Welcome aboard. I’m a Software Engineer, martial artist, video game enthusiast, violinist, researcher, 3D artist, parrothead, and sailor. I’ve studied Computer Science at both the University of North Dakota, where I received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, and at the University of Minnesota, where I received a Master of Science in Computer Science (and am still working on that ever elusive PhD). In case you’re wondering, I liked the University of North Dakota better (GO SIOUX). 🙂 I’ve been programming since 1997 (before C++ was standardized and in response to one of my former students’ questions, yes, that does make me feel old. At least now that you’ve mentioned it.)
I love Computer Graphics, especially modelling, rendering, and animation. There are also several very interesting and challenging visualization projects that have interested me from time to time. I enjoy software engineering, especially open source software engineering, as well as any project that I get to be in charge (which are few and far between).
I’m originally from Grand Forks, North Dakota (you may have heard of it from 1997 flood fame), but I currently reside in the Twin Cities. I like both places. North Dakota has some of the friendliest, most laid back (but yet hard working) people I have ever met in my life, as well as the best hockey team ever to grace an NCAA Division I Men’s hockey rink. On the other hand, Minneapolis/St. Paul is significantly warmer (an advantage not to be discounted in February), and has a ton of lakes.
Sailing is one of my passions – I’m somewhat stuck between a midwest attitude and a desire to wander the high seas. I wanted to learn to sail for a long time, but I just recently accomplished my ASA certifications.
I’ve been everything from a salesperson to a linux/unix administrator to a mobile car audio technician. I really liked being a Systems Administrator – that was interesting work and taught me many skills I should have learned in my Computer Science courses. I disliked (strongly) being a mobile car audio installer, so I only did it for 3 days. The work was great, but the company (they’ll remain nameless, but I’ll give you a hint that there is a large yellow tag involved) was rather lax in terms of ethics. Someday, it would be cool to run my own software company. Then I can take all of the things I’ve learned from good and bad jobs and smash them together in a blender, mix in a little tequila, a lot of fun, a dash of strangeness, and perhaps the result will be able to be swallowed (or at least choked down with a minimal number of shudders) by potential clients and investors. 🙂
The Nothingness of Scott (Old) 