About Kevin

I’m currently a graduate student in the Human–Computer Interaction program at Iowa State University. My primary interests are user interface design, personal information management, information retrieval, developmental robotics, and human-robot interaction.

My FOAF information may be found at http://kevin.godby.org/foaf.rdf#me.

Prehistory

I graduated from Indian Hills Community College in 1999 with an associate’s degree in Computer Systems/Networks. I then went to work for a local ISP as a system/network administrator (official title: Internet Guru) where I provided tech support and generally kept things running. After a year and a half of this, I got bored and decided to move on. I quit my job there, started taking night classes at Buena Vista University, and consulted for other ISPs.

After watching a few ISPs go out of business (which was becoming quite trendy), I took a job as a Technology Coordinator at a small K-12 school. I taught students in grades three through six general computer skills including word processing, how to use the Internet, programming in LOGO, and how to create web pages. I also taught a “multimedia” course to a small group of seniors who managed the school’s website.

A year later in 2002, I finished my bachelor’s degrees (double majoring in psychology and technology management) and subsequently took an IT position in Wiesbaden, Germany with an American community college serving US troops throughout Europe and the Middle East. The college decided not to renew the military contract and closed in 2003. (They told everyone this the day after I arrived.) I returned to the States in fall of 2003 and bummed around for a year taking on odd jobs repairing computers, fixing networks, etc.

In the fall of 2004 I started picking up some computer science courses at Iowa State University. I enrolled in the Human–Computer Interaction program in spring of 2006 hoping to attain a masters and doctoral degree. My primary interests related to human–computer interaction include user interface design, cognitive psychology, human–robot interaction, developmental robotics, and computational linguistics.

Knowledge & Skills

I am moderately skilled at programming in C, C++, Python, and PHP. I have contributed to the following programs:

  • Icarus allows a user wearing special wristbands and a pendant to “fly” through a virtual reality space by flapping their arms.
  • Narcissus is a self-detection algorithm for robots.
  • GreenSpace is a John Deere combine simulator that allows users to harvest virtual wheat.

Contact

Kevin Godby
3913 Toronto St.
Ames, Iowa 50011
United States

Email: godbyk@gmail.com

Phone: +1 (541) 946-3295

AIM: godbyk
Yahoo: godbyk
ICQ: 4758521
MSN: godbyk@hotmail.com
Jabber: godbyk@jabber.org
GTalk: godbyk@gmail.com