Earlier this year, we welcomed George Hodulik to the CMAC team as a Creative Solutions Designer. George comes to CMAC with years of technical experience in software engineering and an eagerness to do more good with data. Find out a little more about him!
How did you come to work at CMAC and what were you doing before here?
Before CMAC, I was working as a software engineer at Google. There were a lot of perks to working at Google, but after a few years it dawned on me that I had goals that were going to be difficult to achieve there. One of these goals was to do work that involved computational models and simulations of the human experience; I stumbled across CMAC’s website, and was really impressed with the work that was being done. I reached out to CMAC to learn about the kind of work they do, and how I could become involved in work like it. A few weeks later I’d signed an offer to work with CMAC full-time.
What kind of research is most exciting to you?
I love recontextualizing theory into computational models. Fields like psychology, religion, social science, and humanities have a plethora of theories, with countless overlaps and dependencies. Computational models do not tolerate ambiguity, and writing a computational model of theory will force you to come to a new, deeper understanding of the theory. You’ll find overlap in theories where you didn’t expect them, and you’ll find components that are not always adequately addressed by the current state of the theory. It really excites me to read and learn about the research that’s out there, and then look at it through a computational lens.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I enjoy playing video games, watching television, playing with my cats, and playing board games. I also love consuming musical theatre. My main hobbies are creative writing and fitness.
Desert Island TV show?
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Fun fact?
I have an Etsy shop where I sell sentimental mugs in non-English script. I was not satisfied with the selection of mugs for my grandmother, who is Korean, so I decided to start my own shop. Right now, I sell Korean and Arabic mugs with phrases like “I love my mom”.
Tell us some of your goals for CMAC. What are you most excited about?
I am really excited about the kinds of projects I can work on here. Where else can I be working on a project about religious change, suicidal ideation, and nightmare disorders, all in the same week? I’m also very excited about growth potential in the coming years, as well as forming relationships with people who are just as devoted to making a difference by studying complex issues.
Nicole received her BA in Photography and minor in English Writing from Montana State University. She has a passion for impactful nonprofit work and the storytelling power of visuals combined with text after working in the newspaper industry and serving a year in the AmeriCorps VISTA Program in New Hampshire as a Graphic Design and Communications Coordinator.
