This section features some general information about myself, probably more than you wanted to know. I currently reside in Northern Virginia just outside of the Washington, D.C. area. I am currently accepting Freelance Website, Business Service, Photography and Illustration work for 2009. See the Contact Page for information on getting a hold of me for Freelance Opportunities.
Innovation - Inventing new products is part of what I consider to be my innovative activities. I love tackling an existing problem from a different angle and discovering a previously uncovered solution. Many times, I find that analogous solutions already exist to a problem just by looking outside a given field.
Metal Fabrication - I started welding in college fabricating aluminum robot chassis up for engineering teams at UIUC was a side job. I quickly realized while developing some of my larger scale prototypes, such as the “Open iv” motorcycle concept, that being able to weld has been an important part of seeing a concept through to reality.
Pilot – I gained my Private Pilot Certificate in 2003 while attending the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana. The actual flying of an airplane is a small slice of the array of skills that is involved with flying an airplane. While it may not seem germane to my portfolio, everything from human factors to material science goes into training a pilot.
Public Speaking - At some point public speaking went from something I feared to something I greatly enjoy. Instead of scripts, I prefer to speak from bullet points, I feel like the audience reacts better to material that feels more casual and unscripted. Also balancing text and spoken word with poignant visuals and tangible models, when available, is key in conveying a message to an audience. Inevitably something always goes haywire, be it an interruption from an audience member or the presentation computer crashing, but having the ability to shift the presentation on the fly is key. There’s no rush quite like giving a great presentation.
Photography – Not just an art form, but also an excellent communication tool, having a wealth of experience in photography has proved invaluable for my work in other fields. Being able to produce professional products shots has helped my entrepreneur endeavors and the composition techniques for illustrating are two fringe benefits of my photography experience.
Adobe Creative Suite - I was fortunate to be exposed to Photoshop back in the days of 6.0 and essentially grew up alongside Adobe’s products. With the purchase of Macromedia the Adobe family has become very strong and versatile set of tools.
