About Me
My Background
- Growing up on the Chesapeake Bay, I came to North Carolina to attend North Carolina State University. I completed my undergraduate work and went on to earn a master's degree in Industrial Design. In later years, I earned my Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture, wood design and art history at East Carolina University.
- The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) at ECU is a 60-credit, three-year program that leads to a terminal degree in studio art. It prepares artists for advanced studio practice as well as teaching at the university level. The ECU MFA program is an interdisciplinary curriculum that encourages students to expand on existing strengths while exploring new tools, technologies, and approaches across a wide range of disciplines. This flexibility allows students to cultivate both depth and breadth in their practice, positioning them to thrive as professional artists, educators, and cultural leaders.
Design Education
- Walter Gropius is widely credited with establishing the modern framework for design education. As the founding director of the Bauhaus school in Germany (opened in 1919),
- Frank Alvah Parsons: A key figure in the democratization of design education.
- John E. Arnold: Revolutionized design and engineering education in the United States.
- Herbert Simon: An American laureate who first outlined the academic principles of Design Thinking as a formal cognitive and problem-solving process in 1969.
- László Moholy-Nagy was a highly versatile Hungarian-born artist and educator. He significantly shaped the intersection of art and technology. After fleeing Nazi Germany, he moved to the United States and founded the New Bauhaus in Chicago in 1937 (later known as the Institute of Design)
- Born in Chicago and raised by a matriarch of Hungarian immigrants, I take pride in my roots. Following in the footsteps of László Moholy-Nagy, I proudly take my place as an Educator and Industrial Design Professional. As I continue on my journey, I confidently believe that the learning experience is a joyful and lifelong enterprise.
Some of the Content in the Above Block was Derived from Google AI
My Experience
- I have detailed knowledge and experience with manufacturing materials and processes, and every step of the process of bringing products from concept through production. The process demands attention to detail and critical thinking required to identify and solve problems.
- I am a self-starter, team player and a lifelong learner with an entrepreneurial spirit. Indeed, I thrive in an academic setting where I can both teach and learn. I am capable of successfully handling multiple projects, challenges and schedules at the same time as a designer and as a teacher.
- During my career, my client list included many Fortune 500 companies as well as a variety of startup ventures. I was also honored to have taught Industrial Design in the School of Art and Design at NC State and Art Fundamentals in the Leo Jenkins School of Art at ECU.
My Vision
- Industrial Designers, above all, are problem solvers, 2-dimensional, 3-dimensional, sometimes 4th-dimensional, no matter the subject matter, no matter the circumstances. We are curious to a fault. We are critics, usually to the annoyance of others. We are starters. We are finishers. We are engineers, architects, philosophers, and anthropologists. We are humanists and seers. We are artisans of a special breed. And we know that if the point of contact between our designs and our users is a point of friction, we have failed. But if our art makes people more productive or even just happier, then we have succeeded. We are Renaissance people. We are interested in everything, and we can talk to anyone about anything.
- I am proud of my portfolio and pleased to present it here online. Portfolios are often misleading compilations of shiny objects, often no more than marker renderings of cool stuff that can otherwise not be produced. Anybody can do cool. But that’s not what it's about. It is the “not so cool stuff” that invokes the grit of the most special kind of designer and teacher. I am one who dives headlong into the most cutting edge and obscure problems in a relentless search for the seemingly impossible solution. I am one for whom the most obscure problems and the most elusive solutions are the adrenaline that drives creativity. And in the classroom, it inspires students and causes learning to take place.