2002 STI Instructors

Richard Allen

Dick has a Ph.D. in applied mathematics and undergraduate degrees in physics and mathematics. From 1968 to 1986, Dick was a member of the Mathematics and Statistics Department faculty at UNM where he taught courses in applied mathematics, served as Director of the University's Graduate Center in Los Alamos, and served as a Research Professor of Medicine for joint research collaborations with the UNM Medical School. Dick was a Visiting Staff Member at Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1974 to 1886 and a Consultant to the Air Force Weapons Laboratory from 1978 to 1986.

From 1986 to 1998, he managed the Applied Mathematics Department at Sandia National Laboratories, served as the New Mexico Director of the five-state Adventures in Supercomputing program, and directed a graduate level retraining program in computational simulation for Sandia staff at the University of New Mexico. Dick has been active in the Supercomputing Conference's K-12 education programs for the past several years and directed the education program for Supercomputing '91 and '93. When not working, Dick enjoys bridge, cycling, and jogging.

Ann Degner

Ann Degner is with San Juan College and will be assisting in the logistics of the summer institute. She has been with San Juan College for almost 20 years and has lived in the Farmington area for most of her life. Ann has BS and MA degrees from NMSU. Currently, she is the Assistant Vice President for Distance Learning and is working on increasing course and program offerings through online delivery.

For most of her career, she has been involved with faculty development and integrating instructional technology into the classroom. Ann also has worked with many K12 schools concerning teacher development\training and was involved with the New Mexico Council on Technology in Education for 5 years. She and her husband enjoy the outdoors, especially fishing and boating, along with spending time at the beach.

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.

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 is currently working on her Ph. D. in computer science at the University of Southern California. Her current research interests include networking, network security, and steganography.

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.

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 also learned a bit about computer programming and scientific computing 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 currently teaches classes in HTML, Unix, Programming (Java), and JavaScript to employees at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Eric will have his mountain bike and kayak at San Juan College. Farmington has some fantastic mountain bike trails which are used during The Road Apple Rally, the longest running annual mountain bike race in the world. For whitewater fans, Farmington also created a Whitewater Park along a short stretch of the Animas River — it should be good kayaking!

Bill Robertson

Bill Robertson has been an employee at Los Alamos National Laboratory since 1994, and has worked in science education, university coordination and computer education and training. He is currently an instructor for HTML, Dreamweaver, Web Site Development and Business Computing Applications for employees at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Bill completed a Ph.D. in Multicultural Teacher and Childhood Education with an emphasis in science and technology at the University of New Mexico in 2000. Bill obtained his MA degree Science Education from the University of Colorado - Boulder in 1992. Bill completed a BS in Biology from Northern Arizona University in 1987 and received a BA degree in History from Duke University in 1985.

Bill also is a long time participant and performer in skateboarding with over 25 years in the sport. As Dr. Skateboard, Bill maintains a Web Site (http://www.drskateboard.com) that combines the best of both education and extreme sports for use in the classroom. He also enjoys traveling, hiking, running, weight lifting and golf.

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: