Computing and Data Services (CDS) team welcomes new staff member, Tony Schutz, as the primary desktop support. Tony has been working with PRI part-time for the past eight years and has now joined us as a full-time employee. He will be the primary desktop support person for staff at the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS), but will be pitching in on desktop support across PRI and helping the CDS server team as well. Tony is a familiar face for sure, and we’re very glad to have him as a full-time member of the team.
Tony recently answered some questions about his work.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at PRI.
I am originally from Champaign, and am married with one daughter. I have been working at PRI for several years as a field consultant through Technology Services, and I am now working fully for PRI on the CDS team as an infrastructure specialist. This involves work with servers, networking and desktop computers, primarily at ISWS but at other departments, as needed. I have been lucky to have worked for several great organizations throughout my career, including Busey Bank, U.S. Customs in Washington D.C., Postal Data Center in St. Louis, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, etc.
What are you currently excited about in your job?
I am excited to be fully on board with PRI. It’s exciting to make a positive impact, help people and be involved with the continued advancement of technology. It’s great to learn new technologies and apply them in a practical way to be more efficient.
What led you to this career?
I have always been fascinated with gadgets and technology. There is always something new to learn. My wife jokes that I am an advertising executive’s dream customer— if something is new, I am interested. I first was involved with computers at a high school math competition at Parkland College. I got to spend a couple of hours with the amber touch screen of PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations) terminals; I was hooked!
What’s a work-related accomplishment that you’re really proud of?
I set up servers at the College of Veterinary Medicine to support the new linear accelerator for treatment and research of oncology in 2019. It was great to work with the team at Vet Med and be a small part of helping their research and curing our four-legged furry friends.
What personality trait do you attribute your success to, and why?
Thinking strategically to solve a problem with several different approaches. I strive to continue to learn and improve.
