About Me

1992: High School Diploma from Hamilton High School

1996: Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from Blackburn College

• Minor in Mathematics
• Received the Blackburn College Computer Science Prize for the Most Outstanding Senior Majoring in Computer Science

1998: Graduate Certificate in Computer Science/Distributed Systems from Webster University

• Eighteen hours of graduate coursework

2001: Sun Certified Programmer for the Java 2 Platform by authority of Sun Microsystems, Inc.

2002: Microsoft Office User Specialist by authority of Microsoft Corporation.

• Word 2002 Core
• Word 2002 Expert
• PowerPoint 2002 Comprehensive

2008: Associate of Applied Science in Computer Game Design from Sanford-Brown College

• Maintained perfect 4.0 GPA
• Received award for Outstanding Accomplishment in the Department of Computer Game and Web Design

2012: Master of Science in Software Engineering from DePaul University

• Concentration in Gaming and Entertainment Technology
• Inducted into Upsilon Pi Epsilon honor society
• Served as graduate student ambassador.

2013: Certified Software Development Associate (CSDA) by authority of IEEE Computer Society

2018 (Expected): Doctor of Philosophy in Software Engineering from North Dakota State University

Member of:

• Upsilon Pi Epsilon National Honor Society
• IGDA (International Game Developers Association)
• IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
• CGA (Casual Games Association)

Mom was always good with numbers. Dad would do anything to make a buck. Therefore, it seemed somewhat natural that they would at least dabble in the world of small business ownership. In the course of my growing up, my parents owned a storage warehouse, two laundromats, and various rental properties. Typically, Dad did the physical labor while Mom managed the books. However, they both maintained regular, full-time jobs in addition to these businesses on the side, so their time and attention was spread thin.

My uncle John (Mom's brother) also had some personal businesses that he managed himself with the help of a personal computer, so he persuaded Mom that her job would be significantly easier if she had one of her own.

The only computer retailer in that backwater area was Radio Shack, so we became the proud owners of a Tandy 1000 EX. Mom set to work immediately learning how to make use of it, and she taught me everything she was learning along the way.

Then one day my uncle David (Dad's brother) stopped by for a visit. He was in high school at the time and was learning some fundamental computer programming skills. He showed me something utterly simple that changed my life forever. On the fly, he wrote two simple programs using the GW-BASIC interpreter that came packaged with our early version of MS-DOS:

• One program that prompted the user for their name, and then printed it a hundred times via a loop.
• Another that contained nested loops and arithmetic operations to produce a multiplication table.

That was all I needed to see. From that point on, I spent countless hours reading the BASIC reference manual and writing programs to apply and test the things I was reading. It became a power-mad addiction that took hold and never let go.

It was not long after that I started making extremely simple games that to this day continue to evolve in complexity. When you love what you do, you never stop learning and doing.

For the first 18 years of my life, I lived in Hamilton, Illinois. After I graduated from Hamilton High School in 1992, I enrolled in Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois. Upon graduation, I moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in or near which I resided from 1996 to 2008. 

My family and I now inhabit one of the many beautiful western suburbs of Chicago, Illinois.

I currently work as an associate professor at DeVry University, primarily teaching game and simulation programming courses. In addition to my teaching duties, I am also the faculty sponsor for our local Epsilon Delta Pi chapter -- an honor society for students of computer programming.

Prior to the move, I taught computer science courses at Missouri Technical School (2002-2008) and game design courses at Sanford-Brown College (2007-2008).

Most of my career before all that has been spent doing software development, maintenance, and support for various corporations in the St. Louis area as I gained software development experience and worked to support my game projects on the side.

Since I was about 14 years old, my primary hobby has been game design and programming, to which most of this site is dedicated.

I am also a musician. I played bass guitar in a few different rock bands in high school, and I've written a number of original compositions in the years since. Some are in the spirit of the rock 'n roll that inspires me, and some were written for use as game soundtracks.

In what little time remains, I enjoy bicycling, bowling, yoga, parapsychology, and of course video games!

In 2007, I married my wife Michelle. We have one fantastic human son (Avery), two cats (Phantom and Tabitha), two spiders (April and Skittle), and a robot (Hiko).

In October 2011, we lost our beloved cat Star.