Returned to the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University as a panelist for a career discussion on public informatics, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. Bloustein Career Services and the Public Informatics Student Group (PISG) organized the event on the College Avenue Campus in New Brunswick, bringing together four Bloustein alumni working across government, technology, and startups. A networking session before the formal panel let students connect directly with panelists.
Panel Discussion
We covered career pathways from Bloustein programs to current roles, technical and soft skills that matter most in data-driven fields, differences between government and private sector work, how AI is reshaping job opportunities, and the ways Bloustein’s curriculum prepares graduates for professional life.
Fellow Panelists
Jonathan Internicola (MCRP) — COO at Fleet. Former NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission Executive and Coding it Forward Mentor who moved from transportation policy into the startup world.
Yingchen Zhang (MPP/MPI) — Data Scientist at Meta. Dual degrees in public policy and public informatics before going into data science at one of the largest tech companies in the world.
Fedak Arashi (BS, Health Administration) — Sales Operations Business Partner at Huntress. Not an obvious path from health administration to cybersecurity, but it speaks to how broadly the Bloustein skill set applies.
Connection to Bloustein
This panel continues a relationship with the Bloustein School going back to my time as a student:
- Graduated from the inaugural cohort of the Master of Public Informatics program, which pairs public policy with data science and technology
- Served as Research Computing Specialist at the Rutgers Urban and Civic Informatics Lab (RUCI), supporting faculty and student research
- Previously led the Introduction to the Power of GitHub for Analytics workshop as part of the Intelligent Informatics @ Bloustein series
Career Insights
As Director of Data Center Administration at the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, I talked about building data systems that serve millions of residents, how state government is adopting AI and cloud computing, and what it’s like to apply technical skills toward housing and homelessness prevention.
About the Author
