User:Roadrunner~enwikiversity

w:User:Roadrunner

What I'm doing
See my blog on http://twofish.wordpress.com/ which contains a manifesto on the http://twofish.wordpress.com/the-open-architecture-degree/

My library on Connotea (http://www.connotea.org/user/twofish)

My current projects are:


 * Understanding the behavior of Shanghai warrants, which gets me into general research on social and legal issues of PRC economic reform.
 * Developing an open architecture degree that will provide a physics education to a wider audience. Part of this involves thinking about a undergraduate physics degree plan.
 * Coding QuantLib, the SWIG interface to R, BoomCode which is a professional type II supernova simulator, and http://www.gnacademy.org/ - A database of distance learning courses. All of these projects are open source.
 * administering the Globewide Network Academy
 * Maintaining a hub for Portal:Financial Engineering in Greater China

I'm also using Wikiversity as a platform for some of my ideas on improving academia by creating an academic ecosystem.

Where to find me

 * I commute back and forth between Austin, Texas and NYC.
 * I post frequently to Brad Setser's blog, the Wilmott forums, and the CHINALAW mailing list

Although wikiversity doesn't hand out titles, I am basically junior faculty at Wikiversity. The ideal of the professorship involves three components: teaching, research, and community service. It took me a while, but I finally figured out that if I *just do it* then the titles end up not mattering.

I am interested in developing communities with people who are trying to do the same thing. The first universities started when academics just found themselves in the same place. The titles, bureaucracy, and other random annoyances came later.


 * User:Roadrunner/Projects
 * User:Roadrunner/Whiteboard
 * User:Roadrunner/Research ideas
 * User:Roadrunner/Paper drafts
 * User:Roadrunner/Educational philosophy

My silly credentials
Credentials are silly, since people get caught up in collecting credentials that the underlying goals get lost. But since society seems a bit caught up with them, they are ....


 * S.B. - Physics - Massachusetts Institute of Technology - 1991
 * M.A. - Astronomy - University of Texas at Austin - 1993
 * Ph.D. - Astronomy - University of Texas at Austin - 1998

I also have almost a decade of commercial programming experience, and I get most of my money doing commercial programming. If you live in New York City, you've almost certainly encountered software that I've written without realizing it.