First post!

Hello! I'm happy to be blogging on EmbeddedRelated.com. Comments and feedback appreciated!

Here's a little background on me....

My name's Alex; I received my PhD in Materials Science and Engineering a couple of years ago, and now I professionally write computer models to predict how metals react/perform when formed, heated, quenched, etc. (Yes, there's a job for people who do that. Lucky for me!) I performed my graduate studies at the Institute for Metal Forming at Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA), and my undergrad studies at Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY). I'm originally from Boston, MA, but I'm currently living, working, and playing in Columbus, OH.

I really enjoy what I do. The great thing about materials science is that if you come up with a new alloy / composite / plastic / ceramic / glass / electronic material, you've added a new color to the palette of most other engineering disciplines, and can watch what cool projects other people create with them. The boring thing about materials science (IMHO) is that I'm never the one to create those cool projects!

Fortunately, as an undergrad at RPI, I TA'ed a class in Embedded Control, and had a blast. Additionally, I have a streak of my sister's creativity running through me (Leila's an artist / sculptor / prof in Vermont), and she has really inspired me to pursue some of my more artistic interests. Thus, back in February I decided to rent a studio in an artists' community here in Columbus (www.MiloArts.com), and set to work seeing if I can blend my embedded control and engineering interests with my creative ideas.

I have a few pet projects right now, and I expect this blog to be a great forum to present their progress and evolution, and to get some helpful feedback as well. Note - don't expect anything very high-tech here with respect to embedded control; I'm much more a student than I am a practitioner... However, I do plan to see if I can couple EC to a variety of other high tech gizmos, such as unusual actuators, glowing plastics, modded PCs, functional vintage mechanisms, and other fun toys.

BTW - below is very poorly composited wrap-around montage of my studio, created at 3am last night. I plan to make a better one soon, and after I've cleaned the place up a bit more. :-/ (Click image for a larger view).

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