I'm a southern boy at heart at least that's where my roots stem whereupon November 29, 1983 I was born to mother Teresa Wyatt Rounds and father Steven Edwin Rounds in Savannah, Georgia . Growing up, I was active in youth sports including as football, baseball, and basketball before settling on a life long hobby of golf. Aside from sports I always excelled in mathematics thanks to my father who at an early age taught me basic math skills and an engineering mindset to problem solving. My mother always provided support through the tough times as an emotional teenager. I owe a great deal to both my parents in particular my father, without him I would not be as strong in math and science.
Educational background:Obtaining my college degree, a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Mathematics is, one of the greatest accomplishments of my life. This degree represents the combination of my passion for mathematics and my desire to apply mathematics as is done in engineering. Before graduating, I met two professors whom I owe a great deal of thanks. The first Dr. David Lovelock, a math professor, taught two lectures in which I realized what it meant to have a passion for education and a desire for students to excel academically. Next, Dr. Jeffrey Goldberg, an SIE professor, who prepared me for life after college by giving me a clear understanding of what it would be like to work in industry upon graduation.
Beginning with the fall of 2010, I have mapped out a plan in which I will be able to obtain a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering within three years. While I initially thought it would be impossible to obtain any degree in the Electrical Engineering discipline I have since had a greater interest to understand this area of engineering after my first job out of college. I firmly beleive that because of my applied math skills, this area of engineering will be one in which I will excel in over time.
Work ExperienceAfter the minimum wage job most teenagers take on such as newspaper delivery, pizza cook, etc. my first real job would be the two summers I worked for an underground construction company, Arizona Excavating. Working outdoor in the summer heat of Arizona will drive almost anyone to do well in school! It was a great motivator, but I also learned that the engineers should be required to spend some time in the field before drafting their plans because rarely does construction go as planned.
It was also during college, that I had an opportunity to work in sales selling mattresses and bedroom furniture. This led me to open a small business, Discount Table Pad Company, selling table pads in which I worked all facets of the business from sales to advertising. Equal to the experience gained was that this business helped to fund 100% of my education.
Upon graduation from the University of Arizona I took a job with a small startup, The TPL Group, in San Jose, CA as a patent engineer. My role was to disclose new ideas and inventions in the form of a patent application. Before resigning mid-2009 I had drafted nearly forty patent application in my two and a half years there ranging in projects that include advanced signal processing, random number generation, custom VLSI software, multi-core processor architecture of the SEAforth S40, as well as system on chip applications for an array of processing devices.
Moving back to Tucson in mid-2009, I took a job immediately as the Math/Science Teacher at a private Boarding School, In Balance Ranch Academy, in Southern Arizona. I take great pride in the fact that I was not unemployed, not even for one day. Presently, this position allows me a great deal of flexibility in working with high school students. The teaching component is a mix of traditional lectures and a tutor model. I have developed approved curriculum for a Calculus I, Probability/Statistics, and Chemistry Lab Courses. I also facilitate independent study courses in the following areas, Earth Science, Environmental Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Trigonometry, and Pre-Calculus.