Curriculum Vitae: Gideon Mazambani

Transcription

1 Contact: Curriculum Vitae: Gideon Mazambani Gideon Mazambani 801 Culver Street #109E Commerce, TX Cell: Citizenship: Zimbabwean Education: 2011-Present (Expected Graduation 5/2015) Ph.D. Educational Psychology Dissertation: The Psychology of Online Social Networks: The Creation, Spread, and Extinction of Memes in Virtual Environments M.S. Computer Science Thesis: Distributed Data Mining in a Computing Grid B.S. Computer Information Systems Graduated magna cum laude Research Interests: My main area of research is the investigation of human interactions in virtual environments. I investigate the role of intragroup status on the interaction of group members. I also investigate linguistic markers of certain individual and group characteristics. In addition, I investigate the dialectical relationship between the individual and the group by analyzing language use and by employing social network analysis to analyze the change in communication patterns. I employ computational methods to identify patterns in big data to test theory-based hypotheses. Current Research Projects: Memes: Utilizing the data from the human interactions in virtual environments project, I am investigating the influence of group status and consistency of normative content on how memes spread in virtual communities. Intragroup Interactions: I am also investigating how differences in group status and identification influence how group members interact. I am employing linguistics analysis using the LIWC software to analyze language usage by members in their communications. Linguistic Markers: I am interested in examining the linguistic characteristics of

2 individuals exhibiting certain behaviors. For example, I am analyzing the linguistic markers of individuals who engage in trolling. Research Experience: Social Research Laboratory Present Designed and implemented a web data extraction system to collect research data for the Human Interactions in Virtual Communities project. Responsible for maintaining the web data extraction system by implementing changes as needed. Designed and implemented a big data research hub using StackIQ and Cloudera Hadoop capable of storing and processing multi-terabytes of structured and unstructured data. Responsible for maintaining the big data research hub and creating distributed utilities to clean, preprocess, integrate, and analyze massive the data sets. Analysis and interpretation of social network analysis data to explore theoretical propositions. Tools used: CDH (HDFS, Hive, MapReduce, Impala, Sqoop), MySQL, PHP, LIWC, SPSS, and R Corvus Project Implemented and managed an 18-node Apache Hadoop cluster using commodity hardware, which involved manually configuring nodes and optimizing for performance. Implemented MapReduce versions of data mining algorithms. Tools used: Apache Hadoop, MySQL, JAVA, PHP, C, and C++ Webpage: Work Experience: Graduate Assistant/ Data Analyst 02/ /2014 Office of the Vice President for Institutional Advancement which included ensuring data integrity and constituent research. Intern Programmer/ Analyst 01/ /2013 Northeast Texas Data Worked as part of a team that designed, maintained, and supported a fully integrated judicial management system. Duties involved transforming user requests into business logic, implementing required code changes, testing of the business logic, integration of the changes into the software product, and creating user documentation. Graduate Assistant/ Data Analyst 01/ /2012 Alumni Relations which included ensuring data integrity, designing of queries and constituent research.

3 Performed data mining on the alumni database to extract information for use by the office and other departments on campus. Data Analyst 01/ /2010 Oncor Electric Delivery, Market Data Operations Responsible for integrating and managing data from various systems including CIS, Siebel, SAP, and external sources and effectively analyze massive amounts of data for decision making. Implemented a web based business intelligence tool that combined and mined data sets from different sources to automate implementation of business rules. Reduced report delivery time by 50% through redesigning of existing processes. Improved process monitoring by developing a web based tracking system for use by the data management team. Implemented web based tools to track work assignments and progress, which helped to quickly resolve report and data availability problems. Graduate Assistant/ Data Analyst 05/ /2009 Alumni Relations which involved ensuring data integrity, designing of queries and constituent research. Performed data mining on the alumni database to extract information for use by the office and other departments on campus. Systems Support Technician 10/ /2007 Technology Services Provided hardware, software, and networking support for students and faculty at the university. Provided over-the-phone computer troubleshooting and software usage assistance. Assisted with setting up of computer workstations according to University policies and helped users to learn how to use programs. Systems Integrator 12/ /2004 Bufaloe Hardware, Zimbabwe Created an inventory management system as part of the Advanced Level Computing project and sold the product to the company. Implemented and integrated the inventory system with an accounting system. Combined data from several sources to provide business intelligence. Publications: Reysen, S., Pierce, L., Mazambani, G., Mohebpour, I., Puryear, C., Snider, J. S., Gibson,S., & Blake, M. E. (2014). Construction and initial validation of a dictionary for global citizen linguistic markers. International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning. Submitted for Publication: Mazambani, G., Reysen, S., Gibson, S., & Hendricks, L. (in press). Sociostructural

4 intergroup characteristics as predictors of intention to join university alumni association. Manuscript submitted for publication. Mazambani, G., Carlson, M. A., Reysen, S., & Hempelmann, C. (in press). Impact of status and meme content on spread of memes in virtual communities. Manuscript submitted for publication. Manuscripts in Preparation: Mazambani, G., Reysen, S., & Shaw, J. (2015). Perceptions of Characteristics of True Fans. Future Conference Presentations: Mazambani, G., Reysen, S., Gibson, S., & Hendricks, L. (2015, February). Sociostructural intergroup characteristics as predictors of intention to join university alumni association. Poster presented at the 16 th annual meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, Long Beach, CA. Conference Presentations: Mazambani, G., Carlson, M., & Reysen, S. (2014, April). The psychology of social networks: The creation, spread, and extinction of memes in virtual communities. Poster presented at 5 th annual Graduate Student Research Symposium of the Federation of North Texas Area Universities, Denton, TX. Mazambani, G., Carlson, M., & Reysen, S. (2014, February). An exploration of language use by high and low status group members. Poster presented at the 15 th annual meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, Austin, TX. Mazambani, G., Reysen, S., & Puryear, C. (2013, November). Psychological reactance as a response to copycatting. Paper presented at the 11 th annual Pathways Student Research Symposium, Kingsville, TX. Mazambani, G., & Reysen, S. (2012, November). Linguistic markers of likable messengers. Paper presented at the 10 th annual Pathways Student Research Symposium, Galveston, TX. Teaching Experience: Teaching Assistant 2015 Spring, TAMUC, Psychological Statistics 2014 Fall, TAMUC, Psychological Statistics 2011 Fall, TAMUC, Introduction to Human Computer Interaction Design

5 Achievements and Awards: 2014 Diversity Fund Graduate Travel Award Winner SPSP convention 2009 Awarded the Summer Thesis Fellowship 2008, Spring Awarded the JC Penney Retail Scholarship Elected and served on the A&M-Commerce Graduate Council as the Master's student representative 2007, April Awarded a travel scholarship to attend the Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing conference in Orlando, Florida 2007, April Awarded the Computer Science Senior Excellence Award 2007, Spring Dean's List (TAMUC) 2006, Nov. Inducted into Alpha Chi National Honors Scholarship Society 2006, Fall President's List (TAMUC) 2006, Spring President's List (TAMUC) 2005, Fall President's List (TAMUC) 2005, Spring Dean's List (TAMUC) 2004, Fall Dean's List (TAMUC) Professional Affiliations Member, Alpha Chi National College Honor Society Member, The National Society of Leadership and Success Student Member, Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) Student Member, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Professional References: Stephen Reysen, Ph.D. Phone: (903) Stephen.Reysen@tamuc.edu Christian F. Hempelmann, Ph.D. Department of Literature and Languages Phone: (903) C.Hempelmann@tamuc.edu Lacy Krueger, Ph.D. Phone: (903) Lacy.Krueger@tamuc.edu Maria Carlson, Ph.D. Phone: (903) Maria.Carlson@tamuc.edu