Get to Know Us

Get to Know Us, November 2021

Get to Know Us: Melvin Vargas

Melvin Vargas and his beautiful ginger cat, PitoThis month, we meet Melvin Vargas, Endpoint Administrator. While Melvin only joined Clark about 6 months ago, he’ll be a familiar face to the students, staff and faculty in the Becker School of Design and Technology after joining the Clark team directly from Becker College after 15 years of service.

Prior to Clark and Becker, Melvin graduated from VOKE here in Worcester and has worked with telecommunications, hardware, networking and many other specializations in IT at various schools and colleges. While he’s modest about what he does, saying that he just “fixes computers”, Melvin knows that helping our clients can help make their day that much better.

When not tinkering with technology, Melvin spends time with his 2 beautiful daughters, plays Call of Duty and Forza Horizon, and laughs along with the FX show “What We Do In The Shadows”. Finally, we can’t finish this introduction without mentioning Pito, the beautiful cat in Melvin’s picture, who sadly died earlier this year at 20 years old. But supposedly Melvin’s new cat TJ is helping to fill his shoes!

Interested in requesting pictures of TJ from Melvin, or chatting about his favorite car to drive in Forza? Click here for contact information.

Get to Know Us, October 2021

Get to Know Us: Dorothy Erickson

This month, we meet Dorothy Erickson, our new Academic Technology Associate.

Dorothy is a Worcester-area native, and after a stint in New York City, moved back for a “brief” period and 25 years later (luckily for us) is still here! After working for a pharmaceutical consulting company, and having kids, Dorothy got her MFA in creative writing and started teaching as an adjunct. For the last four years, she has worked as an Academic Technologist, most recently at Anna Maria, “supporting faculty do what they do best.”

At Clark, Dorothy is a primary liaison for faculty teaching in the School of Professional Studies, Economics, Education, Geography and Language, Literature and Culture. She’s excited to have conversations with faculty about their pedagogical challenges and successes, and states, “I always learn so much, and I think it’s helpful for faculty to know they’re not alone.”

True to her creative writing roots, Dorothy loves to write fiction and read. This year she has particularly enjoyed reading Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad and Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties. Finally, she can’t spend enough time with her two daughters, either enjoying the outdoors, or curled up inside binging on The Americans.

Interested in learning more about Dorothy’s writing, or super-star Academic Technology skills? Click here for her contact information.

Get to Know Us, September 2021

Get to know us: Alexander Magid

This month, we meet Alexander Magid, Clark’s Information Privacy and Compliance Analyst. “What’s that?” you might ask! Well, Alexander will help ITS write and implement policies to protect your data, while also keeping Clark compliant with data privacy, storage and documentation laws. He’s excited to talk to departments across campus about data privacy and help solve the new challenges faced due to the constantly evolving, fast-paced field of cybersecurity.

When Alexander joined the Clark community in May 2021, he became one of ITS’s first fully-remote staff members, living and working in the Greater Philadelphia area. He joins us with a professional certification in Cybersecurity, an MA in Law and a BA in Political Science. Alexander also works as a part-time staff editor for the Journal of Law and Cyber Warfare where he edits and peer reviews professional publications. When he’s not thinking about cybersecurity, he likes to spend time with his dog Cooper, go to car shows and watch The Big Bang Theory.

Get to Know Us, May 2021

The Games We Love

In honor of our colleagues and students joining us at the Becker School of Design and Technology at Clark University, ITS wanted to share the games that we’re excited about this Spring.

Games for when you want to …

Games for when you want to start from scratch

Jason Trinklein, our Director of Infrastructure, has been playing Factorio – similar to SimCity but with more complexity. Available on Windows and Mac, you build a massive industrial complex, starting from mining, to researching robotics, all with the ultimate goal of building a spaceship. Jason finds the world enormous, enriching and useful even in his professional life.


Games for when you want to be challenged

Aaron Bennett, our Manager of System Administration, enjoys playing online chess, despite being modest by insisting he’s not very good. He plays on both Lichess for blitz chess (three minutes for the entire game, and you gain two seconds for each move you make), and on RedHotPawn for a more relaxed correspondence type game.


Games for when you want to create something

If you’re into immersive, open-world games, Eric Scholwin, Systems Administrator, is the person to talk to. From SimCity 2000, Valheim, WOW, 7 Ways to Die, Minecraft, and Subnautica, Eric is passionate about building worlds, exploring universes and surviving various catastrophes. However, when pressed, he felt that No Mans Sky was the real underdog – which despite a rough start, has really flourished into a polished and ambitious creative space. A space exploration game, it allows you to visit procedurally-generated planets, confront random monsters, and mine a wide range of resources.

Also if you’re interested in chatting about indie games, quick blame games, or just enjoy chatting about games – Eric is your person.

Games for when you want to feel some nostalgia

Terrance McCormack, our Help Desk Manager, is embracing the nostalgia, by buying an NES to play his favorite childhood game – Kung-Fu Master. This game is a retro, side-scrolling beat ‘em up originally launched as an arcade game and later ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System (and the Commodore 64). Interested in seeing the game in it’s all its glory? Check out this playthrough – not by Terrance, but impressive none-the-less


Games for when you want to get immersed

Brian Julin, Network Engineer extraordinaire, is all-in on Fallout 76 despite admitting that it’s “a deeply flawed game with spongy controls, a bug list a mile long, and and a game (im)balance that changes with every new software patch”. So why bother picking up a (Playstation, Xbox or Windows) controller to play it?

Brian believes that the flaws is what makes it so interesting “…you end up with a huge gray expanse between what’s an “exploit” and what’s just “in the game.”  Then add online play where you can kibitz with other players, and a build system where you can express your inner architect/artist, and you really have no excuse for being bored, even in the face of sparse end-game content.”


Games for when you have just two minutes

Just like everyone else, most of ITS enjoy some easy and quick mobile games to fill what little down-time we all have these days.

  • Greg Smith, Applications Developer – Letterpress: A mobile word game against friends, random opponents or bots.
  • Joe Kalinowski, Vice President of IT and CIO – Where’s My Water: A physics-based puzzle game from Disney with surprisingly in-depth character stories
  • Joanne Dolan, Director of Academic Technology and Client Support – Fil-a-Pix: Deductive, logic puzzles, perfect for playing while listening to podcasts or audiobooks.

Get to Know Us, May 2021

Get to Know Us: Bhagya Srinivasan

This month, we meet Bhagya Srinivasan, who works in our Academic Technology Services department as an Instructional Designer

Bhagya joined Clark on February 1st of 2020, just in time to become an invaluable part of our faculty support team during the COVID response. When asked how to describe what she does in a single line, she says “I help teachers discover their strengths in teaching.” She particularly enjoys working with faculty from different disciplines and learning about their passion, teaching and research. Her ultimate goal when working with faculty is to help them get technology to work for them as much as (or more than) feeling like they’re working for technology.

Bhagya is originally from India, and grew up travelling through most of India as a military daughter. She’s lived in four states in US, loving each one of them for their individual uniqueness. During her travels, she got married, worked at a variety of colleges and universities, had a daughter and earned her Doctorate in Education. Now living in Shrewsbury, she loves spending time with her grandson, walking on trails and practicing yoga.

Interested in chatting to Bhagya about how to make technology work for you? Visit the ITS Contact Us page for more information.

April 2021, Get to Know Us

Get to Know Us: Michael Benedetti

This month, we meet a new face to ITS – Michael Benedetti, our Senior Endpoint Administrator.

Michael started at Clark in November 2020 and has quickly become an important part of our Endpoint team, supporting devices across campus, or as Michael modestly puts it “I help with computers to make sure they work the way their owners want them to work.” Working with Michael, it was clear immediately that he’s a person who loves to learn and his favorite part of the job so far is that working with Clark faculty, staff and students has already taught him so much – and there’s more on the horizon. One thing he wishes he got asked more often is about data security and how users can protect their – and Clark’s – data.

Michael is Massachusetts born and bred, and originally from Palmer, a small town in western Massachusetts. He got an early interest in computers when a high-school teacher saw some potential and let him get his hands on the brand-new school computer, a PDP-8 minicomputer with spinning tapes and flashing lights. From that point on he was hooked, and has worked with computers for his whole career.

PDP-8 Minicomputer

Outside work, Michael is a cat-lover and while currently has 3 cats, has had 8 or more rescued kittens in the past. Recently he’s dabbled in Disc Golf, is interested in getting back to playing his baby grand piano and is reliving the 90’s by rewatching Babylon 5 with his wife.

Interested in talking to Michael about your computer needs, how to secure your data or how to herd cats? Visit the ITS Contact Us page for more information.

 

 

December 2020, Get to Know Us

ITS Gift Guide – 2020

While 2020 wasn’t what any of us expected, one thing remains the same – ITS are still geeks! As gift-giving holidays approach, the ITS team have come together to share our nerdiness with the campus. We’re excited to highlight the fun techy things, or super-geeky gadgets that we’ve bought this year or have on our holiday Wish Lists.

If you still have questions about your technology purchases after reading through our recommendations, give us a call! Click here to contact us.

STEMify Your Skills

Submitted by Michael Krikonis, Academic Technologist

As well as having an adorable name, the Raspberry Pi is a DIY computer encapsulated in a keyboard and it’s perfect for those looking to develop Computer Science and STEM skills. Once set up, the operating system comes packed with Math and Science apps, as well as a popular game or two. A monitor with HDMI input is required and we recommend purchasing a larger memory card to allow room for plenty of data and fun.

Become Big Brother

Submitted by Dan Meyer, Enterprise Systems Engineer

For those of you comfortable with all things autonomous, you may be interested in Dan’s pick of a flying security camera. Dan (true to his profession) is a big fan of home security cameras, and Ring’s soon-to-be-released “Always Home Cam” combines the fun of a drone, the convenience of a robot vacuum, and the security of the Ring suite of technology.

Use Your Voice

Submitted by Sharon Griffin Edson, Help Desk Coordinator

While Sharon was worried that an Amazon Echo was too old-school to be highlighted, ITS is loving voice-assistant technology more than ever. The Echo brand have expanded over the years and now include voice-assistant gadgets for your car (Echo Auto), an Echo with a screen for easy video calls (Echo Show), and portable assistants for your ears (Echo Buds) and your eyes (Echo Frames). Click here to see the whole range.

But if Echo/Amazon/Alexa isn’t for you, there are many other options including Google Nest, Facebook Portal and Apple HomePod.

Get to Know Jack

Submitted by Joanne Dolan, Director of Academic Technology and Client Support

While Joanne has been playing Jackbox Party Packs for years, the games have seen a well-deserved resurgence as they’re easy and fun to play over Zoom. Available to buy and install on PC and Mac (via Steam), the host can stream the game by sharing their desktop on Zoom.  Players connect via their phones, tablets or computers wherever they are to submit answers to fast-paced trivia, ridiculous punchlines to Dad Jokes, or drawing for Pictionary-styled hilarity. The most fun you can have with a Clark-sponsored Zoom account!

Manage your Media

Submitted by Jason Trinklein, Director of Infrastructure

Finding AppleTV, ChromeCast or FireTV too limiting? Consider a mini-computer for your home entertainment system. Connecting an Intel NUC mini-computer to his TV not only gave Jason access to all his streaming services without fuss, it also allowed him to connect and display his digital music collection, PC games, and family photos. While having access to a wireless keyboard and mouse is preferable, the NUC can be controlled with a regular universal remote. And while you can buy mini-computers with various specifications, you don’t need the newest or most powerful one to make it a valuable addition to your home entertainment center.

Embrace the #2020

Submitted by Christian Sorgi, Information Security Engineer

Something that’s made Christian’s life easier over the past 9 months is something small, cheap, but really effective at what it does – a Pulse Oximeter. Perfect for those that don’t want to splurge on a Smart Watch having one of these on hand helps during high-altitude hiking, as well as to quell any anxiety surrounding COVID-19. It’s also FSA/HSA approved.

December 2020, Get to Know Us

Get to Know Us: Terrance McCormack

This month, we meet a familiar face to many of you – Terrance McCormack, our ITS Help Desk Manager.  

Terrance has been a member of the Clark community for 5 years, and when asked by friends what he does, he modestly says “I fix computers.” Anyone who has been helped by Terrance knows he does far more than that – from often being the first ITS face new students, staff and faculty meet when joining Clark, to leading, training and inspiring the Help Desk students, to problem-solving even the trickiest of computer issues. When asked what he wished more people would ask for help with, Terrance gives the appropriately geeky answer of “how to best manage their data!” 

Born in Texas, Terrance was raised in Shirley, Massachusetts and currently lives in Fitchburg with his wife, Amber, and three children. He spends his free time playing and watching basketball, hanging out with his kids, missing Annie’s Clark Brunch, and keeping up with all the best prestige TV, with Curb Your Enthusiasm being a real favorite.  

If you’re interested in talking with Terrance about your data management, his favorite Annie’s order or the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, click here to contact him. 

Get to Know Us, November 2020

Get to Know Us: Chuck Wyatt

This month, we meet a Clark veteran with 19 years, 11 months and 1 week under his belt. So if you chat to Chuck Wyatt, our Manager of Web Technical Services on December 1st, 2020 wish him a Happy 20th Clark Anniversary.

Chuck is originally from Texas, but moved to Massachusetts to attend Harvard Divinity School. From there he worked in web-design and web-programming at non-profits before arriving at Clark. When asked about his role, he modestly states that he “works on the website” but anyone who’s worked closely with Chuck knows that his work is far more wide-ranging and that he’s creative, detail-oriented and always focused on offering wonderful service.

As for outside of work, Chuck has a love of Ireland having visited many times, enjoys reading and watching The Americans and is excited to hone his new-found love of sailing. However, one of his most interesting and life-long hobbies – amateur radio operator – has provided great stories and friendships. These include communicating with some of the residents at Jim Jones’ People’s Temple in Guyana back in 1978, and making scores of friends across Europe from his radio during a recent trip to Ireland.

If you’re interested in talking with Chuck about his radio adventures, his new home in Newtown, Connecticut, or of course, the website, click here to contact him.

Get to Know Us, October 2020

Get to Know Us: Jason Trinklein

Jason Trinklein is our brand-new Director of Infrastructure and we were all very excited to welcome him to ITS just one month ago.

Jason grew up near Oyster Bay, New York and attended Stony Brook University before transferring to the College of Charleston, and completing his Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. Jason has experience working in and leading a number of IT departments at institutions in Charleston, including the Art Institute of Charleston, Christ Our King-Stella Maris School and the College of Charleston. Meanwhile, he’s also started a few small businesses, taught Computer Science at the college and junior-high level, and completed his Masters Degree in Computer Science from Georgia Tech.

In his ‘spare’ time he enjoys reading; at present he’s reading the Asimov “Foundation Series” of books, and its study of the herd psychology of humanity. He also has an interest in the works of Carl Sagan and Richard Feynman, and a love of Pizza!

Jason is excited to join ITS, work on solving complex problems and particularly looks forward to making a difference in people’s lives by improving their quality of education through technology.

Interested in talking with Jason about Physics, Pizza or about how he and ITS can help your department be more productive? Click here to email him.

“Get to Know Us” is a recurring column that introduces and highlights ITS staff members.