Recent Developments:

5-06-08: Interview on Street Beat at the CW Network - Watch Now
4-20-08: Baker College won the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC)

TV News Coverage: Street Beat on CW and ABC News or look at our Team Pictures

Yes, as unbelievable as it sounds; we won the national championship of the CCDC in San Antonio, TX against last year's champions: Texas A&M!

More information can be found here.

About me:

Since I was very young I always yearned to do something with my life that had an impact on society. Based on observation I determined that technological advancements had such an effect on society and at it’s heard laid scientific research based on the laws of physics. I imagined that working as a Physicist, I would have the power to lay new foundations in the scientific world for other people like myself to build upon. 

Living as a person with Cerebral Palsy, in Germany for most of my life, it was hard to imagine that I would have any chance of realizing my dreams. The harsh reality was that the educational system of Germany has very little acceptance for people who deviate from the norm. Having a typewriter in class was already a huge exception, which added strain to relationships with fellow students. Adding the constant fight against scrutiny, by the system and faculty, to determine if I was fit for mainstreaming, created a huge amount of stress leading to social problems and below average grades. It became clear I would not excel in this environment and it was taking a toll on the very fiber of my being.

Shortly after I came to the United States of America in March of 1998 I met a group of people based in the McMathHulbert Solar Observatory that where trying to improve the educational system in Oakland County, Michigan. These people, led by James Ross, thought along the same lines as me, with only one small difference being that fully understanding and using existing technology can be just as revolutionary as the technological breakthroughs themselves! Up to that point I never realized that an entire society would have problems accepting positive change or even oppose it. This was probably because of lack of experience due to my young age of fifteen at the time.

At the same time I attended Andover High School, which supported me in ways I never imagined and met every need I had. To say the least; I took this opportunity by the horns and graduated with honors. I decided to go to Oakland Community College and into my dream field of Physics, all the while still working on projects based at McMathHulbert. These projects ranged from designing and setting up computer labs from scratch to writing school curriculums and educational programs while also searching for funds for all of these activities. I started to realize that I already had started to impact society in just a few short years of joining this group. I was literally starting to live my dreams and I was only twenty! I made working with my colleagues and friends at the Observatory a priority to the point that even after transferring to Michigan State University I was still fulfilling regular meetings and other duties. It became almost tangible that we would soon be successful on a large scale and I would no longer require a degree to sustain myself. However, after 9/11 the immigration laws where tighten so much that this became impossible! It took me a while to come to terms with the fact that an outside force had rendered most of my efforts useless until further notice. I kept trying to have companies related with my projects look at my situation but the answer was always the same: I needed a degree, preferably a Masters to find employment as an immigrant.

In 2005 I decided to take my studies seriously! I transferred back to OCC from MSU in pursuit of an Associate’s in Programming rather than Physics. Shortly thereafter a new field of study in Computer Security emerged which went hand in hand with a government program geared toward immigrants seeking a Green Card! This meant delaying my degree by another year, but having a pretty good idea of what my future could look like. I currently attend Baker College’s ITS program in which I will complete my Bachelor’s in mid 2009! I am currently seeking another university for my Master’s degree with the possibility for a Doctorate in a related field.