This page is meant to give a little background on me. I was born in Spokane, Washington, and very quickly moved to Central Point, Oregon. I attended Crater High School there, and began my fascination with music, computers, camping and biking while growing up in the Pacific Northwest.

In junior high, I started playing trumpet (6th grade), and continued all the way through high school, eventually to play first chair in both jazz and concert bands in high school. My senior picture is shown to the left, and I opted to have it taken with my trumpet, as I believe it was the primary focus of my high school career.

I also started to become very interested in computers (I had a computer around the house for as long as I can remember), and in programming computers. I played a lot of games, including X-Wing, Tie-Fighter, and Jedi Knight, the games that originally got me interested in computer games in the first place. I also spent a lot of time in our school's computer labs and networking lab, helping with the linux boxes that ran the school's network.

In the summer of 1997, my father and I (pictured right) started bicycling in Florence, OR, and kept going until we reached Missoula, MT.

The following summer, we continued where we left off, and bicycled all the way to Yorktown, VA (pictured left). A full accounting of that trip can be found in the Awesome Across America Adventure chronicle. Those pages are comprised of images that my dad put together from the video we took on the trip. I put them together into a web-navigable album.

Eventually it came time to apply to universities. I applied to Oregon State, Iowa State, and the Rochester Institute of Technology. I was accepted at all three schools, and chose RIT. I was initially accepted in to the Computer Engineering Technology program, but was also later admited to the BS/MS degree option, through which I will graduate with a BS in Computer Engineering Technology and an MS in Computer Science in May of 2005.

After graduating from high school, I spent three summers (2000-2002) working for Autodesk as a computer programming intern. I spent the spring and summer of 2003 working for Soleo Communications as a computer programming intern. These jobs have helped equip me with the knowledge I need to be a productive member of the work force in whatever company sees fit to hire me.

Soon after I came to RIT, I began to get involved in many extra curricular activites. I continued playing trumpet in the RIT Concert Band, and am now pursuing a minor in music. I also helped start the RIT Pool Club. While I am no longer an active member of the pool club, I am glad to say that it thrives to this day.

The picture shown at the right is of me juggling 5 balls. When I came to RIT, I was only able to juggle 3, but thanks to the Juggling Club, I am now a much more accomplished juggler. Rochester is an extremely active juggling community of which I am proud to be a part. I was the Juggling Club president for the 2002-2003 academic year.

The RIT Juggling Club is host to one of the largest annual juggling festivals, the RIT Spring Juggle-In. The picture shown at right links to my photo album with many pictures of the various events that our club attends or has been a part of since I joined.

In the spring of my freshman year, I began to study Kung Fu under Sifu Jean Duteau, in Duteau' Shaolin Kung-Fu Wu Su Academy. The classes are offered through the Student Life Center at RIT. In these classese, I have learned a lot about self defense, physical fitness, and how to avoid situations where I will be forced to use martial arts. Last spring I passed the First Rank test, which includes two hours of verbal testing and testing of my teaching skills, followed the next day by two hours of intense physical testing. It is a gruelling experience.

In Kung Fu we do not focus only on topics traditionally covered by martial arts. The picture to the left is the result of 15 hours of hand embroidery that I did. Our uniforms are required to have a school patch sewn on, as well as our name in chinese sewn by us, by hand. That picture also links to several pictures of Kung Fu demonstrations I have taken part in.

Also in the spring of my freshman year, I discovered the oriental strategy game of Go. It is a game that combines strategy and creativity in a beautiful way. In my years in the Empty Sky Go Club, I have seen the club grow from just a few members to be one of the largest clubs on campus. I have attended many go competitions, and as of 2004, am at about the rank of 3 kyu. The picture on the right links to many more pictures of the go club in action.

I met my wife Krysta (pictured left) in Electronics lab in my second year. Krysta was a Computer Engineering Technology major, but has since graduated with an associate degree in Electrical Technology from RIT. She now lives in New York City and is taking classes in pursuit of a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Toy Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. We were engaged to be married on July 3rd, 2004 and have yet to set a wedding date.

Currently in my fifth year (out of five), I have found myself extremely busy with school work. Detail about some of the work I have done for classes here at RIT can be found on the projects page. After I graduate, I hope to find a great job then that will require the skills I have been cultivating here. I also hope to keep up with the activities I have come to enjoy here at RIT. Until then, I'm sure I've got plenty to keep me busy =).