Back to 'News'

The following is adapted from an article that appeared on the MIT News Office web site on January 26, 2005.

Alumnus finds solutions for 'CSI,' 'The Real World'

by Lauren Clark

The TV crime drama CSI, the U.S. Air Force, and the Florida Department of Children and Families have at least one thing in common: they've all enlisted the services of Ed Markowitz (SM '71).

The process-analysis skills Markowitz developed as an engineering and management student at MIT are the basis of a career in optimizing complex systems - whether those systems are military logistics chains or TV productions. Markowitz returned to campus in mid-January as one of several alumni volunteers serving as teaching assistants at a week-long, corporate-style training seminar for MIT sophomores in the Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program (UPOP). UPOP is a mentoring and internship program that helps students develop engineering, business, and interpersonal skills that will give them a leg up when they begin their careers.

Now CEO of e-strategylabs, inc., Markowitz epitomizes one of the lessons UPOP teaches students: careers can take unexpected twists and turns, and trying to map out your life when you're 20 is probably unrealistic — and limiting. "An MIT grad can do anything. I don't have formal credentials in 90 percent of what I do. MIT's education in thought processes — thinking like an engineer — is what allowed me to do all this stuff," said Markowitz.

Among Markowitz' long list of clients, perhaps the most intriguing is the entertainment industry. Working with the producers of several television shows, including the dramas CSI (and its spinoffs, CSI: Miami and CSI: New York ) and The Practice, he optimized production processes, from script to locations to intellectual property issues.

He is called upon at times to review scripts for technical accuracy. "Can a PDA that's been shot with a .38 caliber bullet have information recovered from it?" was one question Markowitz had to resolve for an episode of Threat Matrix, a homeland security drama. The crime-solving plots of CSI hinge on a trail of obscure clues uncovered by a team of forensic experts. Markowitz has helped make sure that the technical details underlying these plots are feasible. "Everything that you see there is tested," he said.

He has also helped reality shows, such as Road Rules and The Real World, solve production problems. Unlike dramas or sitcoms, reality shows involve several cameras in multiple locations shooting nearly 24 hours a day. Thousands of hours of video must then be pared down to one hour of programming per week. Markowitz tackled the problem of "how you deal with all this data" to create a show that meets tight airing deadlines and makes a profit.

Markowitz gets a kick out of working in Hollywood but says that the most rewarding thing he has done recently is work to improve child protective services in his home state, Florida. Tapped by concerned legislators after some well-publicized failures of the Department of Children and Families, Markowitz devised a plan that would improve the process of identifying children at risk and save the state millions of dollars. Stymied by politics, however, the plan has yet to be implemented.

That experience is another example of a key UPOP lesson: problem-solving in the real world can messy. "You might have the greatest solution in the world, but it's meaningless if it's not put to use," he said.

Currently, Markowitz serves as the lead systems engineer for U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Combat Support. Simply put, he is asked to fix the Air Force's logistics chain, figuring out the best way to "get the force to the fight, keep the force in the fight, and prepare for the next fight."

"Ed not only impressed us with his technical background, but his diverse employment and interests really amazed me," said UPOP student Vivek Shah, who is majoring in electrical engineering and management science. "He gave us real-life examples of the people skills we learn in UPOP, explaining how he had to change his conversational and presentation style to accommodate everyone from four-star generals to Hollywood directors."

UPOP began in 2001 and currently involves over 200 MIT sophomores from every department in the School of Engineering, and some from other majors as well. In its second training session in late January, the alumni TAs will include NASA astronaut Janice Voss. The program is slated to run for two more years, pending additional funding. For more information about UPOP, go to http://web.mit.edu/engineering/upop/index.html or contact UPOP Director Chris Resto at cresto@mit.edu.

For more UPOP news articles, click here.