About Me

My career started in code. I joined Bechtel Corporation as a software engineer more than 35 years ago, and over the decades that followed I led engineering teams at SQRiBE Technologies (now Oracle), The Walt Disney Company, Candle Corporation (now IBM), DeskTalk (now HP), SeeBeyond (now Oracle), and Xdrive (now Verizon) — more than 65 large-scale projects and 20 product launches, from enterprise systems to online platforms.

Teaching has run alongside the building the whole way. I’ve taught IT and technology management since 1987 — at CSUN, UCLA Extension, and Learning Tree — and consulted and trained at Northrop Grumman, UCLA, Paramount Pictures, and more startups than I can count.

The two threads came together at UCLA. As Program Director of UCLA Epicenter, I launch STEM certifications and project-based, experiential learning programs in partnership with industry. The Innovation Challenges I founded — built on the Google Ventures design-thinking framework — grew popular enough to become a 4-unit UCLA Engineering course, and the model has traveled: emerging-technology bootcamps for Los Angeles City College, design-thinking bootcamps at the American University of Kurdistan, and Fundamentals of Project Management for UCLA’s Master of Quantitative Economics. On the systems side, I launched UCLA Alumni Affairs’ $3M Salesforce CRM — from writing the business case and securing the funding through implementation across 700,000 alumni records.

What drives all of it is workforce development — digital building blocks, business enablers, and human skills. Today my consulting practice partners with companies and educational institutions to launch project-based innovation challenges using the non-academic curriculum I founded at UCLA in 2018.

Learning is a verb. I prioritize active learning, which allows learners to engage in higher-level thinking. Projects rely on open-ended questions that allow for critical thinking and exploration, and learners are asked to create, apply, and evaluate knowledge in ways applicable to real-world contexts.

Goals give purpose. Learners who understand the learning objectives and set their own goals are more successful. Learners are introduced to metacognitive strategies to reinforce and help achieve these goals.

Deliberate practice builds experts. I create the conditions where learners can engage in deliberate practice intent on achieving mastery of concepts and skills — with the time and opportunity necessary to support knowledge reorganization and automatization.

Neither too easy, nor too difficult. For optimal learning a sweet spot exists where the activity is neither too simple nor too difficult. Techniques like scaffolding and chunking deliver instruction that lets learners advance when ready, or find support from TAs or peers to get unblocked.

Learning is inherently social. We learn more working together than alone. Cohort collaboration leads to multifaceted understanding of complex topics, and a sense of belonging bolsters motivation, engagement, and persistence in the face of difficulties.

Guides, not sages. To achieve mastery, students need to engage actively in their learning rather than passively consume instruction. Experts, TAs, and mentors — in live sessions, communities, and cohorts — guide students toward mastery of concepts.

Without feedback there is no learning. Feedback loops and input from experts, TAs, and mentors let learners accurately identify their own growth and opportunities, and keep them on the right track — built into product experiences, instructor interactions, peer and community engagement, and project feedback.

While we teach, we learn. Teaching and mentoring introduce strong social motivations that reinforce and deepen knowledge. Learners participate in cooperative learning activities to combine knowledge; the interdependence and social responsibility this creates leads to increased effort and better outcomes.