I'm a graduate Mechanical Engineer from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. It wasn't all smooth sailing. My years at grade school and high school were really difficult for me. The mediocre school system in my town left me woefully unprepared for college. I had to put in an intensive year and a summer at a private school, catching up to my peers. The hardest task was learning to study. After a couple of years as an English major, I changed to my true love, Engineering. That's when I discovered that my photographic memory sometimes played tricks on me, which made it hard to get the right answers. I want to save my students from the agony of unnecessary failure.

While employed as a machine tool builder, I learned that high-school and middle-school children in town were interested in radio and electronics. We promptly formed a club, cannibalizing old TV sets for parts. I helped guide these energetic kids to earn their amateur radio licenses. We had a great time getting on the air, sometimes from campsites with portable power. What they learned about math, electronics, and physics gave them a big head start when they hit similar courses in school.

I was active in the Navy Reserves for more than 23 years, retiring as a Chief Petty Officer Cryptologic Technician. The Navy gave me valuable insight into teaching a wide range of students. Many needed assistance in math in order to master military and technical subjects. I helped them with that.

I have held an Amateur Radio License since 1955, am now an Extra Class Licensee, and an accredited Instructor and Volunteer Examiner with the ARRL. While teaching licensing classes, I was amazed to discover that many smart people had forgotten basic math. I try to correct that, encouraging my students to understand and attempt the simpler mathematical operations. It must have worked - almost all of my students have become licensed.

My early interests in photography, canoeing, camping, and hiking have now been supplanted by my love of computers. I have built many computers and done innumerable installations and configurations. I'm currently experimenting with micro-computers and their application to Amateur Radio and emergency operations.

My teaching philosophy wants to encourage the "Why", not just the "How" of the subject. Understanding is lots more fun than just turning the crank. I seek an alternate path to understanding if the student finds the first approach difficult. I once read: there are several ways to get on the other side of a stone wall: Climb over, crawl under, or go around. You could even use my favorite approach: Take it apart, go through the hole!

My job is to help you conquer that wall.