freebsd-questions Digest, Vol 158, Issue 10

[dayton at brooklyn.cuny.edu]

I am glad to recommend Roman.  I have worked with Roman for more than 4
years as a student in class, on independent projects, and now as his Masters
thesis advisor.

I'll begin with a little background.  Each Spring I teach a course called
"System Administration".  I lecture on operating systems, file systems,
networks, and hardware.  But most significantly we spend 3 or more hours per
week in a laboratory with networked computers on which the students (1 or 2
per machine) perform various system and network administrative tasks.  Most
students find the experience refreshing because of the unfettered access
they are given to the machines and the network in the labs.  Typically, a
few students each year approach me at the end of the term seeking additional
projects or independent study in the lab.

In the Spring of 2002, Roman took the course doing well and getting an A.
As the term ended, Roman and another student, asked about possible projects.
We decided on changing one of the major projects in the system
administration course.  This involved development of a tool for specifying
installation parameteters for FreeBSD and then performing the installation.
They worked hard on this project and ended with a working tool.

At the end of the Spring 2003 term, Roman and another student, Aleks, asked
about possible projects.  They were particularly interested in the inner
workings of the operating system.  After some discussion we decided on that
they would investigate the Unix Network File System (NFS) to see if it was
appropriate for a project I've been thinking of for some time.  They had no
previous experience with programs at this level.  They set to work,
consulting with me as needed and by the the end of the summer were working
deep within the NFS code.  In the end, they demonstrated convincingly that
NFS would not work as I had hoped.  That that particular avenue was cut off,
was disappointing to me, but does not, of course, reflect negatively on
their work or effort.  Their work was outstanding.

Roman and Aleks worked worked very hard and productively together.  This is
why I must speak of both.  I have found that in group projects, usually one
student dominates the group both intellectually and in effort.  This can
sometimes make it difficult when it comes time to evaluate the individual
contribution and effort.  With Roman and Aleks, there is no such problem.
Each of them worked extremely hard and contributed significantly to the
project and they both deserve full marks for the outstanding work.

I can say, though, that Roman has emerged as the leader in the group.  In
addition, Roman, is usually the first to understand new concepts and their
significance.

In the Fall of 2003, I received new computers and new networking equipment
for the lab.  Roman and Aleks, along with a third student, took on the task
of setting up the new equipment.  This is of great value to me and
demonstrates their commitment and effort.  Furthermore, they have solved a
longstanding problem within the lab.  Namely that I have always encouraged
other faculty to make use of the lab for their classes, the nature of the
system administration course presented a problem.  Several times each term
some students will inadvertently wipe out the disk on their system or get
their system in such a state that starting from a clean disk is the best
alternative.  This, of course, does not make for a stable situation for
other users of the lab.  Further complicating matters is that we want to
support three different operating systems on the machines.  In addition to
setting up the lab this last Fall, Roman and Aleks, developed a scheme to
manage this.  Basically, any of the operating systems can be restored on any
of the computers within five to ten minutes.  Thus, regardless of what one
of my students might do to the software on a system, the computer can be
made ready for a different class in short order.  The motivation for this
effort was mostly theirs and they spent many hours experimenting and
struggling to develop it.  It is an other outstanding effort.

Over the last 3 months, Roman has been working on his Masters thesis with
me.  This project involves modifying the kernel of the FreeBSD operating
system (FreeBSD is a version of Unix).  Roman is making steady progress on
this project.

I have worked with Roman quite a bit over the these years.  He has had
remarkable development in his skills, knowledge, and confidence.  He is
personally pleasant.  He has been very responsible in all regards.  I find
it hard to speak too highly of him.

I have taught well over a thousand students both undergraduate and graduate.
I have worked with several dozen on independent projects and theses.  Of
these, only a handful have really stood out.  Roman is one of these, well
within the top 5% of the students I've known.  I have no doubt that he will
do well in your company.

Sincerely,

Dayton Clark

 Dayton Clark
 CIS Department                 dayton at brooklyn.cuny.edu
 Brooklyn College/CUNY          718.951.5000 x2045
 Brooklyn, New York  11210      718.951.4842 (fax)




>>>>> "David" == David Grimsby <dgrimsby at currenex.com> writes:

    David> Hi, My name is David Grimsby and I'm looking to hire Roman
    David> Makogon, and was hoping you could provide a
    David> reference. Specifically could you answer some questions;


    David> What is your relationship to Roman?

    David> Can you rate his technical skills?

    David> If you had the chance to hire him would you?

    David> Anything else you can tell me about him would be great.



    David> Thanks for your time,

    David> Dave 650-569-7516