PhD Candidate, Interactive & Collaborative Technologies
Greater Los Angeles Area
- Current
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- Ph.D. Candidate at University of California, Irvine
- Past
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- Sr. Systems Engineer at ACS
- Sr. Systems Engineer at Intellisource @ NASA/GSFC
- Executive Systems Administrator at QSS Group @ NASA/GSFC
- Helpdesk Manager at QSS Group @ NASA/GSFC
- Staff at NASA Academy (GSFC)
- Sr. Systems Programmer at Dept. of Computer Science, UM-College Park
- Director of Information Systems at International Space University
- Education
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- University of California, Irvine
- Georgetown University
- International Space University
- University of Kentucky
- Connections
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86
connections
- Industry
- Information Technology and Services
- Websites
Steve Abrams’s Summary
Briefly, my dissertation research uses a combination of ethnographic, ethnomethodological, and social network analytic methods to investigate sensemaking practices in distributed teams and the impact of interactive and collaborative technologies on such practices. My field sites have included JPL's Team X, NASA's Team NSI, NASA's Team Prometheus, NASA Exploration Design Team, and Boeing's IDS/AMSE/Virtual Operations.
See http://www.ics.uci.edu/~sabrams for more details ...
Steve Abrams’s Specialties:
Collaborative technologies, distributed teams, virtual communities, social/semantic network theory & analysis, sensemaking theory, ethnographic and ethnomethodological analysis
Steve Abrams’s Experience
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Ph.D. Candidate
University of California, Irvine
(Educational Institution; Higher Education industry)
September 2001 — Present (7 years 11 months)
My field of academic interest is, broadly, human-computer-human interaction (HCHI) and computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW). More specifically, I am focused on distributed work and distributed organizations, particularly in multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural environments
I am currently a Ph.D. Candidate in the Interactive and Collaborative Technologies program of the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (UC-Irvine), with my dissertation defense scheduled for early June 2009. My dissertation reports on a model for organizational peer governance, termed "network-centric organizing," that not only operates across the technology networks of a highly-distributed organization, but also supports social networks in facilitating the conduct of work (termed "collaborative networking") and also networks different organizing principles (hierarchy, heterarchy, and responsible autonomy) to the specific aspects of work activity for which they are well-suited (termed an "organizing-centric network"). -
Sr. Systems Engineer
ACS
(Public Company; ACS; Information Technology and Services industry)
July 1999 — August 2001 (2 years 2 months)
Transferred to ACS/Government Systems’ Center for Enterprise Technology Integration. Responsible for developing Apple solutions and resolving top-tier issues for five NASA field centers (GRC, LaRC, GSFC, ARC, DFRC). Conducted testing & evaluation; supervised and coordinated technicians; developed strategic directions.
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Sr. Systems Engineer
Intellisource @ NASA/GSFC
(Public Company; 51-200 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)
December 1998 — June 1999 (7 months)
ODIN is a NASA-wide IT outsourcing initiative. My ODIN project task was to develop a virtual community of support among Macintosh users at GSFC to implement a strategic plan for the support of platform diversity under the ODIN contract. Designed and implemented a server network facility supporting contractor launch team for Terra-AM satellite deployment.
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Executive Systems Administrator
QSS Group @ NASA/GSFC
(Public Company; 201-500 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)
June 1998 — November 1998 (6 months)
Directly supported GSFC's executive management including the Director’s Office, Office of University Programs, Chief Counsel’s Office, Public Affairs department, and Chief Financial Officer’s office. Administered servers and implemented security and interoperability solutions. Administered Internet and web services for NASA Academy and other programs.
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Helpdesk Manager
QSS Group @ NASA/GSFC
(Public Company; 201-500 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)
October 1995 — May 1998 (2 years 8 months)
I supported Apple Macintosh systems for the Engineering Directorate at NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, MD. I developed and administered a Helpdesk website, developed customized Filemaker Pro database solutions, and trained support technicians.
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Staff
NASA Academy (GSFC)
(Information Technology and Services industry)
1993 — 1997 (4 years)
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Sr. Systems Programmer
Dept. of Computer Science, UM-College Park
(Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Higher Education industry)
October 1993 — October 1995 (2 years 1 month)
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Director of Information Systems
International Space University
(Educational Institution; 11-50 employees; Higher Education industry)
October 1990 — August 1993 (2 years 11 months)
My responsibilities were three-fold:
1. the day-to-day administration and development of the communication and information technology infrastructure supporting ISU's Executive Offices in Cambridge, MA (USA);
2. planning and implementing the communication and information technology infrastructure to support 10-week, graduate-level, multidisciplinary space educational programs at a new locale every summer (1991: Toulouse, FRA; 1992: Kitakyushu, JPN; 1993: Hunstville, USA);
3. long-term strategic planning to develop ISUnet, then planned to be a globally-distributed, virtual campus system with a central campus and multiple satellite campuses around the world
Steve Abrams’s Education
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University of California, Irvine
Ph.D. , Interactive and Collaborative Technologies , 2001 — 2006
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Georgetown University
M.A., awarded with Distinction , Communication, Culture, and Technology , 1997 — 2003
http://cct.georgetown.edu/
- Activities and Societies:
- Thesis: "Supporting Articulation in Distributed, Pluralistic, Social Decision-Making," awarded "With Distinction."
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International Space University
Certificate , Space Physics , June 1989 — August 1989
- Activities and Societies:
- Acteon sub-satellite component of Artemis Lunar Polar Orbiter
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University of Kentucky
B.S. , Physics , 1977 — 1985
Additional Information
Steve Abrams’s Websites:
Steve Abrams’s Interests:
distributed work, space education, sensemaking, social network analysis
Steve Abrams’s Groups:
IEEE, ACM, SEDS, NASA Academy, CCT Alumni Council
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Georgetown University Alumni Group -
NASA -
International Space University Alumni -
Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Science -
Echoes Of Apollo -
The Space Movement
Steve Abrams’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- career opportunities
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- expertise requests
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
