IAMECON congratulates its interns on their pending UT Graduation!

We would like to congratulate Jorge Morales-Burnett and Marshall Honaker for their pending graduation from the University of Texas at Austin! Both Jorge and Marshall completed a summer internship with us in 2018 and have assisted us on various projects throughout the year. They were both crucial to winning our firm’s first research grant with the Small Business Administration and in various other projects.

We are so pleased to announce (and not surprised either 🙂 that both of them already have plans for after graduation. After Jorge graduates with his degree in Economics and Urban planning, he will follow his passion of solving difficult city challenges by joining the Urban Institute in Washington DC. We can’t imagine a better fit for him.

After Marshall graduates with his dual degree in Economics and Mathematics, he will go straight to graduate school to study for his Masters in Statistics at Texas A&M. We are so excited for him for him to continue his rigorous study of statistical modeling.

As part of our series (“Getting to know who IAMECON”), we asked them to reflect on their time at IAMECON and share a few of their favorite moments. Their answers are below:

Jorge Morales-Burnett

What was your favorite part of the internship with IAMECON?
Without a doubt, my favorite part was the experience doing research. IAMECON not only gave me the chance to apply what I had learned in economics; it also introduced me to what it actually takes to undertake high quality research.

I sincerely believe IAMECON has provided me with a strong foundation to continue doing research in the social sciences in the future.

2. What was a memorable moment from your time at IAMECON?
My most memorable moment was the excitement from winning our first research contract (the costs and benefits of occupational licensing on small businesses). The proposal was creative and innovative — it was great seeing that the hard work had paid off.

3. What is something you are really excited about in your next role/phase of life?
I am really excited to continue doing research now more specific to the issues I am passionate about, such as urban planning, housing policy, and local economic development. Moving to a totally different city will also be interesting (however I am not used to the cold!)

4. Anything else to add?
I’d just like to say that I am extremely appreciative of the amazing opportunity I had to contribute at IAMECON. I have learned so much and will never forget my time here.

Marshall Honaker

1. What was your favorite part of the internship with IAMECON?
I really enjoyed having the opportunity to see projects evolve from a simple problem or question into a complex solution and being involved with the process along the way. This is, in part, what made me want to continue on to graduate school.

2. What was a memorable moment from your time at IAMECON?
I remember there was one day over the summer when I first started working that I was cleaning a data set but there seemed to be an inconsistency in the data that I couldn’t account for or explain. I brought the problem to you and Devrim and after a few minutes we realized that the surveyors who had compiled the original data set had changed part of one of the definitions in their methodology half way through their study. Once we realized that I just thought “Oh, of course that makes so much sense.” I had encountered problems like this in my classes before and I understood in a more conceptual, abstract way that these things happen and that they need to be dealt with carefully but I had never seen anything like that happen when working with a raw data set. I remember that day because it changed the way that I handle information and made me more conscious of how I handle data when I’m getting ready to use it later on.

3. What is something you are really excited about in your next role/phase of life?
I’m really excited to be able to continue my studies so that I can be involved in this kind of work in a greater capacity in the future. I think there’s a lot of really important and interesting work being done and I really look forward to being involved in it as much as I can be.

4. Anything else to add?
I’m so incredibly thankful to everyone at IAMECON for everything they have done to help me. Without y’all I wouldn’t be where I am today.
—

We will sorely miss both Jorge and Marshall here on Cesar Chavez, but are very grateful to both of them for their energy, skill and dedication that they have brought to IAMECON. We are proud of both of them and wish them both the best of luck at graduation and in their careers. Keep an eye out for these two!