In 1992, a few years after high school, I joined the U.S. Coast Guard, and graduated #1 in my company during basic training. This gave me first choice where I wanted to go for my first duty station, and a small boat rescue station on the island of Maui was available. I quickly took it, and just as quickly fell in love with the islands, it's people, and their way of life. I only served for four years, because if I re-enlisted I knew I'd have to leave, but it was the best decision I'd ever made. I remained in Hawaii for the next 12 years of my life, and it made me the man I am at my core today. 

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I then began working in the construction industry, managing the front office and warehouse of a small building material supply company. As such, I made a number of industry contacts, and a few years later got into the kitchen & bathroom industry, with a focus on marble and granite. This was where I got my first taste of upscale design work, and led to my initial interest in AutoCAD, the program that they used to do estimates and takeoffs.

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I eventually used my GI Bill and went back school, choosing ITT Technical Institute in Tampa, Florida. At the time, they were the nations leading tech school, teaching students in the use of AutoCAD in a way that was perfectly aligned for Engineering Technician positions with engineering firms. This essentially began my career in this field, and I was fortunate enough to learn a great deal about a number of different industries.

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I continued to build on my various experience, and in late 2007, after having unexpectedly lost my job during the economic downturn at the time, I found myself looking for AutoCAD jobs online, and I found one... overseas in Iraq, in an active war zone, as a government contractor. I had the opportunity to work directly with military base commanders on their BLS (Base Life Support) services. This included architectural-style planning and layouts for multiple field facilities, including living quarters, dining facilities, hospitals, water-processing plants, waste incineration systems, mapping, communication systems, roadways, and many others as directed by the Command. I had the honor and privilege to work and serve with every branch of the military, in one capacity or another, over the course of my almost five years in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait combined.

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When I came home from my overseas contracting gigs for the final time in 2014, I continued working in the Defense sector, and began my latest and most recent career focus, shipboard naval architecture. Over the last 5 years or so, I've worked on everything from aircraft carrier refurbishment and service-life extension to testing facilities for submarine propulsion systems. Much of the work I do requires a security clearance, so I don't discuss it with the general public.

 

Aside from my career and regular day-job, I also do privately-contracted CAD design work. One of my specialties is product invention - assisting regular people like you and I with bringing that idea or invention in your head to life (see my Design Services page for more info) Below is a short sample video tutorial, demonstrating a simple 3D creation of a wrench - this is the same computer program that I use: