"We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us."
– MARSHALL MCLUHAN

I was born and raised in Nebraska and begin my study of architecture in grade 5. At age 16 I began work as an architectural draftsman after three years training in high school. While doing a B.Arch degree at UNL I fell in love with programming computers to do 3-d modelling. So, I spent 7 years in the graduate schools of Cornell and Carnegie Mellon Universities doing research and software development in 3-d computer graphics, human-computer interaction, and computer-aided design.

In Don Greenberg's Cornell Program of Computer Graphics I helped set up the fledgling graphics lab with an NSF grant funding an Evans and Sutherland Picture System driven by a DEC PDP-11/45 – the pinnacle of interactive 3-D graphics! I was the first student to complete the MS program offered there.

In Chuck Eastman's research group at CMU I enjoyed five years defining concepts and developing first prototypes for BIM (Building Information Modelling) software tools now used by most architecture firms around the world.

After that, I spent five years on the wild frontier of computer graphics at NYIT (defining a curriculum for computer use in architecture and ending up as a Professor of Architecture and Computer Science, and a Senior Scientist at the Computer Graphics Lab). Then there were the commercial years doing user interface design and developing software to solve impossible problems.

In later years, my thoughts returned to architecture as a path toward sustainable life on earth. I became a LEED Accredited Professional and now focus on reducing our dependence on fossil-fuel and making the transition to renewable sources of energy — by designing for sustainability and for intentional community, developing green building technologies, and creating new tools to help us meet the challenges of modern design problems.