DJ recently reposted an older thread on etiquette for our discussion threads, and noted in that repost that new members should introduce themselves to the community. So here goes:

I'm a university math prof who also has substantial teaching and research experience in CS/AI. My programming experience goes back to the punch card days (yes I am waaaaay old) and involves skills with high level and low level languages on mainframes and PCs. I know a bunch about the internals of data base management systems and (almost) a bunch about networking. I understand a lot of the details of operating systems including linux, Win 2000, and (sorry) some of the older mainframe operating systems. I've enjoyed multithreading programming in C and most recently have picked up some experience with Python and brushed up on my java skills. I have used Visual C++ (with Microsoft Foundations classes) to develop genetic algorithm software that I use in my math research. I've recently developed and taught new courses in data mining.

The focus of my robot project is to produce a high-tech solution to the problem of large numbers of students needing remedial math courses at both the community college and university levels. Unfortunately, so many of these students today are dumped into a lab with textbook-publisher provided tutorial software that invites students to select answers from multiple-choice questions. And those students get to pay extra $$$ for access to that tutorial software. I believe that those students deserve better.

I'm forming a startup, called EDU-Robotics LLC, with the aim of developing an interactive bot that will lead students through remedial material in a more humane way, producing a deeper understanding of the math that they need. I see a bot "study buddy" at each workstation in every lab used for remedial math instruction. So that's where I'm going.

(Hope this wasn't too much.)