In my tenure as Director of Technology and STEM Education I oversaw not only all district technology systems and software but also the district K-12 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) education programs. The Camdenton R-III School District has a student population of over 4,200 students with nine school facilities on three campuses employing over three hundred teachers and over six hundred employees. In my nearly five years in this position, we upgraded the entire district’s security systems, internet, network systems, and student devices and software to the latest technology standards. In addition, we were able to implement STEM curriculum in the district to include implementation of PLTW (Project Lead the Way) in K-12 classrooms. We were also able to increase STEM offerings and college credit options for High School students to include IB (International Baccalaureate) and AP (Advanced Placement) programs in Physics, Statistics, and Computer Science.

Over my eleven years as an instructor at Camdenton High School, I have taught numerous STEM courses including Physics, IB Physics I & II, Statistics, Algebra II, Digital Electronics, Java I & II, and AP Computer Science. As a result of my involvement in STEM instruction and my role as a Master Teacher for Project Lead the Way, I have developed partnerships with universities to promote STEM interest among high school students. I have worked with numerous universities including Southwest Baptist University, Missouri State University, and Missouri University of Science & Technology to better prepare students for STEM degrees and better equip K-12 educators to teach these courses in their schools.

I was employed by Project Lead the Way as a Digital Electronics Master Teacher. Every summer, my affiliate professor co-teacher and I teach the entire Digital Electronics (DE) curriculum to teachers from all over the Midwest. Teachers must take this training in order for them to be certified to teach this course in their schools. This is a rigorous class that covers the entire year’s coursework in just two weeks. I work with and serve as a mentor and a resource to all DE teachers around the state throughout the school year. I also consult with Project Lead the Way and other DE Master Teachers throughout the year in order to maintain the curriculum and ensure that Project Lead the Way continues to deliver the pre-engineering content that students will need in order to pursue engineering degrees in college. Project Lead the Way is now in nearly 200 high schools in Missouri and I have participated in the training and certification of the vast majority of teachers who teach DE in those schools. This summer (2015) in addition to teaching the course at Missouri S&T, I trained Arkansas teachers at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville.

In my tenure as senior software engineer, I made significant contributions to the system architecture and software design of a multi-tier software application for automated instruments in the field of in-vitro infectious disease diagnostics for industrial and microbiological applications. These machines are used in hospitals around the world to treat and diagnose virtually all infectious diseases. My experience included all aspects of lower and middle tier architectural design and software development utilizing a number of OOA and OOD techniques and technologies, relational and object-oriented databases, and distributed application system design. I also served as a development team leader in charge of several contract engineers responsible for a significant portion of product design and development.

In my ten-year tenure as an optical design engineer and software engineer, I contributed to a number of projects related to the variety of products manufactured and sold in the ophthalmology market. I was responsible for embedded software development of a new comprehensive cataract removal system for use in the ophthalmology operating room. I also designed the software for a fully automated intraocular lens test station used to measure the diopter power of intraocular lenses during the manufacturing process. I designed the software and a large part of the hardware for an ophthalmic perimeter system used to assess full-field visual defects associated with the early onset of glaucoma. I acquired a patent for a significant design of this device.

As an electrical engineer for the world’s largest supplier of military aircraft, I was responsible for the design and support of an automated test system for testing the FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) pod on the F-15E fighter aircraft program. I also participated in the design and development of one of the largest test systems purchased by the Navy for the FA-18 fighter aircraft program. I traveled extensively to numerous sub- contractors to ensure the quality of our designs for various aircraft programs.