Greetings Jim, Bob, and who it may concern,

This is a compilation of a few projects I have worked on that I believe demonstrate skills that I could imagine being useful when working on the synthetic aperture radar at ARKA. I am also including a list of books I have read that illustrate, in addition to feeling comfortable around a shop, I naturally gravitate towards engineering, science, and technology as topics that are personally interesting to me.

Easily the best way to get a hands-on look at some of my work is to see my off-grid camper van. I am selling it, and it might be gone in a few weeks, but if there is one thing that I could show that would exemplify my skills in the shop and demonstrate my knowledge around technology and engineering, that would be it.

Off-Grid Camper Van

Out of all the things I have taken on this is easily the most complex and ambitious. I nicknamed it “The Spaceship” because I had to design and build all the life support systems humans need but in a space no bigger than something you could fly to space. Harvesting energy, storing energy, clean drinking water, dealing with waste, heating, cooling, refrigeration, multiple forms of heating food and space for cooking, storage solutions for personal items and gear, sleeping quarters, and an intuitive user experience all had to be designed and built.

 100% Electric Truck

When I was 15 and 16, I converted a Chevy pickup truck to run on 100% electricity.  I dismantled it, removed the gasoline powertrain, and then designed/built/installed a battery electric powertrain in its place.

While the size and scale of this project were by far the biggest I had taken on at the time, curiously it really wasn’t all that unique from all the other vehicles I was constantly building. I found one (that I have included photos too) I made out of LEGOs in my memories bin. It happens to be powered by a rocket engine. I can remember building cars powered by a small hydrogen fuel cells, solar panels, even airplane propellers my brothers and I would carve out of wood.

Looking back, the electric truck was a totally natural evolution of how I played as a kid, just bigger and more powerful.

My latest creation

I have always loved woodworking. This is a 12 foot long, live edge, hickory desk and cabinet. I share this to illustrate that I have a sense of aesthetics when building and making.

I also included a photo of me as a young kid, with a little table and a little chair I made. I share these photos of my childhood because I think you don't necessarily learn how to build things in school. For me, it has been a lifelong interest. As long as I am able, I will be building and making.

Filmmaking

I don’t think the average person thinks of filmmaking as be adjacent to highly technical professions like engineering, but it is. Imaging equipment has become extremely advanced in the past decade and understanding it requires a very deep knowledge across a wide array of equipment and technology. Making it all work properly together takes advanced understanding. In addition, I built all the sets and props at the ad agency when I was there. I was constantly in the shop making things. If you click around this site you will find a lot of my filmmaking and photography.

Outdoor recreation

Mark Miller mentioned that there is flying involved with the synthetic aperture radar. While I can't say I have better motion sickness than the average person, I was an Eagle Scout growing up and I have a lifelong orientation towards hiking and backpacking. I have been skydiving, whitewater rafting, whitewater kayaking, dogsledding, backpacking, snowboarding, skiing, flown a plane. I am fairly adaptable to a large range of situations.

 

Final thoughts

I have had a lifelong desire to make things and wide and varying interests, but in particular engineering and technology. If you are looking for someone who has been practicing making things since they were a kid and also has a big picture interest in technology, I think my skills and curiosity could be helpful in your shop. The reading list is below.

Reading list

Science & Nature

  • A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson

  • The Body – Bill Bryson

  • The Pleasure of Finding Things Out – Richard Feynman

  • Until the End of Time – Brian Greene

  • The Quantum Universe – Brian Cox

  • Einstein’s Relativity and the Quantum Revolution – Richard Wolfson

  • Thermodynamics – Jeffrey C. Grossman

  • Why We Sleep – Matthew Walker

  • Keep Sharp – Sanjay Gupta

  • The Human Brain Book

  • Outlive – Peter Attia

  • Endure – Alex Hutchinson

Psychology & Behavior

  • Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman

  • Predictably Irrational – Dan Ariely

  • The Honest Truth About Dishonesty – Dan Ariely

  • Blink – Malcolm Gladwell

  • Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell

  • David and Goliath – Malcolm Gladwell

  • The Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell

  • Sweet Spot – Paul Bloom

  • 10% Happier – Dan Harris

  • Lost Connections – Johann Hari

  • Stolen Focus – Johann Hari

  • Irresistible – Adam Alter

  • The Biology of Desire – Marc Lewis

  • How to Change Your Mind – Michael Pollan

  • This Is Your Mind on Plants – Michael Pollan

  • How to Be Perfect – Michael Schur

  • Man’s Search for Meaning – Viktor E. Frankl

Environment & Sustainability

  • How to Avoid a Climate Disaster – Bill Gates

  • Hot, Flat, and Crowded – Thomas L. Friedman

  • An Inconvenient Truth – Al Gore

  • Our Choice – Al Gore

  • Cradle to Cradle – McDonough & Braungart

  • The Upcycle – McDonough & Braungart

  • Energy and Civilization – Vaclav Smil

  • Energy: Myths and Realities – Vaclav Smil

  • Grass, Soil, Hope – Courtney White

Food & Agriculture

  • The Omnivore’s Dilemma – Michael Pollan

  • In Defense of Food – Michael Pollan

  • Cooked – Michael Pollan

  • Food Rules – Michael Pollan

  • Flour Water Salt Yeast – Ken Forkish

Leadership & Work

  • Start with Why – Simon Sinek

  • Extreme Ownership – Jocko Willink

  • Drive – Daniel H. Pink

  • Build the Life You Want – Arthur C. Brooks & Oprah Winfrey

  • This Is Marketing – Seth Godin

  • How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie

  • Invent and Wander – Jeff Bezos

  • Greenlights – Matthew McConaughey

  • The Bomber Mafia – Malcolm Gladwell

  • Crossing the Unknown Sea – David Whyte

Memoir & Biography

  • Steve Jobs – Walter Isaacson

  • Elon Musk – Walter Isaacson

  • American Prometheus – Kai Bird & Martin Sherwin

  • Permanent Record – Edward Snowden

  • Greenlights – Matthew McConaughey

  • Promise Me, Dad – Joe Biden

  • Becoming – Michelle Obama

  • A Promised Land – Barack Obama

  • The Audacity of Hope – Barack Obama

Politics & Society

  • Peril – Bob Woodward

  • Rage – Bob Woodward

  • The Trump Tapes – Bob Woodward

  • It’s OK to Be Angry About Capitalism – Bernie Sanders

  • Factfulness – Hans Rosling

  • Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing – Jacob Goldstein

  • The Geography of Nowhere – James Howard Kunstler

Relationships & Emotions

  • Eight Dates – John Gottman

  • The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work – John Gottman

  • What Happened to You? – Oprah Winfrey & Bruce Perry

  • A Therapeutic Journey – Alain de Botton

Fiction

  • The Martian – Andy Weir

  • The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

  • The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien

  • The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien

  • Harry Potter series – J.K. Rowling

  • Fairy Tale – Stephen King

  • The Institute – Stephen King

  • The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini

  • The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway

Culture & Humor

  • No One Asked for This – Cazzie David

  • Nepal: Culture Smart!

  • Smokejumper – Jason A. Ramos