We live in a digital age. That’s a given. But what’s not a given is the ability to understand both humans and technology, how we interact, and how humans can better use technology as a tool to improve our lives. I bring a keen awareness of human behavior to my work in IT and Communications, an understanding that is critically valuable in this field.
Professionally, I have maintained Drupal and WordPress websites and a CiviCRM database, managed a website upgrade project for an educational nonprofit and retreat center, managed campus technology and wireless networks for a high school campus, provided technical assistance and training to staff, and taught a video documentary production course to high school students.
Personally, I invented and wrote the software for LeverBoard, an adapted keyboard which works better for me than any commercially available product I have found and which I use as my primary text input device. LeverBoard runs off an Arduino Leonardo, coded in C. I also routinely write Python and shell scripts to increase my own productivity and efficiency, and I maintain this WordPress website.
I majored in Computer Science at Haverford College. In keeping with the College’s liberal arts tradition, Haverford’s Computer Science Department aims to instill in students the deep problem-solving ability that is critical in computer programming. At Haverford, I took courses in computer hardware and circuitry, operating systems and concurrency, programming languages, and compiler development.
At Haverford, every student is required to complete a comprehensive senior thesis project. For my senior thesis, I compared different forms of alphanumeric text input (human to computer) and analyzed them based on the user’s physical abilities. I developed a framework for the implementation of a recommender system for selecting the most appropriate text input device for a given user based on that user’s physical abilities. Click here to read my thesis.
I have coded the following programming languages:
- HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript
- Python
- Java
- C
- C++
- Scheme
- AppleScript
- HERA (the Haverford Educational RISC Architecture)
I have administered websites on / using:
- Drupal
- Backdrop
- WordPress
- CiviCRM
I have also administered an instance of the Redmine project management system.