“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” ~Arthur C. Clarke

While I do enjoy the sense of satisfaction with being able to cast technological spells, as a computer science educator I am deeply concerned with the threshold for what passes as “sufficiently advanced” by the general population. Computer science is at risk of being perceived as a closed field, accessible only to a select dedicated few --- the "wizards". Steve Jobs famously lamented the potential for computer science to be “relegated to 5 percent of the population over in the corner”. It is part of my job to prevent that.

I firmly believe that the computer is fundamentally a tool for discovery and communication of ideas. Richard Hamming reminds us: “The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers”. My professional agenda is motivated by an attempt to explore and understand the ways in which the computer can augment human intellect, problem solving capacity and knowledge distribution.

Academic Background: