After eight wonderful years in the United States Marine Band, I'm looking for my next gig.

My passion has always lived at the intersection of the technical and the artistic; it's what led me into a career as a recording engineer. A curiosity for new things and impatience with manual repetition also led me into using computer code as a tool to solve problems. I can trace this back to at least 2005, when I hacked together some bash scripts and cron jobs to automate the process of editing out commercial breaks from the radio show I was working for, but it probably started much earlier than that. Along the way, I've learned a few things about running Linux systems, programming in a couple of different languages (mostly python and javascript), and creating decent-looking html and css, both by hand and by using packages such as Bootstrap, jQuery, D3, Wordpress, and Drupal. I want to continue to learn more and I know that I'm ready to be writing code full-time.

In the Marine Band my position has been a sort of technical catch-all. On paper, the band's two engineers are responsible for making audio recordings of the band's rehearsals and live performances and providing live sound reinforcement as required, mostly for outdoor concerts in the summer. In reality, these two engineers are also responsible for the band's IT infrastructure, video production including editing and streaming, maintaining the band's archive of recordings dating back to the 1890's, and being the general source of computing expertise inside the organization. My two primary contributions over this period have been building a private web site for band members and other authorized personnel allowing them to browse and search through rehearsal recordings and the band's digital archive and assembling a video system consisting of remote-operated cameras allowing a single engineer to live stream performances.

That web site deserves a little more explanation. In the interest of keeping this "hire me" page to a manageable length, I decided to write a blog post about it.

When I code, I write in python when I can, javascript when it makes sense to be client-side, and php when I have to. In college, I completed courses using C++ and Java, but it would take some time to get back up to speed with those. I've written raw SQL queries by hand and learned why it's often a good idea to use object relational mappers like SQLAlchemy instead. Ruby and Objective-C are both on my to-learn list if I could only find the time.

About a year ago, I discovered an interest in robotics and teamed up with two friends to start Service Robotics & Technologies. In that capacity, I've learned a few things about ROS, inverse and forward kinematics, computer vision, localization and mapping. I've written controller code for both the CrustCrawler AX-12 arm and the KUKA youBot, as well as higher level code making the youBot recognize and empty trash cans, use SLAM and the ROS navigation stack to autonomously navigate an office environment, and even pour drinks.

I've lived in Washington DC for ten years now and have grown to love my adopted home. However, I would jump at the chance to move to the San Francisco Bay area for the right opportunity.

In my free time, I love cycling and playing ultimate. I also enjoy working out at my local crossfit affiliate, although I still love eating non-paleo foods and drinking good beer.

If you're looking for someone matching my general description, please get in touch!

If you are looking for my résumé, here it is as a pdf.