\begin{document}
-\begin{letter}{Olympic College Human Resource Services \\
- College Service Center, Fifth Floor \\
- 1600 Chester Avenue \\
- Bremerton, WA 98337-1699}
-
-\opening{Sir or Madam,}
-
-Thank you for reviewing my application for the position of Professor
-of Mathematics at Olympic College. Over my years working on my
-Ph.D. studies at Drexel University, I have been looking forward to
-teaching at an undergraduate-oriented college. I look forward to
-working at a school such as Olympic which clearly has a strong
-commitment to teaching excellence and teacher training. Besides
-teaching math, I am also interested in advancing the science of
+\begin{letter}{Pacific Lutheran University \\
+ Department of Human Resources \\
+ Tacoma, WA 98447-0003 }
+
+\opening{Search Committee,}
+
+Thank you for reviewing my application for the position of Visiting
+Assistant Professor of Computer Engineering. Over my years working on
+my Ph.D. studies at Drexel University, I have been looking forward to
+teaching at a liberal arts college. I look forward to working at a
+school such as PLU which clearly has a strong commitment to teaching
+excellence and teacher training. Besides teaching computer
+engineering, I am also interested in advancing the science of
teaching. Over the past year I have been active in the
\href{http://software-carpentry.org/}{Software Carpentry}
organization, which trains scientists around the world in current
students directly. Downloadable class notes also give students more
time to focus on the concepts and applications instead of focusing on
transcription. I look forward to tying these pieces together and
-building cohesive courses to introduce new students to mathematics.
-
-I have always had a strong interest in math, and early in my career I
-was able to devote enough time to the subject to double-major in math
-and physics. I have especially fond memories of my number theory and
-formal logic courses at Colgate, as well as complex analysis during my
-semester in Wales. As I advanced through my graduate training, there
-was less time to devote directly to formal math, but I taught myself a
-good deal of statistics in support of my research (especially the
-Gumbel distribution\citep{king10,king13}). Physics and math are bound
-tightly together, and I look forward to returning to the analytical
-side of this pairing.
+building cohesive courses to introduce new students to computer
+engineering.
+
+While I have a long history of interest in science and mathematics, it
+was my scientific research that lead to my interest in computing and
+electronics. I have fond memories of building digital circuits in my
+electronics and instrumentation course at Colgate, but my interest in
+computing really took off as I moved into the open source ecosystem
+while automating single molecule protein unfolding
+experiments\citep{king10,king13}. I have spent the last few years up
+to my elbows in an open source experiment control stack\citep{king13}
+as well as developing and troubleshooting the associated electronics
+hardware. On the side, I've spent a bit of time tinkering with
+microcontrollers such as the
+\href{http://www.atmel.com/devices/atmega32u4.aspx}{ATMega32u4}. I
+look forward to leveraging this interest in open source software and
+inexpensive hardware to engage students with accessible hands-on
+experience.
As a scientist, I feel that teaching itself can be improved through
the scientific method. By testing the effect of different classroom
\emph{everything} can be measured with sufficient clarity to support
this approach. Developing quantitative evaluations of student
learning is tricky, but---at least at a basic level---it is possible.
-Mentioning these difficulties when discussing course organization with
-students will provide jumping-off points for discussing the
-limitations of the statistics, the scientific approach, and the flavor
-of scientific progress, while avoiding confusion about the
-well-understood fundamentals covered in the content of the course
-itself. Several Software Carpentry collaborators (especially
+Several Software Carpentry collaborators (especially
\href{http://michigancomputes.wordpress.com/}{Cait Pickens}) are
experts in assessment design and validation, and between their
experience with standard practices and my talent for software tooling
Pet Emergency} hospital in Olympia. After years of commuting
several hours from our current home in New Jersey to Drexel in
Philadelphia, the chance for jobs that are only thirty minutes apart
-is quite appealing\footnote{
- The job description emphasizes responsibilities on the Shelton
- campus. Weekly runs up to Bremerton will not be a problem, but it's
- probably a bit far for a daily commute. If Bremerton access is more
- critical, please contact me and I'll see what I can work out.
-}
-My wife is originally from Vancouver, Canada, and I have enjoyed our
-annual summer trip out to visit with her family. I also look forward
-to the drizzly climate, as my Northern European heritage has not given
-me much protection against the sun. Being able to enjoy the outdoors
-(sailing and hiking!) without having to slather on the sunblock sounds
-like a good idea to me.
+is quite appealing. My wife is originally from Vancouver, Canada, and
+I have enjoyed our annual summer trip out to visit with her family. I
+also look forward to the drizzly climate, as my Northern European
+heritage has not given me much protection against the sun. Being able
+to enjoy the outdoors (sailing and hiking!) without having to slather
+on the sunblock sounds like a good idea to me.
Please do not hesitate to contact me via phone or email if you need
any additional information.
projects / letter-of-interest.git / commitdiff