id10t

I'm a software engineer contracting for various shops around Minneapolis during the summer while I am away from school. When classes resume again, I'll be starting the 2nd year of my PhD program in computer science.

Scooters

I've been a small engine fanatic since I was a kid, but I never really got seriously greasy until I found my passion with stand up scooters. When I was 23, I picked up my first Evo 2x and haven't looked back since. Right now, I have a second 2x and a Bladez Moby sitting in my living room/garage.

It wasn't long before I became frustrated with the lack of quality communities and information in the stand up scooter industry and started to brainstorm on how to fix the problem. Here on wikidot, I started a wiki called Wikiscootia (wick - E - scoot - E - uh)
so that the enthusiasts could fix the information problem themselves. Since then, I have found myself doing the vast majority of the writing. No complaints though. I am proud of my work.

Research

I have only been in my PhD program for a year so I am nowhere close to settling down on a thesis topic yet, but I do have a couple ideas.

Abstraction of Data Warehouse Denormalization

Data warehousing is a growing field in computer science and due to the current constraints on memory and processing power, optimization of database entities is a key to having a functional warehouse for running reports. Although indexing maintains a properly normalized database structure it is unable to speed things along enough by itself. Denormalization is a common process for getting over these performance problems, but it causes a serious problem when it comes the redundancy required to be able to maintain the information in the warehouse.

Web Application Architectures

Web applications are a growing buzz word in the industry with the realization of Web 2.0 and other popular web based architectures. There are several areas which are ripe for research and standardization including Web Services and architectural comparison and understanding of a distanced system over HTTP.

Philosophy

I'm the guy who has the local Mormons on speed dial. I read more about evolution, stem cells, politics, theology and theoretical physics than I do about my official research in computer science. When I finished my BA and told one of my roommates that I got a minor in Philosophy he asked me, "What will you ever use that for?" Living my life and not wasting a second—caring about other people and being fair with them and leaving the word better than it was before I got here.