Kristaps Berzinch is a Wreck Techs team member who has gone to extraordinary lengths to provide excellent customer service. For this service and much more, he was awarded the Campus Services Student Employee Spotlight for Spring Semester 2018.

“Kristaps is the exact model employee we are always looking to hire,” said Daniel Zealy, IT Support Professional Sr for Campus Services Information Technology Group.

“He is a natural leader with a strong passion for helping students and also has a wide field of technology expertise.”

Many Georgia Tech students, especially residential students, are familiar with the Wreck Techs. This group of mostly student employees provide free Housing technology support for all sorts of equipment, including televisions, telephones, computers and other devices as well as Internet support.

Daniel has more to say about Kristaps:

“Kristaps has been a part of the Wreck Techs team for two years and was quickly promoted to our leadership team after only one year. He is currently our expert on wireless internet and network troubleshooting making him the go-to employee for any unique internet problems within Housing. He also plays a large role in a variety of areas including hiring, training, and other projects for the Wreck Techs.

“Kristaps is not only extremely knowledgeable when it comes to technology support, he is also a pleasure to work with. He is very passionate about providing top-level support to our residents as well as streamlining our processes. The most extraordinary aspect of Kristaps is that no matter the time of day or night, he is always checking in to make sure our employees have what they need and that the residential network is performing as it should. He will consistently go out of his way without being asked to make sure we are providing the support our program strives for. Whenever a project or issue arises, we can always count on him to lead our team to success without hesitation.

We asked Kristaps to familiarize us with what makes him a Georgia Tech student and Wreck Techs member. He told us:

Position at Campus Services Department

• Lead Residential Technology Advisor at Wreck Techs

Major

• Computer Science

Year in School

• Third

Hometown

• Waycross, Georgia

How long have you worked in this position?

• Two years

What are your duties in this position?

• Along with the other leads, I manage a team of about 20 students that provide technical support to GT Housing residents. I specialize in the wireless network, so if someone is having issues with wifi in their dorm, it will probably end up with me. I also currently manage our social media.

What do you like best about working in this position?

• I enjoy solving problems and helping people. When someone walks into our office with an issue, it’s a great feeling to fix it and help them get back to what they were doing.

How has this position helped you?

• This position has instilled a deeper appreciation for customer service positions, and technical support in particular. We support a wide range of issues and a variety of customers, and providing top quality service to everyone can be challenging.
• The management experience has also been enlightening; most people have no idea what it takes to keep an operation like Wreck Techs running smoothly, day in and day out.

What have you learned working here?

• The Georgia Tech campus network is a complicated system, and learning to troubleshoot even the small corner we’re responsible for has been a unique experience.

• The leads also do a lot of the legwork for hiring new employees, so we get to see a lot of job applications and a lot of resumes. Being on the other side of the hiring process really shows you what to do and what not to do.

Favorite Book?

• But What If We're Wrong? by Chuck Klosterman

Favorite Restaurant/Food?

• bartaco

Favorite Spot on Campus?

• Clough rooftop for getting work done, hammocks for relaxing.

Favorite Quotes?

• Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but always paddling like the dickens underneath. - Michael Caine
• I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. - Douglas Adams

What do you like to do on the weekends?

• I like curling up with a good book.

Who is your favorite professor and why?

• Dr. Tom Conte. He is engaging, funny, and cares about his students and making sure they learn the material.

What is your favorite class and why?

• CS 4240 Compilers and Interpreters. The semester-long project is to build a full compiler for a simple language targeting a simple instruction set. It shows you that compilers are not magic, just very complicated.

Tell us about some organizations you’re involved with on campus.

• I’ve spent a lot of time with RoboJackets. Most recently, I served as treasurer for fiscal year 2018. We have around 200 members and an annual operating budget over $100k. My primary responsibilities were coordinating material/equipment purchases and booking travel for over 50 people competing all over the world. I previously served as the IT coordinator and managed our various workstations, servers, and cloud software.

What advice do you have for incoming students?

• Get involved on campus! Georgia Tech is a weird and wonderful place full of smart people. If you have a passion for something, there’s a good chance you can meet other people who share that passion and do something amazing.

What would people be surprised to know about you?

• I used to play percussion in concert band way back in middle school.

Favorite TV show?

• Mr. Robot

What will you miss most about Tech after graduation?

• The campus and the people. Both are amazing.

What are your plans after graduation?

• I’ll be looking for a job doing software development at a customer-focused company.

Is there anything else we should know about you?

• Even between working at Wreck Techs, dealing with weekly purchasing at RoboJackets, and going to class, I still (usually) find time to sleep enough. It is possible!

Thanks, Kristaps, for all you do and have done for Georgia Tech. We appreciate it and are happy you have received the Campus Services Student Employee Spotlight!