Education

Listed below are the pertinent courses I have taken during my tenure at Florida State University. The courses have been grouped by their relevancy to my career preparation. Use the navigation box located to the right to go directly to each of these groupings. The course codes might seem a bit cryptic, so I've included the following table:

LIS = Information Technology
CGS = Computer Science
MAR = Marketing
3000+ = Junior Level
4000+ = Senior Level

For example, LIS 4365 would be a senior level Information Technology course.


Web Design: Programming


LIS 4365 - Advanced Web Applications
Spring 2008
Instructor: Dr. Greg Riccardi

This class gave me my first exploration into the world of rapid application development. The class involved one big project, a Ruby on Rails application. The project progressed from a simple interface into a complex online book store. Key features of the project included a Woot!-esque deal of the day, and log-in based scaffolding system.

Work Samples:
  • Unfortunately, the college's Ruby on Rails server is no longer operational.

LIS 4930 - Web Application Design
Fall 2008
Instructor: Mr. Kenneth Baldauf

This course offered a broad view of web development. It started off with assignments involving HTML and CSS and evolved into a programming course in javaScript and PHP. The javaScript section of the course culminated with the development of a functional kiosk interface. The PHP section peaked with the development of a functional guestbook application.

Work Samples:

This was a group project that involved the development of a functional javaScript web application. The application is a functional interface for a kiosk of our choice. Our kiosk is the Sub Station, a sandwich vending machine that would be located on campus. Key features of the application involved graphic design, javaScript event handling functions, and order processing.

This is my final project which included compiling all my work in the class. The assignments may be found under the WebDev item on the menu. The assignments included XHTML, CSS, mashups, javaScript, PHP, mySQL, and blog development.


CGS 3066 - Web Programming Design
Spring 2009
Instructor: Mr. Daniel Chang

I did not want to limit self to the offerings of one college and ventured into the Computer Science department to take this course. I'm glad I did as this course exposed me to teachings that I did not previously have the opportunity to delve into. The key topics that I had the chance to learn were Perl programming and .cgi scripting. The other topics included XHTML, CSS, and javaScript which were good practice to reinforce my existing knowledge of the languages.

Work Samples:

This is a survey that I coded in Perl using .CGI scripts to process the form.


LIS 4930 - Database Concepts
Summer 2007
Instructor: Mr. David Miner

This course did not directly involve anything web design related, but I placed under here for a reason. Nearly every robust web application in existence is backed by a stringently designed database. Without the knowledge I gained in this course I would be hard-pressed to survive in web application environment. The course equipped me with the proper techniques to develop a database from scratch. Key topics included: E-R Diagrams, data dictionaries, normalization, SQL, forms and reports, and remote access.

Work Samples:

A significant portion of this course involved writing SQL queries. SQL is one of the key languages used in conjunction with PHP to write dynamic web applications. This assignment highlights some of the queries I wrote from scratch.


LIS 3353 - Technologies
Fall 2006
Instructor: Mr. Ebrahim Randeree

This course was the first I took within the College of Information. The course offered an extraordinary overview of the current world of technology. Some of the key focuses of the course included Wiki and web development. This was the first formal instruction I had on modern web standards. We have to develop web pages that adhered to XHTML Strict guidelines. The assignment proved to be a valuable learning experience that would equip me with a troubleshooting procedure in web development that I re-use to this day.

Work Samples:

This assignment is my Biometrics entry for the course's Wiki. Wikis use their own unique language for coding and formatting.


Web Design: Theory


LIS 4351 - Interaction Design
Spring 2009
Instructor: Dr. Greg Riccardi

Perhaps my favorite course that I've had the privilege of enrolling in. The course covered the areas of web design I am most interested in, usability and interface design. We covered everything from navigation techniques to prototyping and usability testing. It is alarming how many websites and application interfaces blissfully ignore even the most basic of usability standards.

Work Samples:

For this class we maintained a class blog which we submitted every project and assignment to. You can find a description of every assignment completed, along with any materials for the assignment. The assignments ranged from usability tests to navigation composition analysis.


LIS 3267 - Information Science
Fall 2006
Instructor: Mr. Christopher Landbeck

This class was focused around a topic that is arguably the most important aspect of web design theory, the audience. So many web designers don't sit down with their client and discuss who will actually being using their website. The website should be custom tailored to the audience while fitting the needs of the client.

Work Samples:

This assignment is the Client & Audience Analysis Report for a project. The project was the theoretical redesign of the College of Information's website.


Marketing & Research


MAR 3023 - Basic Marketing Concepts
Spring 2009
Instructor: Dr. Phillip Downs

It became evident through out my educational career that there was something missing. It was really staring me in the face, it involved the very nature of my discipline. Web design is nothing more than technical marketing. I decided to enroll in this course to gain an alternate view on the world of web design. Topics included everything from supply chain management to social media. The course definitely widened my point of view in terms of web design.

Work Samples:
  • There were no assignments or projects associated with this class.

LIS 3201 - Research and Data Analysis
Fall 2007
Instructor: Mr. Christopher Landbeck

This course offered in-depth teachings on a number of research and data analysis techniques. A good foundation of any marketing endeavor is research. This class served as my foundation for my academic and professional marketing projects.

Work Samples:

SWOT Analysis as a hypothetical team member of an IT consultant firm.


LIS 3021 - Technical Communication for Information Professionals
Fall 2008
Instructor: Mr. John Marks

This course covered every aspect of technical communication within a business. It also involved a great deal of research. We also worked on a number of projects as hypothetical IT consultants, primarily dealing with websites. Research was the main tool we used in our consultant reports.

Work Samples:

This assignment is the first formal correspondence between a client interested in web consulting.


Technical


LIS 4774 - Information Security
Fall 2008
Instructor: Mr. Joe Ferris

Another enthralling IT class. Everything we covered in this class was extremely useful and engaging. The course offered a different view of the professional IT world. We covered security issues from the desktop PC to large corporate networks. Not only did we cover the theory side of things, but we actually did hand on labs. We sniffed wireless traffic and even cracked Windows log-in passwords. The culmination of the class involved a group project that covered a complete security policy, from network diagrams to operating system hardening techniques.

Work Samples:

Here is my portion of the project, the bulk of the written policies.


LIS 4482 - Management of Networks and Telecommunication
Fall 2008
Instructor: Mr. Louis Brooks

This class covered almost everything about network management. From the OSI model to actual network design and implementation. The course didn't offer any hands on labs other than making a patch cable. It did cover everything policy wise and gave me a good primer in networking.

Work Samples:

An assignment involving port lookup and DNS resolving.