Hi—I'm Eric.
I started Nexus Workshops to put real engineering into the hands of young people in our community—the way a few patient people once did for me. Consider this the honest version of who's teaching, and why.
Letting all ships rise.
Almost everything I know how to do, someone took the time to show me. Engineers who didn't have to—who pulled up a chair, answered "but why?" for the hundredth time, and let me break things until they finally made sense.
That generosity is the reason I have the career I have, and Nexus Workshops is how I pay it back. I'd rather hand hard-won understanding to the next curious kid and watch it take root than be the only person in the room who knows how the machine works.
This isn't about pushing every child toward engineering. It's about offering an honest, hands-on experience—a real chance to try the craft on, pick up skills that travel anywhere, and find out whether it's a fit. A rising tide lifts every boat.
I've built real things.
Not teaching from a textbook I skimmed last summer. For most of my career I've built systems that had to actually work—in the field, on the bench, and occasionally in orbit. A small sampling:
Signals & radios
Radios that work in space, cell-tower systems, signal processing and detectors, and systems that spot contraband phones inside prisons. If it moves through the air, I've probably chased it.
Things that sense the world
Wildlife trackers, vibration and stress-reduction systems, tools that analyze stress on railroad track, and an Android app that shows the live status of hardware in the field.
Machine learning at the edge
Small, low-power boards that use machine learning to flag illegal poaching and deforestation out in the wild. When I say "AI," I mean something I've actually shipped—not a buzzword.
Software & games
Game development, mobile apps, web applications, and an inventory-control system that keeps ambulances stocked with the right supplies—the same building blocks the workshop starts from.
Servers, networks & databases
Administering servers and networks and designing databases that hold up under real use—the unglamorous plumbing everything else quietly depends on.
Training simulators
Simulators that let people practice on realistic systems before the real thing is ever switched on. Build it, test it, prove it—then trust it.
One field, many doors.
People hear "engineering" and picture one thing. It's really a spectrum—and seeing the whole map is the fastest way for a learner to notice which part lights up the curiosity. Here's how I think about it, and roughly where I've spent my own time.
Close to the metal
Where software meets physics—electrons, signals, and circuits. The code here is small, fast, and lives inside the hardware itself.
Pure software
Up off the hardware and into pure logic—the apps, sites, games, and data people actually touch. The widest, most familiar stretch of the field.
Running the systems
Back to the hardware—but now as the person who runs it. Keeping networks, servers, and services alive, secure, and humming.
Over the years I've worked across nearly the whole width of this map—which is really why Nexus can meet a learner wherever the curiosity lands, from a first blinking LED to a working game, a website, or a small network. There's a creative side to all this too: I'm a film photographer, and that craft has a home here as well (more on that just below).
Doing it, and teaching it.
Years as a test technician—installing equipment and troubleshooting on the job—taught me that the best solution is the one someone else can still understand and fix years later. I teach that habit from day one.
A lot of my work has been sitting down with people to understand what they really want, then finding the right solution for the right price—not the flashiest one. Asking good questions is a skill, and it's teachable.
I lean hard on testing—building and validating against real tests, often while the hardware is still on its way. A learner comes to see that "I think it works" and "I can show it works" are very different things.
I've taught at the college level and mentor competitive robotics students. I know how to meet a learner where the curiosity is, keep it concrete, and make the hard parts feel reachable.
Tutoring & mentoring.
Once a young person catches the spark, the interest usually points in one of a few directions. I can take any of them—from first curiosity to genuinely advanced—built on fundamentals that transfer anywhere.
Game development
The classic gateway. Making a game is really about making a computer do interesting things—graphics, input, logic, sound—and that knowledge carries everywhere.
Security
How systems work, how they break, and how to make them sturdier. Taught responsibly, with the emphasis on understanding and on doing the right thing with what you learn.
AI & machine learning
Past the hype to how it actually works. I've put machine learning on tiny field devices, so there's plenty here for a motivated learner to dig into.
Film & darkroom photography
The creative craft I keep coming back to. Shooting on film and developing prints by hand is equal parts art and engineering—light, chemistry, optics, and patience—and a wonderful way to slow down and really see.
One-on-one or in small groups, for kids, teens, and young adults—whatever fits the learner and the family.
Let's talk.
Whether it's the workshop, ongoing tutoring, or just figuring out where a curious kid should start—call, text, or email. If you'd like, we can meet for a few minutes first, no commitment, so the learner and parent get a feel for it.
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