Benjamin Pollack, Siemens finalist from Plainview-Old Bethpage, looks back on competition

Ten years ago, Benjamin Pollack turned down a hallway at Plainview-Old Bethpage High School and the gymnasium roared with cheers.

Principal James Murray and research teacher Mary Lou O’Donnell had corralled the student body in a surprise pep rally for Pollack and his research partner, Abhinav, who were bound for New York City as finalists in the Siemens science competition.

“I'll never forget turning the corner to walk down the main corridor and the entire school was cheering and clapping for us the full length of the hallway,” said Pollack in an email interview.

Pollack’s Siemens project evaluated how female fruit flies selected mates based on morphological traits. The research was aimed at understanding trait evolution.

Today, Pollack is global director, demand generation for NICE Systems Inc.

“Although my career path has deviated from biology, my interest and passion for quantitative approaches toward problem solving has been constant,” he said.

Despite the direction change, his goals have stayed the same. Ten years ago, his dream job was to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

“The same still holds true today,” he said.

As it turns out, Pollack’s work with Siemens didn’t end at the competition. He earned a health care job at the company straight out of high school and eventually transitioned to a full-time job after graduation. In eight years with Siemens, Pollack worked his way up the ranks and became one of the youngest managers in the company’s history.

“The experience working at Siemens was fantastic, especially the ability to travel and speak around the world,” he said. Earlier this year, Pollack announced he had accepted his new position with NICE Systems Inc.

With a new job and plans to marry his fiancee, Torie Bader, in August, Pollack has moved off the Island and is now in New York City. While he has no children, Pollack says he hopes this generation will continue to cheer for the STEM students as his peers did in his gymnasium a decade ago.

“My fear is that too much attention and resources will be placed on achieving high competencies in math and English arts to the detriment of other more well rounded areas of study,” he said. Much like the evolutionary path of the fruit flies he studied, he hopes American education will adapt to make for a better future.

“There is no doubt that the education system in America needs reforming ... if changes such as Common Core don't work, move on and try something else.”

For students today, Pollack simply said they shouldn’t be afraid to bend the rules.

“You can’t fall off the floor,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to think outside the box ... in fact, rethink its shape.”