So my name is Brandon Pachuca. I'm originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico. I have a background in architecture and urban planning. And since graduating, I worked as a full stack developer. And from there, I was more curious about data science, which eventually led me to CUSP. When I looked at NYU Center for Urban Science, I saw the perfect marriage between architecture, urban planning, and the opportunity to apply urban concepts and technology. I think there's an opportunity now to look more specifically within this architectural and technology intersection. And pairing that with data science and visualization and potentially UI UX designer, and then the best part is policy, you can figure out how to connect all those pieces together-- To not just inform how we live in cities, but how we combat and tackle these major challenges in our communities. CUSP has allowed me to understand more not just of the urban context, but then also marry that with how we work with big data. So allowed me to go look at a transportation class. They allowed me to take a big data class. It allowed me to look at principles of urban informatics. To take all those different ideas and disciplines, and put them together to further advance my career. I currently work as an urban data analyst and web developer, where I try to figure out the intersection between architecture and technology-- to how the architectural building affects the urban context. And merging that with CUSP, allows me to expand that scope to understand not just how this building affects the immediate context, but how the building effects the larger context of the city. I came to CUSP with a very specific vision, the policies I wanted, and found those positives here, the professors I wanted to study under. So the CUSP program to me, gave me the ability to pursue my passion.
