Welcome to my professional website. Here you will find the information you need to decide if I am right for your company.

Currently, I am looking for a full-time job when I graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in December 2010.

Bio:

As a Bachelors of Science student at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee majoring in electrical engineering, computer science, and computer engineering, I am nearing the end of my college career. My main goal now is to secure a position that will utilize the skills developed in my classroom work and past experience.

Dedicated Computing was my first internship. My main responsibility was to assist in the building of custom computer systems based on specifications supplied by their clientele. This was my first real experience with large manufacturing operations and I also was fortunate enough to take part in a Kaizen Blitz. This was a one week initiative where the entire production cell I was a member of was to be intensely scrutinized to see how the cell could be improved. Everything from how parts were organized to where equipment was located was taken under close consideration. At the conclusion of the week, a presentation of our findings was made to the entire company.

Over the past six years, I have also gained a great deal of practical experience in information technologies working at Live on North. This included maintaining and upgrading all the computer systems (server, POS workstations, entertainment computer) at Live along with troubleshooting various hardware, software, and electrical problems that have come up. Currently, I am a Supervisor and considered the go-to-guy whenever hardware or software problems arise.

Challenging projects have always attracted my interest. Both inside and outside the classroom, I have assumed leadership roles and have been able to creatively solve problems. Effective multi-tasking is one of my strong points. I am accustomed to working under pressure and handling multiple projects at once.

Below is an article I recently had published on EzineArticles.com

How to Avoid Spending Hundreds of Dollars to Get Your Computer Fixed

Many of us depend every day on our personal computers. Having a functional computer may even be a necessity for work and school. Unfortunately the majority of computer users don’t maintain and safeguard their computers as well as they should. Eventually data corruption due to viruses, malware, and physical strain on the computer's hardware will cause you to seek help. These problems cause our computers to slow down and even in some cases fail to boot. This is the typical cycle of an average computer.

Once you decided to seek help, depending on where you go, it could cost you almost the price of a new computer. Many times I have heard friends taking their computers to the local “squad of geeks” that promise to fix the computer. Don’t be surprised to receive a bill of $200 and maybe even more if they back up your files. Data backup can cost in the range of $40-$80. A hard drive costs about that same amount so why spend all that money for someone else to copy files from your drive, then right back on to it. Most of these problems can be solved by the ordinary computer user.

Step 1: Scan your hard drive for errors.

This is a simple step in windows that anyone can do. Your computer's hard drive is what stores all of your data like Word documents and music. A hard drive consists of a spinning metal platter kind of like a record player. If you were to shake a record player the read head could damage the record. This same problem can happen to your hard drive, especially in laptops. Many people throw their laptops around, bump it, and shake it while it’s turned on. This should always be avoided but accidents can occur. To fix hard drive errors, go to "My Computer", right click on the "C drive", and then click on properties. A window should pop up, then go to "Tools" and click on "Check now". When fixing computers, I usually check the "Automatically fix the file system errors" and "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" boxes. Then click start and a message will pop up. Click the "Schedule disk check" button, and then restart the computer. Windows will restart and before it boots into windows, it will check your hard drives for errors and fix them. This may take several hours.

Step 2: Scan for viruses, spyware, and malware.

I am not a big fan of paying for software that I can legally obtain for free. There are many free virus scanning programs out there that work great. Just do a search on Google to find a nice long list of downloadable programs. My personal favorite is AVG Anti-Virus. I have it set up so that it scans my computer weekly for infections. If you are fixing your computer now, run the scan and remove any viruses that it finds. Also, I like to run Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware. This finds bad programs on your computer virus scanners don't look for. Between AVG and Malwarebytes', my computers stay clean. You can install firewalls on your computer but I find them to be overkill. I have a small network set up at my house. My router that is connected to my broadband modem contains a firewall that protects me from attacks. I find this to be more effective than software firewalls installed on a computer.

Step 3: Defragmentation of hard drives.

Hard drives contain all your personal data files. Like a filing cabinet, files need to stay organized so that they can quickly be found. Windows built-in defragmenter is a great tool. Just go to the start menu -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter. Defragment all the drives and you should notice a speed increase when using your computer. Disk defragmenter may take hours to complete.

Step 4: Remove unneeded programs.

Why have programs installed and running on your computer that you never need. Now is the time to uninstall them. Go to start menu -> Control Panel -> Programs and Features. A list of installed programs should appear. Carefully go down the list of programs right clicking on the ones you want to uninstall that you know you don’t need. I find that toolbars like Google, Ask, and Yahoo are unnecessary, so I uninstall those.

Step 5: Redo steps 1,2,3 (Optional)

If a computer has found many problems I will rerun the first three steps just to make sure nothing was missed.

Step 6: Backup personal data

I have had a number of people come to me asking me if I can restore their data after disaster strikes. This is a very long and sometimes costly process that doesn't guarantee a happy ending. Easily prevent this by backing up your data onto an external drive.

Step 7: If all else fails, reinstall windows

Like everything in this world, over time things slowly degrade which is also true with your operating system. People think that installing an operating system is an impossible task that only a professional should do, but Microsoft lately has made it almost painless to do for anyone. Installing Windows 7 is as easy as installing any other program onto your computer. With the amount of drivers packaged with Windows 7, it is rare that I have to go to a manufactures website to download additional drivers except for the occasional display drivers. If you are comfortable installing software on your computer, then you will be comfortable installing Windows 7. If you do decide to reinstall windows, make sure you back up all your data to a different drive.

These are the most important steps I usually follow when fixing computers. Whenever I run into a problem that I do not know how to fix, I simply Google it and find the answer. The internet is a great tool for getting your questions answered so use it!