2001 STI Instructors

Mike Davis

Mike works for Cray, Inc. and is currently assigned to Sandia National Labs as an analyst in suport of the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI). In the 15 years that Mike has been at Sandia, he has worked in software support on Cray systems, applications support on SGI systems, and, most recently, systems support on the ASCI Red computer system (a.k.a. the Teraflops system).

Mike earned his BBA at UNM, with a concentration in computer science. He continues to pursue various studies, including mathematics, creative writing and literature, with no specific aim other than to never stop learning.


Celia Einhorn

The handle on my Internet account reads 'Computer Fairy.' While I was visiting a fourth grade, a student looked up as I walked in and lovingly called me that! It made my day! Other people call me mom and wife or when they are having trouble with telecommunications or want to work on technology integration, K-12. I am president, secretary and janitor of the infamous consulting service, Technology and Training. I am proud to be part of the first group of Christa McAuliffe educators studying technology, restructuring and education. I have taught first grade, Title I Reading, K-8, and worked as a computer resource teacher!

I have been an adjunct professor at the College of Santa Fe, University of New Mexico, Webster University and the Lesley College Outreach Program, where I taught literacy and technology classes. I was project facilitator for SMARTQuest for Intel, trying to create a Smart County, where Intel's workers live in NM. I was the program manager for the New Mexico State Department of Education and Albuquerque Public Schools' project Literacy and Technology. I have worked with BBN (Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Cambridge, MA) with the Co-NECT schools, "trying to create schools that break the mold."

I work on professional development in the areas of: project based curriculum, multiage grouping, authentic assessment, technology integration and leadership. I do professional development with iEARN, the International Education and Resource Network. I am the New Mexico Site Coordinator for the national OII (Online Internet Institute) project. I am currently working with Scholastic Publishing, the New Mexico State University (NMSU) Virtual Resource Center, the New Mexico Milken Teacher Advancement Program, and the New Mexico High School Supercomputing Challenge.


Betsy Frederick

Betsy Frederick was one of the designers of the educational computing program for Albuquerque Public Schools as it moved from mainframe to a personal computer focus. She played a leadership role in the District's local and wide area networking planning and implementation. She is a Director of Network New Mexico, an organization providing support for 'grassroots' networking solutions for schools. Global Education and Multimedia are special interests. She is the President of SIG/Tel, the Special Interest group for Telecommunications which is part of the International Society for Technology in Education. Betsy has worked for many years in i*EARN, the International Educationand Resource Network. She is former owner of Silicon Desert, an Internet Service Provider, and is a consultant to New Mexico Technet, co-facilitating the New Mexico High School Supercomputing Challenge. She has a degree in Dance from Mills College and maintains an active interest in the Fine Arts. Her Master's degree is With Honors from the University of New Mexico.


Marjory Johnson

Dr. Marjory Johnson is the Associate Project Manager for the NASA Research and Education Network (NREN) Project. She has worked for NASA for over 17 years. During this time she has worked on various networking projects, including networking onboard the Space Station, space-to-ground communication protocols, gigabit network testbeds, and NREN. Prior to joining NASA she was a professor at the University of South Carolina and the University of Missouri - St. Louis


David Kratzer

David H. Kratzer has Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Computer Science from the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California.

During graduate school, David spent two summers working at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a graduate research assistant before going to teach mathematics and computer science courses at Harding Christian University in Searcy, Arkansas for four and a half years.

David returned to LANL in 1984 as a member of the Integrated Computing Network (ICN) Consulting Office. In 1990, David was asked to be the technical contact for the LANL Challenge team. His duties have encompassed all aspects of the Challenge from account creation to classroom instruction, and he is still part of the ICN Consulting Office.


Eric Ovaska

Eric Ovaska has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (and Mathematics) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master of Science in Mathematics from Colorado State University. Along the way, he picked up too much knowledge related to computer programming and scientific computer applications.

Eric's teaching experiences include the following:

Computer Programming and Logic to middle and high school students for Las Cruces PREP; College Algebra, Statistics, Calculus, and Computer Programming to students at Colorado State University, Front Range Community College, and the University of Northern Colorado. He is currently a trainer for HTML, Unix, Dreamweaver, and JavaScript to employees at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Eric's recent passion is mountain biking. He will have his bike at NMT and will be ready to take anyone willing to come along on nightly rides into the surrounding mountains -- they must provide their own bike!


Willard Smith

Professor of Computer Science, Department of Computer Science, School of Engineering, Tennessee State University. Principal Investigator of the NASA/TSU Network Resources and Training Site (NASA/TSU NRTS).

Education: George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, 1972; (Ph.D.) in Education and Educational Psychology. NSF Fellow in Computerized Geographical Mapping, 1990; North Carolina A&T. Eastern New Mexico University, 1967; (M.Ed.) in Geographic Education. West Texas State University, 1963; (B.S.) In Social Sciences and Education.

Professional Experience: Professor (1996 to Present) - Tennessee State University. Principal Investigator for NASA/TSU NRTS (1995 to Present) and Principal Investigator for NASA-Ames research grant to study the "Quality of Service comparing, T1, Microwave, Satellite and Radio connections to the Internet for transmission of large data files - Center of Excellence in Information Systems, TSU. NASA Summer Faculty (1994 & 1995) - Marshall Space Flight Center - SpaceLink Project. Associate Professor (1991 to 1996) - TSU. Assistant Professor (1983 - 1991) - TSU. Vice President for Information Systems (1978 to 1982) - TSU. Director for Information Systems (1974 to 1978) - The University of Tennessee at Nashville (UTN). Assistant Professor of Education and Psychology (1972 to 1974) UTN. NDSF Fellow (1969 to 1972) George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. Head of Social Studies (1966 to 1969) - Marshall Junior High, Clovis, New Mexico. Teacher (1963 -1969) - Marshall Junior High, Clovis, New Mexico.

Recent Publications:


Mike Topliff

Education:
1970 BS-Math/Computer Science New Mexico State University
1974 MS-Computer Science University of Arizona
1983 PhD-Higher Education/Computer Science Univerisity of Arizona

Work:
1970-1978 University of Arizona, Manager of User Services
1978-1983 Pincock, Allen, & Holt, Director of Systems Engineering
1984-1991 University of Arizona, Director of Research Computing
1991-1995 Pima Community College, District Coordinator of Computing
1995-cur NM Institute of Mining and Technology, Director Academic Computing

Winner of 1987 JVNC award from NSF for contributions in setting up NSFnet


Joe Watts

Joe Watts is a Web Developer and Database Specialist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Joe works for the Nuclear Materials Technology (NMT) Division for the Actinide Chemistry Research and Development group.

Joe's relationship with NASA was first established through a NASA-MUSPIN grant coordinating the efforts of New Mexico State University and the University of Texas at El Paso for the enhancement of skills in Mathematics, Science, Engineering and Technology.

Joe has hosted and taught classes at NASA sponsored outreach programs in HTML, Photoshop, Illustrator and Director.

When prompted about what he thought about the upcoming Summer Teacher Institute, Joe responded, 'The combination of NASA-AMES and the New Mexico High School Supercomputing Challenge is an incredible opportunity for 7-12 educators in the State of New Mexico. Where else can you find the formidable talents of public sector groups like NASA-AMES, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Center of Excellence for Information Systems and private sector groups such as New Mexico Technet, Intel, Microsoft and many others whose sole intention is to help students and their teachers.'


Gina Fisk

Gina Fisk is a Technical Staff Member at Los Alamos National Laboratory and has been working with the Supercomputing Challenge since 1992. In her senior year of high school in 1992-1993 she was a member of one of the winning teams for the 3rd annual Supercomputing Challenge, and then moved to Los Alamos and in 1994 began working at LANL to help David Kratzer coordinate the Challenge events. Later she moved into other Laboratory groups and currently works as a research scientist in LANL's newly-formed Computer and Computational Sciences research division. Gina is also on the part-time faculty of the University of New Mexico--Los Alamos where she teaches C++ programming, UNIX, and software engineering.

Gina earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree in 1998 from the University of New Mexico, and a Master of Science in Computer Science degree in 2001 from the University of Southern California. She plans to begin work on her Ph. D. in computer science this fall at the University of Southern California. Her current research interests include networking, network security, and steganography.