Adam Wadler '04, M.Eng. '05

As an undergraduate, Adam Wadler ’04, M.Eng. ’05, majored in ORIE “because of its overwhelming applicability to a variety of environments; everything from manufacturing to financial services.” He chose Cornell because of its ORIE program’s reputation. “It is one of the best, if not the best, OR departments in the country,” he says, citing the faculty’s reputation and the wide variety of operations research courses.

One of Wadler’s favorite courses was Simulation Modeling and Analysis, in which he learned new methods for addressing complex problems. “For example, one of our projects was based on analyzing a passenger queuing system at an airport to optimize the number of security personnel at different times of day.” He also enjoyed a non-ORIE course called Corporate Finance. “I found it very useful because I am going to work in corporate finance after I graduate.”

As a Master of Engineering candidate, Wadler worked on a project team that provided consulting services to a real company. In parallel, he worked with a new credit risk model for pricing credit-sensitive securities for one of the country’s most prestigious investment firms.

In the short term, Wadler has taken a job as an investment banker in New York City. In the long run, “I may wish to switch over to a more mathematical position, such as a quantitative trader,” he says. “I would like to develop and implement mathematical trading strategies.”