My professional life has been largely influenced by two things - Challenge and Curiosity. When I was a child, I was constantly disassembling my toys and electronics to see what was inside and just how they functioned. That love for figuring things out, breaking them in the process and then fixing them set me off on the path that led me to where I am today.

 I began working for my grandfather on the family farm when I was only 11 or 12 years old. In addition to learning to drive cars, trucks and tractors of all shapes and sizes at this young age, that experience fostered my curiosity in the design and function of things. Repair, rather than replacement, was a regular part of farm equipment maintenance. Creating and fixing things became second nature. It was fun... I enjoyed it... and I was good at it.

 Later, in high school I put that passion to use and won the Vocational and Industrial Clubs of America (VICA) (Now Skills USA) Illinois State Championships in Diesel Equipment Technology. That win propelled me off to hone my skills at Denver Automotive and Diesel College and shortly thereafter, in 1993, landed me a job as a line technician at Saturn of Springfield Illinois. A line technician is a fancy name for a mechanic that is factory trained to repair all systems on a vehicle. This was an exciting and challenging time to be a line tech. On board diagnostics (OBD) was reaching its maturity and the second generation of OBD, OBD-II, was in its infancy. My love for fixing things and my hobby of computers had been married. I thrived as a technician at Saturn for 7+ years before a move and marriage created opportunity for the next stage in my career.

 Shortly after moving to the St. Louis area, in 2003, I landed a job that connected my love for cars and computers in a position that seemed as if was scripted just for me. I began working as a Vehicle Testing/Data Analyst for Hunter Engineering Company, which I was familiar with from my years at Saturn and on the farm. It was there that I would spend the next 14+ years in the engineering department creating tools and software to help technicians repair and maintain cars as I once had done.

 After many years with Hunter, the desire to stay challenged and relevant turned the page to the current chapter in the pursuit of a fulfilling career. In 2011, I decided to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. Since I was already involved in a technical position developing and maintaining software, the move seemed like the next logical step. When my studies completed in early 2017, I began my search for a full-time software development position.

 In my free time away from work and tinkering with various home improvement projects, I enjoy an uneven (and somewhat odd) mix of distance running, cigars, road cycling and homebrewing.

 I started homebrewing around 2010 and began entering competitions shortly thereafter. In 2011, I had a beer advance to the final round of the National Homebrew Competition and, in 2012, that same recipe placed second in the Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing. Unfortunately, as I became more involved in school and my workload increased, brewing was forced to take a back seat. Hopefully, that will soon change and I will find the time to brew again and place many of my award winning recipes back into regular rotation.

 My newest hobby - distance running - was born from a bet my wife made with me in 2013. Challenged to get in shape to run a 5k, I tackled that goal and went a tad further. In October 2014, I ran my first full marathon, the 2014 St. Louis Rock n' Roll, in a time of 4:10:11. The following May, I ran the Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon in a time of 1:51:32 which secured a decent starting spot for me in the 2015 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. That race humbled me. It was an abnormally warm October day and I ended up finishing - barely - in 4:20:18. In January of 2016, I suffered anankle injury which has kept me from training seriously and has forced me into cycling in an attempt to stay in shape. I also plan to revive my running habit very soon now that I have some free time.