bio

My interests in Robotics began

around the age of 8. Star Wars,

of course, played a big role in

molding my early years. My first
robot was a combination of a watch case, parts of my Erector
Set, and electronics from my Radio Shack 101 project kit.
It wasn't quite what I now consider to be a robot, but it was a
legitimate start. At the age of 16 I graduated from High School
and enrolled in an electronics trade school in Arizona to learn
electronics, which eventually lead me to open my own TV/VCR
repair shop. Unfortunately my timing wasn't right because it
was about that same time that the price of VCR's dropped to a
point that made repairing them unrealistic. I closed my shop
in the early '90's and sought other work. The "other work"
consisted of many things including welding, mechanics,
sheetmetal, and eventually a computer technician dabbling
in the programing realm. All of which apply nicely to the field of robotics which is why in 1998 I started getting back into
robotics in a big way. I founded Southern Oregon Robotics Club in 2000 to encourage others to build robots and to give me a group of people to exchange ideas with. One of my special interests is to get kids and teens into robotics, so I go to schools and other kid oriented organizations to give presentations on robotics. I guess what sparked the renewed
interest was the fact that electronics and computers have
finally caught up enough to make robot building possible.
I enrolled back in school in 2001 to get more knowledge about programming and electronics. I hope to eventually find good work doing what I love most, designing and building robots!