I have over five years of experience building websites, but I arrived at the field in a somewhat roundabout way. I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a computer science degree, and have experience working as a software engineer and quality assurance tester. I quickly found that the work I enjoyed so much when I was in school was totally different in industry. As a student, I would be excited to run home and apply some novel concept I had just learned, and to see the results of the problem solving. In the industrial world, a great deal of time is spent tracking down fairly miniscule bugs, with little tangible results to show for it. The excitement of the technology began to wane.

Then I discovered web programming, and the enthusiasm that I had been missing returned. Developing for the web gives me the opportunity to see direct, tangible results of the work I do. The blend of the artistic and aesthetic elements of design and the rigorous nature of software development keeps any task from becoming monotonous. The web is constantly changing and evolving, so I am always being called upon to learn new skills. As soon as I stop learning, I start to feel stagnant. That won't be happening in this field anytime in the near future

At the same time, my formal computer science education and background in the software engineering world give me a skill set in the fundamentals that many self taught web developers lack. Because the basics of web design are not overly complex, the initial barriers to entry are quite low. This has the effect of diluting the talent pool a great deal. Rest assured that I am a computer scientist who develops for the web, not someone who just happens to throw together some HTML code. All my sites are coded to pass W3C validation and to make use of object oriented design philosophy. Doing things right the first time ultimately saves me time, and saves my clients money.

I am always looking for new and interesting projects, large or small. You can click here to contact me and discuss your project.

You can download my resume as a .PDF here