About Me
About Me
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Photo by Sam Harre
I grew up in Reading, PA with my parents and two sisters. While I would eventually travel far and wide, my Pennsylvania roots have always defined me.
As a kid, I quickly developed a passion for music. I was in every music extracurricular possible in high school: concert band, jazz band, marching band, chorus, select chorus, select ensemble, and musical productions. My taste in music was shaped by my father, who started taking me to concerts when I turned eleven years old. My dad took me to see bands such as Slipknot, Avenged Sevenfold, and Three Days Grace. Since then, I have seen 50+ concerts from artists in hard rock, punk, metalcore, and alternative rock. I've even amassed a collection of 150+ vinyl records.
With more exposure to concerts, I started to grow an admiration for the technology that went into a concert production. What I enjoy the most is how technology is used to enhance the story being told by musicians. This was my inspiration as I pursue a higher education to shape my future.
Upon graduating high school, I took my life and headed to the middle of the country where I decided to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It took me a while to warm up to midwestern life, but after four seasons with the Cornhusker Marching band, several concerts as a beatboxer for my a Cappella group, plenty of weekends studying at local Nebraska coffee shops and one excruciating long pandemic, I fell in love with Nebraska.
In the Fall of 2020, I graduated from Nebraska with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Music Technology. While I credit Nebraska a lot with my professional development and maturity, the creative/entertainment industry was not prevalent there. I needed more relevant experience if I wanted to find myself in the right career.
Photo from the Glenn Korff School of Music
In the Fall of 2021, I enrolled in the Master of Entertainment Technology program at Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center (ETC). They pride themselves in bringing students together from all disciplines and teaching them the collaboration skills they need to flourish in the entertainment industry. I was empowered to use skills from all corners of my upbringing in my projects. From creative problem-solving to music composition and physical prototyping to project management, the ETC challenged me on all levels.
During graduate school, I also got the opportunity to intern with two companies with significant impacts in their respective industries. My first internship was with Rockstar Games as an Research and Development (R&D) Intern. I never expected to land a job with a Triple A Game studio, but my summer internship with them gave me a platform to test my design and rapid prototyping skills. The joy I experienced during that internship is what inspired me to look for another R&D internship, but I wanted to try another industry. In the Spring of 2023, I took a chance with the Themed Entertainment Industry and became a Technical Intern with Universal Creative in their Advance Technology Interactives (ATI) department for their R&D team. With Universal, I had the opportunity to work with so many unique technology platforms that only a themed entertainment company could offer.
Post Graduation
Post Graduation
As my internship with Universal was ending, my team discussed the opportunity to comeback to Universal after graduation. That opportunity came to fruition in a contractor role for ATI. The goal was to continue with the project I worked on as an intern by supporting development and integration efforts. After six months as a contractor, I was hired full time as a Senior Associate Engineer within the ATI/R&D team. To this day, I am still working with Universal on prototyping new experiences and technology for Universal Creative entertainment offerings.
Self Portrait Video
Self Portrait Video
One of my assignments at the ETC was to create a self portrait video for my visual storytelling class. I put it here because I do believe it does introduce many aspects about me in a short two and a half minute video.
[Song Covered: 'Paradise' by George Ezra']
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