Outside of work

Hobbies

When I'm not building things, you'll find me on the slopes, behind the decks, or in the gym.

DJing

Pioneer DDJ-FLX4 — house, techno, and electronic music.

DJing is where engineering meets creativity for me. I mix mostly house and techno on a Pioneer DDJ-FLX4, with Rekordbox handling track management and set prep. I love the technical side — beat matching, EQ transitions, building energy across a set — every bit as much as the musical side. It's one of the few things that completely clears my head after a long day of problem sets.

Skiing

Black diamonds and long runs — the steeper the better.

I've been skiing since I was a kid, and it's still my favorite way to spend a winter weekend. I gravitate toward black diamonds and love pushing my technique on steeper terrain. There's something uniquely satisfying about the mix of speed, precision, and reading the mountain — it scratches the same problem-solving itch that engineering does, just with a lot more adrenaline.

Working Out

Daily training — consistency over intensity.

I train daily — the gym is the non-negotiable part of my routine. Lifting builds the kind of discipline and mental clarity that carries straight into problem sets and projects. I keep the programming simple: compound movements, progressive overload, and a training log I maintain as methodically as any lab notebook.

Backpacking & Hiking

Trailheads, summits, and multi-day trips off the grid.

Backpacking and hiking are how I disconnect and reset. I love the planning that goes into a trip — mapping routes, dialing in gear weight, reading terrain and weather — almost as much as the time on the trail itself. There's a simple, methodical satisfaction in covering ground under your own power and solving small problems as they come up. It's basically engineering with a much better view.

Car Work

Wrenching, modifications, and understanding how things work.

Working on cars is hands-on engineering at its most honest. I do my own maintenance and modifications — understanding every system, diagnosing issues from first principles, and improving performance where I can. It's the same mindset as PCB debugging or circuit design, just at a larger, considerably greasier scale.

Learning

Online courses, side projects, and chasing curiosity.

Learning is a constant, self-directed habit for me, not something confined to a classroom. Whether it's working through an online course, picking up a new tool for a side project, or going way too deep on a topic that caught my attention, I love building understanding from the ground up. Chasing curiosity is what keeps both my engineering work and everything else on this site moving forward.

Reading

Engineering textbooks, biographies, and anything that teaches me something new.

I read consistently across engineering, science, biography, and history. A favorite is Electronic Principles by Malvino — I worked through it cover to cover during my time at Hamilton Broadcast Engineering, and it taught me more practical circuit intuition than any class. Beyond textbooks, I love biographies of engineers and scientists who took theory and changed the world with it. Reading is how I fill the gaps between coursework and the workbench.

Family & Friends

Polish roots, Chicago raised — the people who keep me grounded.

Underneath everything else on this site, time with family and friends is what matters most. I grew up in a close Polish-American household in the Chicago suburbs — eleven years of Saturday Polish school included — and that foundation of hard work, loyalty, and showing up for your people shapes how I approach everything. The best moments are the simple ones: cooking together, watching the game, or just being present.