HOJJER

About

Hello!

My name is Josh and this is a little piece of the web that I set up to share some of my background, experiences, and generally just my approach to getting stuff done.  Whether generating ideas, solving problems, or selling products.

I grew up and attended college in western Pennsylvania, home of pop favorites such as Heinz ketchup, Mr. Rogers, and the Steelers.  As an undergrad at Carnegie Mellon University, I studied mechanical engineering and business administration and ultimately degreed in both.  My favorite class was easily Ms. Finger's Rapid Prototype Design course, but a young, enterprising student at the time, I failed to build off that initial design portfolio.  Since then, and following other endeavors, I have resolved to fix that.

Starting my career in 2002, it seemed that serving a Navy contractor was a sensible and pseudo-patriotic thing to do.  Fulfilling technical grunt tasks at first, I was eventually promoted to leading a cutting-edge research and development project involving HIP (more on that in Projects).  However, despite tremendous stakeholder (i.e. Admiral) support and promising successes, bureaucracy stalled even the best of my implementation tactics, and it became increasingly evident that I needed some creative outlets outside of the office.  As such, I dabbled in things from taking a film analysis class (just because) to a stint helping a theater company and ultimately to some of the projects listed herein.

While my journeys have since led me from exciting metallurgical advances to web and graphic design, I have never waivered from the basic principle that every project is unique and that every opportunity, while sometimes a chance for success, is always a chance to learn.  A consumer, all of us, it is fascinating the powers of design, technology, marketing, psychology, and all the various fields of study that play into the commercial decisions we make.  I have since recognized my passion growing towards product design of all disciplines, however, not every opportunity merits critical analysis, redesign, or even physical products to address.  Instead, its in recognizing the opportunity that is key, then drawing upon the experience and knowledge to meet it head on that leads to revolutionary products, processes, and everything in between.

That's what I think, at least, and that's what gets me rolling each day.