about me

I’m Judy Hertz, an information systems/web technologist based in Alexandria, Virginia. I started out as a boat captain (US Coast Guard 100-ton license) and later passed the Series 7 NASD exam. I’ve worked with computers and related technologies since 1984. I started out with MCI Telecommunications first as a financial analyst and later as a MUX engineer, worked with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a contractor for 8 years starting in 1987, and founded Riotsystems in 1996 when I began freelancing.

Judy gets a NASA award

This is an old picture (circa 1991) but hey, Eileen Collins and Dave Wolf, two veteran NASA astronauts, are presenting me with the NASA Space Flight Awareness Award.

I’ve had some fascinating and technically challenging jobs, and gathered very useful experience in IT project management, UNIX systems management, scientific digital library development, and web development.

I’ve worked for some very large federal agencies and private companies but my favorite work is with startups or groups working for the public good. If your organization is involved in research or development in these or comparable initiatives:

  • Global public investments for sustainable development
  • Alternative energies: solar, wind, biofuels
  • Education initiatives

…email me if I can help.

High Level Skills

  • Project management | Systems analysis | Systems integration

Technical Skills

  • Operating systems: Sun™ Solaris™ | SGI® IRIX® | Mac OS® 7—9.2.2, Mac OS X | *BSD | Linux/Debian -> Ubuntu | Microsoft® SBS 2000-2003, Windows XP
  • Web technologies: Apache | MySQL | PERL | PHP | Javascript | Hand-coding (X)HTML and CSS | familiar with HTML/Ruby on Rails | SVN/subversion/JIRA/Confluence | web analytics
  • Standards/tools: Cross-platform compatibility | content management systems/blogs | Section 508 accessibility | user-centered design | interoperable metadata standards | Graphics design/Photoshop
  • Security: UNIX PC Mac workstation | UNIX server | network | Internet | federal access restrictions

Awards and Licenses

  • NASA Space Flight Awareness Award
  • NASA Commercial Programs certificate of appreciation (for IT accomplishments)
  • National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) General Securities Representative Series 7
  • U.S. Coast Guard License 100-ton Ocean Operator