🤝 About Me

A little introduction to who I am, what I've done, and all that jazz.

📚 Education

The places I've studied and the pieces of paper I've gotten from it.

Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science, emphasizing in Computational Software, and Computational Mathematics from Northern Illinois University
Currently a Master's Student at NIU studying Computer Science

What I did at school while I wasn't studying.

NIU Presidential Scholar and University Honors Student.
PROMISE Scholar.
Member of the Lambda Sigma National Sophomore Honors Society.
Four years as the Lead Programmer for NIU's Mars Rover Team, one of which I was also the Team President for.
3 years as a member of the NIU Robotics Team

If you're looking for the publications and presentations I've gotten out of these efforts, look no further.

2 semesters as a Freshman working on my first research experience in NIU's amazing Research Rookies program. Explored Photogrammetry under Dr. Michael Papka in the Data, Devices, and Interactions Laboratory (ddiLab).
Another 2 semesters as a Sophomore in the same lab, now as a Research Rookies Peer Mentor. This time I explored 3D Printing solutions of complex brain structures.
(If you're curious, you can check out the blog for those 4 semesters, forever preserved in it's young, innocent state on this WordPress site).
A semester in the ddiLab with a PROMISE scholar's grant, exploring interactions between 3D printing, muscle sensing, and VR.
2 semesters as an undergraduate research aide in the ddiLab, working with the Array of Things Dataset, PostgreSQL, Virtual Reality, and 3D printing. (Even got two pieces in an art exhibit, somehow!)
2 years at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility doing performance log analysis and visualization for their Leadership Supercomputers (mostly Mira and Theta), while also working as a Graduate Research Assistant in the ddiLab.

A winding path to figuring out what I want to be when I grow up, chronicled.

Worked for a summer at a Walmart unloading trucks.
Spent the next summer as a Software Development Intern at Teradyne, Inc.
Started working as a Computer Lab Attendant for NIU's Residential Technologies Department, aka ResTech.
Spent the following Summer as a IT/Systems Intern at State Farm.
Returned to ResTech in the fall, now as a HelpDesk technician.
Went back to State Farm for another summer internship, this time in the freshly remixed Enterprise Technology division.
Came back to the HelpDesk in the fall.
Transitioned that semester to work as a Research Assistant in the ddiLab.
Spent the summer after graduating with my B.S. as a Senior Research Aide at Argonne National Laboratory's Leadership Computing Facility (ANL's ALCF)
Became a Graduate Research Assistant in the ddiLab, with a Visiting Student appointment continuing my work at the ALCF.
Returned to the ALCF the following summer, and then spent a final year as a Graduate RA in the ddiLab.

Ya know, that thing that I definitely have.