My Blessings

Identities should not decide who gets to have an opinion and who does not, but they can help us define the power dynamics in the discourse surrounding those opinions. Hence why I write the disclaimer below, and why other men ought to consider a similar sentiment.

First, I’d like to acknowledge that as a cis-gendered, straight, white man, I am incredibly blessed and privileged to have lived the life I have. When others have had to worry about their physical and mental safety, I’ve benefited from the stability of the status quo.

I am fortunate to have grown up in Ann Arbor, MI, and attended public schools that are well-funded and have a diverse student body. I am immensely proud of the fact that my achievements having solely attended publicly funded schools. I view it as proof that a community that values public education for all its children can do incredible good. Good schooling shouldn’t cost money aside from taxes, and quality shouldn’t depend on where you live.

Any success I have can be attributed to my stable upbringing, two wonderful and successful parents who I view as role-models, and a strong network of people supporting me along my journey in life. Knowing where your next meal is coming from and avoiding decision fatigue can go a long way for a kid and their family.

It makes me happy to see the progress that society is making toward both equality and equity. We are being vocal about what we know is wrong; let’s hope it will lead to serious change.

My Struggles

See my mental health journey.

My Interests

Technology

I love Computers and all facets of them. They are fascinating and can meaningfully improve people’s lives.

Music

Theory, production, classical, hip-hop, jazz, piano, saxophone.

I was a member of the Tenor Saxophone section in the Michigan Marching Band for four years. More info on my LinkedIN.

Empathy

Volunteering, outreach, social change, compassion, teaching, DEI improvement, and climate improvement at school and at work.

Activity

Band, basketball, frisbee, lifting, friends, watching sports (especially Umich!), video games.

My Values

Empathy, again

Humor

One of my favorite Computer Scientists is James Mickens. His comedic essays and conference talks are hysterical, must-see content. He says in his Reddit AMA,

“My attitude in life is that, unless you’re directly helping to end war, poverty, and homelessness at the same time, you don’t have the right to be ultra-serious.”

I share this attitude. We technologists overrate our importance and efficacy. Lots of software actively hampers the people it’s trying to help, to the point that they don’t expect it to work. This talk by Jonathan Blow gives good examples. Let’s get it right instead of lying to ourselves about how good or smart we are!

Ethics

Technology, while a convenient avenue for making money, can have serious repercussions in how it affects living, breathing humans. Listen to your conscience. Do the right thing. Pursue a path that is wholly free from reproach. The ACM code of ethics and the Obligation of An Engineer provide nice guiding points.

Efficacy

I do my best to be excellent in the work I take on. When I am not, I welcome feedback and direction towards excellence. This ties into ethics. We must be good at what we do, otherwise we are not helping the world with our engineering. Making mistakes is inevitable, and learning from them is invaluable. The crux falls on engineers to deliver a functioning, beneficial piece of technology that makes people’s lives better.

Learning

In pursuit of efficacy, I prioritize learning.

I have a strong desire to learn all areas of critical importance to computer systems which span a diverse collection of niches. I’m excited to contribute to these spaces, both in research and in practice, in my lifetime as a Computer Professional.

Compilers, Programming Languages, Networks, Operating Systems, Machine Learning, Computer Theory, Cryptography, it’s all interesting to me. I’m a life long learner. We all should be. No one person can learn or master all these topics, but an effort is beneficial.

We all should adopt a growth mindset (watch the talk and read the book, it’s fantastic!). We can learn what we want to learn. All it takes is time, sometimes money, and always some effort.

Equity

We should avoid discrimination in the workplace, higher-education, and the rest of society in any way possible. Technology provide net good to the world, not marginalize its people.