STI Instructors

Nick Bennett

Nick Bennett is a systems consultant and architect with Grass Roots Consulting in Albuquerque, NM. In his work with past and present clients (including Kraft Foods, Bank of Scotland, CitiBank, Deutsche Bank, General Motors, Applied Materials, TransAlta, Cementos Mexicanos, and others), he has developed (and trained others to develop) decision support and business process management systems using a variety of languages and platforms, including Java, C/C++/C#, Visual Basic, SQL Server, Oracle, ASP/ASP.net, PHP, and Perl.

Nick earned his B.S. in Mathematics while serving in the US Navy, onboard a guided missile destroyer deployed to the Pacific and Indian oceans. Subsequently, he attended the University of Utah and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, teaching Calculus at the latter while completing his M.S. in Operations Research and Statistics. Although he has never returned to the front of a formal classroom, he continues to find teaching - whether leading software development seminars, tutoring college students in web design or quantitative methods, or working with teams of students participating in the New Mexico Adventures in Supercomputing Challenge - among the most satisfying work he does.

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. Through the New Mexico Network for Women in Science and Engineering Betsy has directed and participated in Expanding Your Horizons workshops which encourage the participation of young women in math, science, technology and engineering.

Betsy has worked for many years in i*EARN, the International Education and Resource Network. Recently, she has taught online classes for iEARN including Integrating Arts in Curriculum and Helping Teachers Cope with Traumatic Events. She is former owner of Silicon Desert, an Internet Service Provider. She is a Program Manager for the Supercomputing Challenge through Los Alamos National Lab. This is the start of her third year with Adventures in Modeling (AIM) , an NSF ITEST project through MIT and the Santa Fe Institute. AIM studies complex adaptive systems and uses StarLogo for its computer program to develop agent based models. The work of the Challenge and AIM are complementary. In this last year, Betsy returned to Albuquerque Public Schools, teaching ½ time at Acoma Elementary School, supporting literacy and technology and keeping an eye on the network.

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.

Dale Henderson

Dale's first encounter with New Mexico was boot camp in White Sands. After he received a BS in geology and a BS in pure mathematics from Kent State University, Dale returned to New Mexico for graduate school at the University of New Mexico.

Dale currently teaches math and science at Nuestros Valores Charter School and has taught from developmental math to AP calculus, plus most science classes [excluding evil biology] and computer modeling classes.

Dale has focused his research on computer modeling since the early nineties. He worked with global circulation models [GCMs] as an undergrad and then went on to work with local climate models [LCMs] for his masters' research. He worked with parallel architectures at Los Alamos National Labs and stretch grid models on massively parallel machines for NASA Goddard. More recently he has focused sustainability projects.

Since the new millennium, Dale has worked hand and hand with the Challenge and Adventures in Modeling [AIM], an NSF ITEST project through MIT and the Santa Fe Institute.

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.

Irene Lee

Irene Lee is a science specialist for the Santa Fe Public Schools Afterschool Enrichment Program. Since 1998 she has been involved with the Santa Fe Institute / Massachusetts Institute of Technology ITEST Program, first as a participant and presently as a researcher and facilitator. Irene Lee received her BA in pure mathematics from the University of Chicago and her EdM in technology in education from Harvard University Graduate School of Education. She has designed and programmed computer and video games for Electronic Arts and Theatrix Interactive. Irene is a past president and executive director of the Swarm Development Group. Currently she teaches Starlogo and agent-based modeling to secondary school teachers, and science and technology at the K-12 levels.

Hal Scheintaub

Hal Scheintaub is a science teacher at Governor Dummer Academy in Byfield, Mass. and a researcher with the Teacher Education Program at MIT. He has a doctorate in cell physiology and biophysics from SUNY at Buffalo, and was a public health research scientist. He has been a public and private high school science teacher for more than 20 years

Hal says, "Biology students who learn about parts often have difficulty picturing how those parts come together to form living things. With StarLogo simulations students discover that interactions are just as important as actions in determining how living systems work. StarLogo helps students appreciate the complexities and paradoxes of living systems. StarLogo models reality better than any other teaching resource I have used."

Hal is doing exciting work with his physics students, and the Starlogo development team at MIT, in a new programming environment called StarLogo,The Next Generation (TNG). TNG is designed to rapidly engage students in game and simulation development in the context of science and programming classes. The team believes that there is a productive overlap between games and models. They have seen student game-makers become student model-builders, building and using scientific models to enhance their content learning. Their work is driven by the vision of many students using StarLogo TNG to program exciting 3D video games driven by scientifically sound models.

Hal will share some of his excitement as the keynote speaker at this year's STI!

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:

• Smith, Willard A. and Holloway, James F. (2000) "Four Years of Success with NASA/TSU NRTS", Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Tennessee State University Research Day Symposium, Nashville, Tennessee.
• Smith, Willard A. "NASA/TSU NRTS Partners and Success" poster session, (1999) 9th Annual MU-SPIN Conference, Miami, Florida.
• Smith, Willard A. "NASA/TSU NRTS Partners and Success completing NRTS" poster session, (2000) 10th Annual MU-SPIN Conference, Atlanta, Georgia.

James Taylor

James Taylor serves as Chair of the Computer Science & Technology Department at Santa Fe Preparatory School. He has facilitated complex systems modeling workshops for teachers and secondary students for the last 8 years. James has also been a participant in the National Science Foundation's ITEST Adventures in Modeling Program to develop StarLogo models and curriculum for use in K-12 and undergraduate education. He has taught Mathematica within a computational science elective course, StarLogo in several courses, and mathematical problem solving, all at Santa Fe Prep.

Jonathan Wolfe

Jonathan Wolfe, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of the Fractal Foundation, a New Mexico nonprofit that uses the beauty of fractals to inspire interest and participation in math, science and art. An Albuquerque native, he received his B.A. in biophysics from Johns Hopkins, and his doctorate in Neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania. His studies of the neurophysiology of the visual system were inspired by his love of color, form and motion. After graduating, he returned home to New Mexico to pursue his artistic passions, specializing in the unique medium of hotair balloons, which he builds and flies. The website www.SkyDyes.net features his giant, fractal-inspired art balloons which have flown all over the world. His love of fractals continues to spiral upward and outward, reaching ever larger audiences, most recently through the extremely successful "First Friday Fractals" program at the LodeStar Planetarium.