I grew up around research, so the default future looked academic. I studied applied physics at Cornell because it sat between the things I liked most: fundamental science, real systems, and problems where small details changed the outcome.
Software came in through the side door. I was in an electron microscopy lab and wrote code to make a magnetic-noise setup faster. It saved hours of manual work immediately, which made the lesson hard to ignore: the right tool does not just save time, it changes the shape of the job.
The industries have changed since then, but the shape of the work has not. At BlackRock it meant making institutional tools usable for advisors. At Climb Credit it meant underwriting against outcomes. At ResiDesk it means turning resident conversations into operating signal before small problems become expensive.
Physics
Software became the leverage.
I wrote a tool in an electron microscopy lab to speed up magnetic-noise setup. It saved enough time, fast enough, that software stopped feeling abstract.
BlackRock
Real stakes sharpen the interface.
I came back six months later, re-interviewed, and moved to New York. It was where I learned how much interface quality matters when a user is making decisions with real money behind them.
Climb Credit
Outcomes changed the product.
Instead of asking who looked safest on paper, we asked what happened to earnings after the program. That reframed underwriting, product, and data, and took annual loan volume from $1 million to $300 million.
ResiDesk
The signal is already in the conversation.
Residents tell operators what matters every day. The work is translating those conversations into priority, timing, and ownership before the issue becomes churn.
