As a child, I was a devout disciple of curiosity. My Christmas lists were filled with microscopes, telescopes, books, and tools. My world was one full of devices and concepts to deconstruct and understand. While academically gifted, my primary interests were hands-on: designing, building, and making.
As an adult, I have never lost my sense of wonder or the desire to create. My skills as a maker are ever-increasing, and I have found an outlet in technology - drafting, graphics, 3D design, machining, programming... The combination of my creative, technological, and mechanical abilities allows for exceptional potential in a wide array of fields.
My education has been somewhat unorthodox in its route, but the paths I have chosen have given me a unique perspective on the interplay between science, technology, and creativity. In school I was the student who took every outside-of-school educational activity available - Academic Games, Science Camps, Technology Weekends, and anything else I could find. These immersive environments taught me more than I could ever learn in a classroom. In highschool, I completed honors science courses during the summer before my senior year through a program offered at California University of Pennsylvania. The summer after my senior year, I completed the EXCEL program at the University of Pittsburgh, which involved working on research projects with professors at the university prior to beginning my freshman year in engineering. When I actually began the engineering program in the fall, I quickly realized 400-student lecture halls were not the kind of learning environment I needed. I went on to complete a few engineering courses, programming courses, and all of my general education courses.... and flew away to London.
In London I was part of a joint program in Media Production between London South Bank University and the American University. I specialized in Audio and Sound, as it was a hobby I had since my early teens and served to bridge the gap between the technical and the creative that I was craving. I never had dreams of being famous, I just very much enjoyed the precision, the mastering of techniques, the manipulation of the environment and exploitation of physics. During my final year I was spending 16 hour days in studios and editing suites, and I truly enjoyed it.
When I finished in London, I applied to the Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queen's University Belfast, an incredibly unique cooperative program between their engineering, computer science, and music departments. I had been following their work for years. I was accepted to their Master's program and chose the path of Interactive Systems Design. I was the only individual on this path without an engineering or computer science degree. We were given a 6 hour introduction to electronics, microcontrollers, and the necesssary programming. From then on, all development, building, and programming of devices was on us. We had a few research-based classes involving subject trials, and a creative course in audio. The rest of the program involved designing and creating interactive instruments and installations. I have never worked so hard in my life, and have never had an experience that was so rewarding.
Since then, my path has been rather eclectic. I had a PhD position and employment arranged in Edinburgh, Scotland, only to have my funding, and then my visa, fall through. I came home to western PA and have worked in a wooden box factory running manual and CNC machines, assited regularly in HVAC contracting work, spent 3 years in a middle school as a substitute teacher, and did research, planning, and sourcing for an interactive gaming system startup, all of which overlapped at various points. I have also been doing a significant amount of freelance work, primarily leatherwork, woodwork, carving, and tents for reinactments.
I recently made the choice to leave my job as a substitute to move to south-eastern Pennsylvania. I am currently working part-time while augmenting my knowledge with programming certifications and beginning to focus on building myself a career. Ideally I would love to get into development and prototyping, but I have such a wide range of interests that my professional life could go in a number of different directions. Regardless of which direction I end up going, the future has never looked brighter.