I grew up in Fairbanks and stayed to attend the University of Alaska. After spending every other semester on the road travelling and summers doing geology field work, I finally recieved a degree in Geophysics. Much to the dismay of my professors, when I graduated I took a job managing a placer goldmine. After burning out on the 80 hour weeks at the mine I ended up starting a small auto repair shop. It was a fun and challenging job. While fixing cars one day I heard about a small metal lathe for sale. It was the start of a true passion for machining. Although I now spend 60 hours a week at my shop, I never, ever wake up thinking that I really don’t want to go to work today.

For the last 15 or more years I have spent parts of my winters working at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory where I study snow. This has involved a lot of designing, making and fixing as well as some great field time snowmachining and working in northern Alaska.