Technology professional Nader Karimi of Los Angeles, California is a graduate of UCLA's Computer Sciences program who has worked for NASA and Fox Entertainment.
Currently, Nader Karimi is the Chief Information Officer of BCBG, a visionary fashion brand. The brand, founded by Tunisian fashion designer Max Azria, combines high fashion with affordability. BCBG sells women's clothing through its own boutiques as well as through upscale department stores like Nordstrom's and Bloomingdales. BCBG has over 550 boutiques in all different parts of the world including New York, Los Angeles, London and Paris.
Nader Karimi helps run day to day operations of the IT computing systems at BCBG, which was a good fit for his considerable talents. Nader and his team maintain the complex computing systems world-wide. He aslo works with the senior management team (including Max Azria and the company's creative director Lubov Azria) to manage the enterprise wide Information Technology services including infrastructure and architecture, applications development, and business process re-engineering.
Nader Karimi graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science and engineering from the University of California at Los Angeles. The university is more commonly known by its acronym, UCLA.
UCLA's undergraduate computer science program is known as one of the most rigorous in the world. It's designed for students whose interest lies in understanding software programs rather than hardware engineering. At UCLA, Nader Karimi studied:
• Software engineering: Software engineering involves creating computer code that can be assembled into an application. Software engineers also update and fix problems in existing applications.
• Computer programming languages: Computer programming languages are the source code that is used to create applications or configure computer systems. Computer programmers often work in tandem with information technology specialists like Nader Karimi to correct problems in existing applications.
• Database management: Database management involves the storage, modification and extraction of data from databases.
• Computer architecture: Computer architecture refers to the various assembly language systems that allow your computer's hardware to function as a unified system.
• Computer networks: Computer networks are systems of computers, servers, modems and other peripheral components that allow computers to share resources.
Nader Karimi's Career Trajectory
Following his graduation from UCLA, Nader Karimi went to work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA.) Nader worked as the Manager of Space Station Project associated with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Jet Propulsion Lab is NASA's chief center for robotic exploration. Karimi worked in this capacity between 1986 and 1990.
Although Karimi loved working for NASA, Nadar felt he needed to expand his professional horizons by gaining other types of experience. In 1990, Nader Karimi took a position with IBM as a Network and Telecommunications Manager. IBM is one of the world's largest technology and consulting businesses with close to 500,000 employees around the globe. IBM is also one of the world's most profitable companies. In 2011, the company's net income was well over $16 billion.
In 1994, Karimi made another career change, becoming an Assistant Director of Project Management and Consulting at Amgen. Amgen is a biotechnology company that produces twelve therapeutic biologicals designed to treat 17 conditions. The company also has many pharmaceuticals currently in the drug discovery phase.
In 1998, Nader joined the Fox Entertainment Group where he rose to the position of Vice President of Infrastructure Services. The Fox Entertainment Group is a large entertainment conglomerate that operates film studios and a number of television properties and franchises. As Vice President of Infrastructure, Karimi was responsible for the stability of the world-wide systems associated with Fox entertainment products.
Fox produces a lot of phenomenally popular entertainment products and supports them with websites in many countries throughout the globe. Fans access these websites constantly to get more information about the movies and shows they love. Karimi was charged with designing the infrastructure systems so they would never crash servers. This is extremely difficult to do if large numbers of fans are accessing websites simultaneously.
Karimi believed wholeheartedly in becoming involved with the community he lives in. Nader has loaned time and money to a number of Los Angeles-based nonprofits that help people who live there.
• Food Drives: Most people have a hard time associating food shortages with a city as affluent as L.A.. However, the city actually leads the nation in the number of people who go hungry every night. More than 1.7 million residents struggle with hunger on a regular basis.
Nader works with the Brentwood Presbyterian Church to help alleviate hunger in Los Angeles County. The Brentwood Presbyterian Church is a mission partner of the Westside Food Bank, which distributed food packages to over 85,000 people last year.
• Alleviating Homelessness: The homeless are often not the people you think they are. Believe it or not, in Los Angeles County, a number of homeless people hold jobs! These jobs simply do not pay enough to allow these workers to rent apartments. The workers often sleep in their cars or wherever else they can find a space for the night.
The Weingart Center's Institute for the Study of Homelessness and Poverty estimates there are well over 150,000 homeless in Los Angeles. Nader is committed to helping these individuals. He works with a Santa-Monica-based organization serving meals and helping in other ways.
• Giving Back Globally: Nader Karimi sponsors two children in Africa. Each month, he sends money that ensures these children will have nutritious meals and continue their education. Nadar has also helped subsidize several missionary trips to Mexico.
Although Karimi believes strongly that charity begins at home, he's also aware that many people overseas need help. He believes that the United States is the best country in the world and he feels fortunate to live here. He would like to see people in other countries enjoy the standard of living and other advantages we enjoy here.
Nader believes it starts with the children. If a nation can ensure its children can be well fed and free from disease, that's a strong start. In order to grow up and become productive members of society, of course, children must also be educated.
Nader Karimi truly believes he gets as much as he gives from his altruistic contributions to the community and to the world. It makes him feel really good to give to others.
Nader Karimi works for the fashion design company BCBG, so he thinks a lot about the role of fashion. Fashion occupies an interesting cultural position. Fashion is neither strictly commerce nor strictly art. Instead, it falls somewhere in between.
Fashion designers must be forward thinking. Otherwise, their designs will no longer be relevant by the time they hit store shelves. These days, however, fashion is no longer relegated to just clothes. Increasingly, people can change the looks of their bodies as though they were changing their clothes.
What fashions and innovative body modification designs can we expect to see in the United States in the next few years?
• Forehead protuberances: In Japan, many people are having saline injected into their foreheads as a type of body modification. It creates a blob in the center of the forehead, which can then be manipulated into a variety of different shapes. The results make people look as though they stepped out of a science fiction movie. The body reabsorbs the saline within 24 hours, so this look is not permanent.
• Crooked teeth: Thanks to dental veneers and laminates, anyone can have straight white teeth. Many people in Japan, however, are opting to have dental cosmetic work that makes their teeth crooked. In Japan, it's considered sexy for women to have slightly crooked canine teeth.
• Face masks: Affluent Chinese citizens living in some of the more polluted cities wear face masks to protect themselves from toxic fumes. Face masks also prevent their faces from becoming tanned, which is considered unattractive in many parts of China. Recently, people have begun wearing colorful face masks incorporating patterns and designs.
• Extrocular jewelry: In the Netherlands, it's legal to undergo an operation that implants tiny pieces of metallic jewelry in your eyes. This trend has now caught on among many of the trendier members of Europe's body mod crowd.
Nader Karimi looks forward to progress his career in Los Angeles, California as well as continuing to help those in need. He looks forward to seeing what other fashion-forward trends come into play and how he can continue to have a successful impact on them.