Engineering. Control. Intelligence. Meaning.

I was born in Kenya (my great formative years): (some 7 years at Wangulua primary school, 6 years of “O” and “A” levels at The Alliance High School, and 3 years of BSc Mechanical Engineering at Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya)

I lived and OJT’ed in Liège, Belgium

I studied in Japan (M.Eng, PhD(Eng) , and PostGrad 2005—2010)

I moved to Fairbanks, Alaska

I now live in San Francisco, California.

I read comic books and maintain a pretty big collection.

I watch a lot movies and run a weekly movie night.

I obsess on building my solo indie video game when I’m not working.

I have a beautiful wife, a neurotic cat and 2 hyperactive French Bulldogs:

Rocky Blanchard Miantezolo & Bruno Coquatrix Quinque (they respond to Rocky and Bruno.)

I speak seven languages—Maragoli (the language of the gods), C/C++, Swahili, English, French, Japanese, and Lingala—which says a few things at once: a serious ear for structure, patience with ambiguity, and the ability to coherently hold multiple models of the world in my head. [FACT: multilingual minds tend to think more relationally than literally, thus pairing rather well with systems thinking and engineering instincts.]

I write code.

I (used to) write sarcastic/idiotic comments about the things I see.

I was the Founding Director and Head of Product at SFBayEnergy.

I am not anymore, but they’re still cool.

I sold that business and joined the Silicon Valley craze on AI.

I had a good run surrounded by great folks in the AI world.

I am now working with MHND to help innovate in the virtual energy space.

[I have a more detailed résumé if you’re into that sort of thing.]

Ok, here’s the real me:

I’m a no-nonsense, straight-talking 20-year veteran of the engineering profession who favors stiff drinks, good debates and developing innovative digital strategies to help companies grow. I enjoy jogging, brewing beer, and any type of loud music. 

I like to watch long epic movies. I like sad endings. I like to read books written by people much smarter than I am. I am an introvert that likes to do monologues in front of everyone at a party. I like to get all my work done so I can leave work early. I sometimes go to the dark side after a few drinks. I am the best athlete who can’t walk 5 yards without tripping over his own feet. I own more grooming products than most women. I like to spend a fortune on clothes and then wear sweats every time I leave the house except for work and going out. I’m the best cook you will ever know. I like Deadwood. I don’t like technical illiteracy. I don’t like romantic comedies. I don’t like crowds and noisy places. I sometimes listen to incredibly cheesy music when I am by myself in the car. I am a converted slob who now cleans his condo every night. I am an absolutely awful interior decorator. I don’t like how my clothes fit. I want to weigh 165 pounds and my diet starts tomorrow, but I have said that 97 times in the last 102 days. I want to watch every good movie ever made. I used to be able to squat over 650 pounds, but can’t come close anymore. I crave attention but probably want you to leave me alone. I want you to praise me and then I will probably tell you you’re wrong.

I used to be what engineers aspired to be: System thinkers rather than component fixers.

I am now [not] just a crotchety tech guy from any reasonable perspective—I’ll try anything twice, just in case the first time around was somebody else’s bad day.

Mostly, I just want to become a kinder and gentler person.