. Baldwin Prize in Astrophysics and Space Sciences (University of Michigan)