Introducing Engineering Crewman First-Class Nathan!

Hello followers of Nervous System!  My name is Nathan, and I just started work at Nervous System as an Engineering Crewman First-Class!  Jessica asked me to write a blog post introducing myself to the Nervous System world, so here I am!

I always find introductions difficult; you only get one chance to make an impression, and I don’t really like talking about myself either. So let me distract you with a picture while I think a bit harder about how I’m going to do this!

Not only does that provide a brief distraction, but also a segue into talking about myself.  This is an image from a visual art project I started a few months ago, where I used a Gray-Scott diffusion-reaction algorithm to try to create symmetric mandala-like images.  Like Jessica and Jesse, I’m fascinated by the beauty found in the natural world, and am constantly trying to find new ways to use phenomena I’ve encountered in math and science for works in art.

My background is in electrical engineering, where I previously worked on control systems for physics- and biology-focused applications; during this work I was exposed to digital fabrication and this is when I started to get really excited about it.  I spent many late nights in the fab lab exploring what the machines were capable of, and eventually branched out to more artisanal methods of manufacturing like casting and forging.  These formative years instilled a rather single-minded obsession with creating things in me, whether its a piece of visual art generated from code or hand-crafted widget.  Now I’ve finally managed to escape the world of research, and can focus on helping Nervous System make the best stuff that our collective minds can think of!  The first few projects I plan to tackle include designing more lighting products and  exploring some alternative fabrication techniques for manufacturing our products.

I’m really excited to contribute my expertise to the work at Nervous System, and looking forward to sharing it what comes out of it with the world! Hopefully I’ll be posting more stuff to this blog soon to provide updates about the projects we’re working on.