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theproblemarchitects.com
"...because every solution contains its own problems."

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Welcome. This site has three components: a Resume Page (this one), where a little additional commentary will also illuminate the brief entries of my resume; a Glossary (blog) where I muse upon issues of interest to me, my research, or the analytics industry, and include a technical glossary of the methods and concepts that I typically use or have invented; and a Comments Form (not yet constructed), where I hope interested visitors will leave a note or two. What I'm calling the Glossary is my work-in-progress reasoning-out pad. It will change as often as I can add new content, so it will technically be a blog. These pages or sub-sites will be accessible using the following links:

Resume:
http://www.theproblemarchitects.com

Glossary:
http://theproblemarchitects.wordpress.com

Visitor’s Comments:

Thus far, I work on the Glossary. The other links will evolve too, but aw shucks I consider the whole site to be under construction more or less permanently.

The Bottom Line:

What is the point of this homepage? I have built a career out of solving really hard problems for folks across a broad range of analytics disciplines. This is where I have had the most impact and derived the greatest satisfaction. Whenever I followed entreaties to digress into executive roles my influence and impacts have been more equivocal, at best, and the outcomes the same; the need for my services seems always to be of relatively short duration. Therefore, let me appeal to the visitor in my native form as a visiting expert and scholar, consulting senior scientist, or simple project contractor. If someone is really serious about acquiring my services beyond the short or mid-horizon, I need to be free to assert my vision and direct my (adequate) resources my way, with a rank that ensures that degree of freedom. This homepage, and in particular, the accompanying blog identified above, are meant to support the visitor in determining if my services are desired, required, and, if so in what capacity---what degree of commitment by the visitor will be commensurate with their desire.
My blog is freewheeling, espouses interesting concepts (to me) and is not afraid to speculate, so it is a scientifically-irresponsible site. It should therefore be fairly entertaining and I hope the visitor finds it so. Thank you for your interest and time.

Respectfully,

Jim J. Popoff

Business Science, GIS Analytics, Statistical Optimization, and Forecasting
James J. Popoff, Ph. D., Senior Business Scientist & Research Administrator
Delray Beach, FL 33445; popoff.jim@gmail.com; 214-587-3091; blog located at
http://theproblemarchitects.wordpress.com
Objective:
Invent and apply innovation within commercial, industrial, and technological firms. Lead and mentor a team providing timely solutions, decision support, setting the standard of scientific integrity, and using every opportunity to excel at routine while moving beyond what is known.

Experience:
2007 – Present: J P Morgan Chase, Columbus, Ohio
Vice-President Marketing – Senior Analysis Manager
2nd – Largest Bank in the USA
Supervise several direct and dotted-line reports supporting senior decision makers, branch planning processes, and real estate field associates in modeling optimal sites for branches and ATMs. Provide analysis, database products, mapping, models, and simulations. Integrate with cross-functional teams to advance policies and optimize productivity of joint projects.
Relevant Keywords are: Optimization, Key Performance Indicators (KPI), Analytics, GIS Analysis, SAS Statistical Analysis and Database Modeling and Optimization.

2005 – 2007: World Avenue USA, Boca Raton, Florida
Senior Scientist, Business Analytics and Modeling
Prominent Internet Permissive Advertising firm.
Invented technical foundation of the new firm business model going forward into 21st Century. Provided statistical modeling services, consulting and strategic planning with clients within and outside the firm. Purchased, integrated SPSS Business Intelligence and Data Mining platform. Relevant keywords are: Optimization SEO, SEM, BI, KPI, SPSS Clementine, CPC, CPA, CPM, Data Warehouse, Metamodeling.

2001 – 2005: Blockbuster, Inc., McKinney, Texas
Manager of Demographic Modeling and Research
Blockbuster Development; Real Estate Development and Portfolio Optimization Department.
Supervised two direct reports supporting senior decision makers with timely answers in a best-practices-compliant methodological environment. Managed cross-functional teams in modeling and software integration to increase market share, contribute business intelligence to strategy, lower costs, and improve revenue. Recognized for excellent customer service record.
Relevant keywords are: SAS Enterprise Miner, MapInfo, GIS, Individual-Customer Impact Model, ROI Forecast, Manage Cross-Functional & Direct Reports.

1998 – 2001: Thompson Associates Site Selection Research, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Research Fellow, then Senior Researcher, R&D Group
Prominent Location Analysis Consulting firm.
Designed interdisciplinary research to identify, test, and evaluate new technologies in marketing and consulting, developed innovations, and integrated software and methods with the existing suite of methodologies. Produced market research, presented original research demonstrating company’s technical leadership at industry conferences, and consulted for clients in litigation.
Relevant keywords are: Data Visualization, IDL, VTK, Genetic Algorithms, Singular Value Decomposition, Fine-Grained Logit w/ Sparse Matrices.

Competency Clusters:
•   Management:
o   Experienced and comfortable with R & D methodology, software development cycle, product development cycle;
o   Experienced Manager enhancing steady rollout of routine production;
o   Strong project management skills, trained in MS Project and Visio.
•   Seasoned problem-solving architect:
o   Produce “heat” scores identifying real estate sites with a range of quality values; provide analysis of sites and optimize site selection for new branches.
o   Forecast daily internet conversions with nonlinear time-series of “clicks” and historical conversions. Introduced engineering Embedding Theorem to make a base prediction, integrated insurance industry’s and financial markets’ Extreme Value Theory to predict and reduce all errors to +- 5%.
o   Used a fractal to linearize a 2-D map, developed an objective function according to elicited business rules, and authored a Genetic Algorithm to find
•   best locations for new stores, recommend stores to close
•   manage and schedule investments in a national real estate portfolio to revolutionize strategic planning and budgeting, lower costs, increase revenues, and increase market share.
•   Software Applications and Programming:
o   Formally-trained SAS Enterprise Miner & SPSS Clementine programmer, ArcGIS ArcObjects, Spatial Analyst, Business Analyst; and MapInfo GIS, Prime Location, and MapBasic, and IDL data visualization programmer.
o   Experienced programmer of open-source “R” Analysis Language., capable MySQL and SQL database programmer and capable PHP and html programmer.

Education:
Doctorate, 1996 University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
Area: Population Geography and Spatial Interaction Modeling
Master of Arts, 1992 University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
Area: Geography of Northern Development
Bachelor of Arts, 1984 University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
Area: Political Science
Certificate in Public Administration

Affiliations:
Product Development Management Association
International Institute of Forecasters
Web Analytics Association
Association of American Geographers

Refereed Publications:
“Reproducing Society’s Signals To Spatial Decision-Makers Using The Approach Of The Bandwagon Effect.” Papers in Regional Science 76(4), 1997: 429-447
•   Others in peer review.

Work Status: I am authorized to work in this country for any employer.