I am an educator by trade. I'm currently working on my PhD in Education focusing on instructional leadership. I am facinated by the ideas of teaching teachers and curriculum development, especially at the post-secondary level. I am very interested in career-focused education.
I participate in SkillsUSA for the last 10 years as part of my support of Career and Technical Education (CTE). In my tenure in SkillsUSA, I have been a part of the technical committee for the Computer Maintenance Technology and judged student performance in sections of that contest.
I am CPR/AED and First Aid certified through the American Heart Association. (renewed April 2010).
I am an advocate of Linux and open source ideas. I have focused on education and cross-platform development in hopes I can be of service to the community in spreading the word about the awesome power of open source. My favorite programming language is Qt
- I am scheduled to finsh my PhD in Education by December 2013.
- In August 2006 I earned a Master's Degree in Computer Information Systems with emphasis in cross-platform user interfaces. I used independant study and graduate project courses to explore the use of Qt as a cross-platform language.
- My undergraduate degree is in Electronics Engineering Technology which means at my heart I am a technologist - I am facinated with technology especially the new ways we continue to put it to use
- I have taught post-secondary courses in electronics, basic computer use, computer repair, and computer operating systems ("everything from the transistor up"). My current focus as School Chair allows me to apply a complete approach to education. I teach (mostly Linux and programming) as well as manage the students and faculty within the School
- I have acted as either course writer or subject expert on several Linux curriculums used at ITT Technical Institutes.
- I worked with authors as subject consultants in the review of two text books during their revisions.
- As part of my degree work, I have explored Java 1.5 and 1.6 as well as Qt 3.X and 4.X.
- I hold certifications in computer repair (A+ and CET in CST) and Linux (LPIC-1).
- I have been Instructor of the Quarter and Employee of the Month several times in my tenure
- As lead advisor for the ITT Technical Institue Wyoming, MI chapter of SkillsUSA, I have lead several student teams to the annual state and national contests. 2010 marks my 10th year as lead advisor of this chapter of SkillsUSA.
- GLSEC November 2009: Cross-Platform Programming using Qt
- GLSEC November 2008: Reasons for Open Source Software
- AimWest April 2008: part of a panel on Open Source in Business
- As a computer user and Linux advocate I have experience with OpenOffice and RedHat Linux from 5.2 to Fedora 12.
- In case you didn't interpret my geek code - I prefere VI and KDE on Fedora.
- Of course, I have can and will use Windows, MS Office, and the like. I can even say the occational nice thing about our friends in Redmond, WA.
- I speak and read French at the first grade level
- I like to grow my own hot chilie plants, but am only a level 1 plant grower. I am currently looking for a +20 green thumb. (there's a gaming reference for ya).
- I enjoy cooking, especially grilling (fire good!), stir fry, and cooking with hot peppers (mostly habaneros).