Bren Barker Email & Phone Number

Chicago, Il, Us

Chicago, Illinois, United States

* Participated in the design, development, operation, and support of High Performance Computing systems on campus.* Provided first level ticket and helpdesk support for HPCC users.* Monitored processing, identified and resolved abnormal or error conditions, performed initial machine and program loads, scheduled jobs using automated software scheduling packages, initiated backups, monitored environmental processes, and performed related responsibilities.* Provided training, documentation and assistance to customers and internal staff.* Participated in regional and national cyber infrastructure communities.* Emergency on-call support rotation with the rest of the systems team.

Chicago, Illinois, United States

System and network administration and technical support for 6-person housing cooperative, including wireless mesh network installation and maintenance. Designed and deployed hyper-converged infrastructure solution to provide secure, reliable, user-friendly private cloud services to membership.

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Innovative and results-driven Associate Director of STEM Education with a proven track record of spearheading initiatives to enhance educational processes and stakeholder engagement. Led the development of an Airtable database, revolutionizing project tracking and stakeholder communication. Known for exceptional leadership in fostering collaboration and enhancing team dynamics, resulting in superior project outcomes. Proficient in multi-project management, ensuring efficiency and effectiveness across diverse responsibilities. Strong communication skills enable clear dissemination of information and facilitate seamless collaboration across departments. Committed to driving continuous improvement in STEM education and delivering impactful results.

Chicago, Il, Usa

* Inventory control for all lab equipment* Managed $10,000 / year budget, identifying need for upgrades and requesting more money for big purchases, including a $2000 solar telescope to safely observe the Sun* Early in the Covid-19 pandemic, I saw a need for tech to support remote teaching. I proactively deployed a Slack workspace for the department, identified and procured webcams, headsets, and drawing tablets for instructors, maintaining inventory records and asset management.* On-call technical support and pedagogical support for graduate teaching assistants during their lab sections, including evenings.* Managed network of 20 Windows desktop workstations and 2 digital projectors, connected to the university network through ethernet hubs, including ensuring security updates and deploying and configuring software applications as needed.* Procured and configured IP cameras, working with campus IT to provision static IP addresses and third-level domains to enable remote operation and monitoring of laboratory equipment, ensuring compliance with security policy.* Supervised engineering team to refurbish and upgrade heliostat optical system with local and remote electronic operation and monitoring through a graphical HMI device* Troubleshooted and repaired radio telescope control malfunction, tracing circuits and inspecting the device code (in Java) and configuration files, procuring and installing a replacement linear actuator* Developed astronomy lab curriculum in collaboration with faculty and staff using research-based instructional design* Trained, supervised and mentored graduate teaching assistants, including instruction in computer systems (Windows), computer interface applications to enable quantitative analysis and control telescopes and imaging systems, oscilloscopes, and other technical equipment* Presented as an invited panelist in a workplace “Out in the PSD” event to contribute to queer and nonbinary visibility and outreach

Chicago, Illinois, United States

* Set up and maintained internal knowledge base using Redmine* Co-founded tech cooperative; taught group facilitation and co-created organizationalstructure, vision, and values* Mediated challenging personal conflicts with deep understanding of differences acrossage, race, gender, and disability* Coached university faculty in time management and work/life balance

Chicago, Il

Chicago, Il

* Conducted education research into effectiveness of teaching interventions in increasing knowledge and changing attitudes* Collaborated across departments to develop courses that met criteria from diverse stakeholders* Hired, trained, and supervised student teaching and research assistants one-on-one and in small groups to become engaging teachers and resilient, creative researchers.* Managed all aspects of physics instructional laboratory and lecture demonstration apparatus, including facility management, equipment purchasing, inventory, and maintenance.* Developed an innovative lab manual for introductory physics, featuring guided inquiry labs and using the research-based Investigative Science Learning Environment.* Developed and delivered undergraduate courses in introductory calculus-based physics, health physics, and astronomy (MS Powerpoint, LibreOffice, LaTeX for equation rendering, Gimp and Inkscape for raster and vector graphics editing)* Managed multiple overlapping time-sensitive projects including curriculum development and delivery, research presentations and articles, and committee work in support of the department and university.* Collaborated across departments to develop courses that met criteria from diverse stakeholders.* Conducted needs assessment, procurement, deployment, management and maintenance of a High Performance Computer (System76 Jackal rackmount server running Ubuntu Linux) for computational nuclear physics research (SLURM for batch job automation and orchestration). Running Object-Oriented Fortran code, gnuplot for visualization, Doxygen for documentation management, automake, bash and perl to glue it together

Chicago, Il

* Developed new curriculum and taught 9 introductory physics and astronomy classes across 2 campuses* Initiated and independently managed $25,000 upgrade of physics instructional laboratory, including acquiring, deploying, and administering 10 Ubuntu Linux netbooks for digital/analog physics data acquisition interfaces.

East Lansing, Mi

I design and maintain computer simulations to investigate microscopic interactions and bulk properties of nuclear many-body systems. I advise the team on strengths and limitations of current simulations.

East Lansing, Mi

* Process orchestration with bash, scheduling jobs in OpenPBS on a High Performance Computer (HPC) running Linux* Conducted independent research on transport properties of many-particle quantum systems at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory.* Developed computer simulations in object-oriented Fortran for numerical modeling, operating in a Debian Linux environment, using Gnuplot for data visualization.* Collaborated with researchers in 8 countries across 3 continents, using Zoom before it was cool* Presented research at national and international conferences (LaTeX beamer, Powerpoint, Inkscape and Xfig for figure development, pdftk, perl script to change colors in graphs in the pdf).

Lansing, Mi

Prepared and delivered lecture, lab, and active learning activities for 20 conceptual physics students in a combined lecture/lab course, as well as 12 students in a second-semester non-calculus introductory physics course.

East Lansing, Mi

* Assisted students with completing laboratory work and assessing their performance.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Theoretical Nuclear Physics

Activities and Societies: American Association of Physics Teachers, American Physical Society, Dean's Advisory Council on Diversity.

Master Of Arts - Ma, Human Services

Activities and Societies: Chi Sigma Iota, Roosevelt Counseling Association, Veterans Upward Bound

Master Of Science (M.S.), Physics

Activities and Societies: Women & Minorities in the Physical Sciences, NSCL Computer Committee, NSCL Tour Guide

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.), Physics, Minors In Computer Science, Mathematics

Activities and Societies: Bella Voce (acapella choir), Insert Title Here (improvisational comedy group), Physics Club, LGBT Pride.

Education record