Stories from the Field

futureforward features several alumni and parents who are leaders in a variety of career fields, discussing their industry’s current environment, their perspective on the future outlook for that career field, and action steps students can take now to position themselves for entry into those career fields.

This Future Forward segment features Andy Rossmeissl, CEO and Co-Founder of Faraday, a Vermont-based technology start-up using AI to support consumer brands. Andy is a 2005 graduate of Middlebury College. Prior to founding Faraday, Andy co-founded Brighter Planet a sustainability-focused start-up using advanced quantitative analysis to uncover valuable sustainability opportunities in the business data of leading global corporations. Andy is joining us to give his vantage point on how the pandemic environment has affected his organization, what the future outlook is for AI-based careers, and what action steps current students may want to consider to position themselves to enter this field in the future. Watch Andy’s Videos

MIDDvantage: Exploring Careers in Technology's New Frontier header

Exploring Careers in Technology’s New Frontiers is a collaborative series developed by the Center for Careers and Internships and Middlebury in DC with content contribution from members of the Middlebury Professional Network and Middlebury students.

Nicole Fazio ‘11, is a Technical Product Manager at Amazon Alexa building o to 1 products that customers love. With training in econometrics, she started her career analyzing big data using SAS and Python, translating data-driven insights into strategic recommendations. She currently leads product thinking in the brand new space of voice advertising, launching the first-ever Alexa-actionable TV ad that allows customers to discover and browse products in the ad using their voice. Nicole Fazio mentors aspiring techies through the Built by Girls program. She has an MBA from MIT Sloan and was a Div I captain for the Middlebury Ski Team.

Anna Blasiak ’07 (Math/Computer Science)

System Software Engineer, Akamai Technologies Inc.

In 2008 the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a Graduate Research Fellowship to Anna Blasiak, a Ph.D. candidate in computer science at Cornell who majored in both computer science and mathematics at Middlebury. Anna, from North Potomac, Md., was principally interested in graph algorithms and their practical applications, such as networks and computer vision. She went on to obtain her Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2013.

David Chen ’09.5 (Mathematics)

Associate, Life Sciences Practice, Charles River Associates

David Chen grew up in the small town of Guilford, CT, and fell in love with Middlebury during an impromptu visit while in the area. He focused on mathematics and physics at Middlebury, although he also developed finance knowledge with the Student Investment Committee. However, he eventually found an interest in business strategy, and is now in Boston working as management consultant specializing in life sciences and healthcare. During his free time, he enjoys tennis (and table tennis in the office), cinema, coffee brewing techniques, and learning improv.

Jillian Garber ’09.5 (Physics)

Software Engineer, Sonos, Inc.

Jillian Garber is a Software Engineer for Sonos, Inc. Previously, she was a Senior Engineer at Mimio and a Software Engineer at Raytheon IDS.

A physics major at Middlebury, she took her first class in Computer Science during her last semester at Middlebury and moved quickly into the field of software engineering. She has since completed a minor in Computer Science at Tufts University. Outside of work, Jillian is the head coach of a youth rock climbing team and finds opportunities to travel as often as possible.