I am an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts where I teach mechatronics and design, experiment with the design of learning environments, and sometimes teach students to make things like furniture, bicycles, and penny arcade games.
Lately, I also write a lot about my personal experiences battling brain cancer here. Come for the random musings on craft, engineering education, and digital joinery; stay for the reflections on mortality and the overwhelming beauty of life suddenly brought into sharp focus by a cancer diagnosis.
You can also find me on Google Scholar, Github, Twitter and Instagram
It’s Been a While
In glioblastoma land no news is not always good news. I suppose it depends on the definition of...
Recurrence. So now what?
In a previous post, I wrote about experiencing my first recurrence. Even though we always knew it was...
To Nurse Liz
A little over a week ago, I went into the hospital for another brain surgery. The goal was...
“We’ve always known this day would come.”
Author’s Note: I struggled a lot with whether to write this post. But, in the end, I decided...
One Year Living with Glioblastoma
Technically, it’s been more than a year that the glioblastoma has been in my brain. But then, I...
Living in the Moment While Planning for the Future
“I feel like the whole world now has to experience what we’ve been experiencing every day – figuring...
Birthdays, Clean Scans, and The Illusion of Safety
Okay, really the title of this post should be “Birthdays, Clean Scans, and The Illusion of Control,” but...
So? Now what!?
I’m not gonna lie. I’m ridiculously behind on semester grading. My whole family is home sick with norovirus....
Connecting With Other Brain Tumor Patients Is Important
Last night I participated in my first Twitter Chat – the monthly #btsm (Brain Tumor Social Media) chat....
Terminal Cancer is a Fluid
What a weird title, right? Well, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how so many conversations in...
“What’s good?”
I have always liked the greeting, “What’s good?” It’s succinct. It’s hopeful. It intentionally invites responses that don’t...
Chemo Round 4 in the Books
Something the other day reminded me that the standard of care for brain tumors is commonly referred to...
Reflecting on the Halfway Point of Chemo
Apart from the obvious, “I’m halfway done!” sentiment, here’s something good I can say about finishing my first...
Two for two!
For those of you following along at home, you know that I went in for another MRI last...
Scanxiety
It’s 9pm, and I’m sitting here waiting to be loaded onto a table, have my head clamped into...
Teaching with Cancer…
Note: Before you get all righteous and up in arms about Olin making me go back to teaching...
It’s Good to Be Back
Today was sort of the unofficial first day of the semester. Why unofficial? Well, it was the first...
“What punishments of God are not gifts?”
A few days ago on Twitter, I encountered this remarkable clip of Anderson Cooper interviewing Stephen Colbert, and...
Round 2 – Chemo 0, Aaron 1
Tonight, I will take the last of five doses of my chemotherapy in this second round. I hope...
Maine, Part 2 -Shleppinghurst
A man buys a quarry and turns it into a Japanese garden… Some people read a Bangor Daily...
Maine, Part 1 – Chairmaking
The Backstory Sometime shortly after I was diagnosed with glioblastoma, I also found out that a spot had...
Round 2: It’s back on…
…but I’m not sure how I feel about that. Today, my platelet level was 106 K/uL, officially clearing...
Waiting in the Healing Garden
As I mentioned before, I’m in a bit of a holding pattern as I wait for my platelets...
Round 2: Temporarily Postponed
Platelets be like, “whoa, whoa, whoa…” And, honestly, this is perfectly fine with me. Today I was supposed...
Bicycle Framebuilding: Jig Design
Update (08/06/2109): Engineering Drawings! Wow – someone has actually read this post and requested drawings! This seems only...
Round 1: Chemo 1, Aaron 0
Apologies if it’s been a little quiet around here lately. The R’s and I took a little time...
Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!
Last Friday, I had my one-month post-radiation follow-up. The Tuesday prior, big R and I had a lovely...
Stories from taking Lyft five days a week
It’s the law. Something I was unaware of before this whole ordeal began is the fact that Massachusetts...
It’s been two weeks…
Well, I guess it’s now officially been two whole weeks since my 30th (and final) radiation therapy treatment....
It’s been one week…
Did I get that Barenaked Ladies song stuck in your head? I certainly hope so! Adrift Seriously, though,...
Radiation Day 30 – I’m finished!
The last beam room music rundown: Your last beam room music rundown. Technically, there was a song playing...
Radiation Day 29 – Country music and adventures in the Healing Garden
Happy Friday, y’all! Here’s your beam room music rundown: “My Girl,” Dylan Scott – More country, and I’m...
Radiation Day 28 – Soul Music and 3D Modeling
Today’s beam room music rundown: “Upside Down,” Jeffrey David Goldford – This was a new song for me....
Radiation Day 27 – Milestones
Beam room music rundown: “The Space Between,” Dave Matthews Band – I think we know where I stand...
Radiation Day 26 – Sideways
Beam room music rundown: None, nothing, nada There was, however, a woman tech in the beam room today...
Radiation Day 25 – 5/6 of the way there.
Beam room music rundown: Absolutely nuthin’ I also collected yet another data point supporting the correlation of a...
Radiation Day 24 – Chemo + Fasting + Avoiding Caffeine = ?
Beam room music rundown: “You Don’t Know How It Feels,” Tom Petty – It’s good to hear you...
Radiation Day 23 – Lady Gaga and the Humanity of Stanning Little Caesar’s Pizza
Today’s beam room music rundown: “Nobody Knows,” The Lumineers – Lumineers, you can take a powder now. “Always...
Radiation Day 22 – Timely tunes and the Coen brothers
Beam room music rundown: “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Queen – It was very difficult to keep from attempting to bang...
Radiation Day 21 – We’re gonna do this keto thing!
Your beam room music rundown: “Someone Like You,” Adele – Adele has got some pipes. I might have...
My broken (and repaired) body – an inventory
First things first: this post is a bit self-indulgent, possibly somewhat gross, (depending on your perspective), and long....
Radiation Day 20 – A Keto Diet Brain Dump
Today’s beam room music rundown: Nothing, nada, zilch I have yet another data point correlating the presence of...
Radiation Day 19 – Can keto improve treatment outcomes?
Beam room music rundown: “She’s Always a Woman,” Billy Joel “The Boxer,” Simon & Garfunkel “Lonely People,” America ...
Radiation Day 18 – Asking for what I need
Beam room music rundown: Some country song I couldn’t make out because the radio was too quiet and...
Radiation Day 17 – Winehouse, and only Winehouse
That’s right, only one song in the beam room today, folks: “Valerie,” Amy Winehouse – This is a...
Radiation Day 16 – It’s classic rock all the way down
Beam room music rundown: “I Can’t Tell You Why,” The Eagles – Once again, I side with The...
Radiation Day 15 – “Whoa-oh we’re halfway there.”
(I really, really hope you read that title in Jon Bon Jovi’s voice to the rhythm of “Livin’...
Radiation Day 14 – Silence is golden
Today was the second day of no music in the beam room. The common factor in both days...
Radiation Day 13 – A subtle shift in language
Your day 13 beam room music rundown: “Fool In The Rain,” Led Zeppelin “I Am a Rock,” Simon...
Radiation Day 12 – A Solo Journey
Beam room music rundown: “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head,” Dean Martin – A little too on...
Radiation Day 11 – Country music!
The beam room really switched it up on me today, defying my expectations. Country! Here’s the rundown: “Chicken...
Graduations, Community, and Connectedness
Yesterday was Olin’s graduation. Despite a dreary, and rainy start (thanks, New England “spring”!), by the time the...
Radiation Day 10 – The sound of silence
Well, week 2 of radiation therapy is officially in the books, but there was no music in the...
Radiation Day 9
Beam room music rundown (only two songs today thanks to the Eagles’ propensity for writing looooong songs): “I...
“I don’t think I can wear an ‘F Cancer’ t-shirt.”
About a week after my surgery, I had a follow-up appointment with my neuro-oncologist. We needed to wait...
Radiation Day 8 – Tom Petty sparks San Francisco nostalgia
Your daily beam room music rundown: “Fire and Rain,” James Taylor “Black Water,” The Doobie Brothers “Mary Jane’s...
Radiation Day 7 – I could have chosen the music today…
…but I didn’t. I had to go to a different beam room than my normal location today because...
Radiation Day 6
Beam room music rundown: “The Space Between,” Dave Matthews Band (really, more DMB?) [Sadly, I forgot the other...
The Cancer Nod
Do you know what a “bro nod” is? No? Well, click away on that there link and get...
Radiation Day 5 – Week 1 is in the books (and the music wasn’t bad)!
Beam room music rundown: “Eleanor Rigby,” The Beatles “The Way You Make Me Feel,” Michael Jackson “You’re My...
Radiation Day 4 – It was a good day
Beam room music breakdown: “Ants Marching,” Dave Matthews Band (swing and a miss) [Another DMB song I couldn’t...
Radiation Day 3 – Beam room music rundown and the odd sensation of flashing lights behind my eyelids
Song 1 – “Ho Hey,” The Lumineers Song 2 – “Yellow,” Coldplay Song 3 – “Stand By Me,”...
Radiation Day 2, Part 2 – In which the music in the beam room makes me feel old
When I was back home for the holidays this past winter, an old friend of mine remarked how...
Radiation Day 2, Part 1 – “The Man in the Plastic Mask”
Yesterday I alluded to a sweet, custom-made plastic mask that attaches to the table of the external beam...
Radiation Day 1
Well, well, well, the first day of radiation and (bonus!) half-dose chemotherapy has arrived. There’s a strict schedule...
A baseline for my brain
Today was a day of milestones (and mile-markers, I suppose). This morning I had a neuropsychological assessment to...
When your body betrays you (or starting my battle with brain cancer)
Note to the reader: This post is a bit of a departure from previous writing I’ve done here...
Digital Joinery, Part 2 – The Board Corner Joint
In the post, Digital Joinery Design Automation, I introduced a project I’m working on to implement all 50...
Digital Joinery, Part 1 – “Frame Corner Joint”
In my last post, “Digital Joinery Design Automation,” I wrote about a project I planned to undertake to...
Digital Joinery Design Automation
In past posts, I’ve written a little bit about my experience taking a 12-week intensive course in furniture...
The role of “craftsmanship” in engineering education
For a while now, I’ve been thinking a lot about craft as it relates to engineering education. “What...
Craft and computers
You start by sketching, then you do a drawing, then you make a model, and then you go...
The antithesis of multitasking
I’ve just completed my first week of the 12-week furniture intensive course at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship...
Cloud-enabled Time-Lapse Video – Part II
In Cloud-enabled Time-Lapse Video Part I, I walked through setting up a Raspberry Pi with a camera and...
Cloud-enabled Time-Lapse Video – Part I
A major theme of the library reinvention project is documentation. Documentation can serve many critical purposes including storytelling,...
Pivots: A Scrum pattern for design projects
I'm calling the pattern "Pivots," but it's based on an existing pattern called the "Interrupt Pattern" devised by Jeff...
Design Thinking + Scrum = ?
At Olin, design (and design thinking) is one lens through which we view engineering. If you'll allow me...
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