Jordan Perr

Click here to download a PDF version of my resumé.

HIGH SCHOOL

•Stuyvesant High School class of 2010. GPA 3.5, SAT 2230

ACADEMIC INTERESTS

•computer science, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, physics, literature and writing, business and economics.

RELEVANT HIGH SCHOOL STUDIES

•AP computer science, AP calculus (Stanford EPGY and In-School), systems level programming, neurobiology

(College level), creative nonfiction writing workshop

SKILLSET AND KNOWLEDGE

• Computer Programming

- Languages: C, C++, Wiring, Assembly, Java, Processing, Ruby, Python, JavaScript

- Environments: Mac/Linux/UNIX, AVR style microprocessors (Arduino), PIC-18 microprocessors

- Frameworks: Ruby on Rails, Django, jQuery, WPILib and National Instruments Image Processing Library

• Computer Systems Administration

- Familliar with most hardware found on modern day PCs and Macs

- Mac/Linux servers, have administrated servers in secure data centers

• Artistic and Photography

- Knowledge in both Digital and Film photography

- Parson’s School of Design summer program in New York

• Philisophic and Literary

- Expanding recognition and appreciation for western philosophy

- Creative and Analytic writing skills (from poetry to scientiffic papers)

SCHOOL CLUBS AND TEAMS

•FIRST Robotics, team 694 (2006-2008) – Stuyvesant High School

2008-2009: President of programming

2006-2008: programmer, web designer, electrical engineer

-Conceived of and coded the robots for various functions

-Lead a team of 5 coders

-Travel to matches, trouble shoot coding issues

-Responsible for the redesign of the Team 694 website

-Mentored middle school robotics teams by refereeing at matches

•FIRST Vex Robotics (2006-2008) – Stuyvesant High School

2007-2008: President

-Lead a team of over 30 members

-Raised money via book sales, candy selling, and grant applications

-Organized the efforts of our largest and most successful year, completing two full robots for competition

2006-2007: Member, programming specialist, leader

•Trinity Robotics and Electronics (2008-present)

2008-2010: Founder and President

-Designed and built problem-solving robots for international competition

-Organized and lead a team of 20 students and 4 teachers

-Pioneered a new “project oriented” curriculum for educating new members

VOLUNTEERING AND INTERNSHIPS (UNPAID)

•INFO-EX (2009), New York, NY

-Intern with the IT group to create a new infrastructure for business information trading

-Lead part of the web infrastructure efforts, Discussed new ideas and directions at board meetings

-Worked primarily with Ruby on Rails, Java, Apache Solr, AJAX Interface, and Linux

•FUNNY GARBAGE (2008-2009), New York, NY

-Intern with interface and backend programmers

-Worked commercially on Girlscouts.org, Colbertnation.com, and flash games for Pbskids.org

-Lead my own project exploring new browser based 3d rendering engines such as Unity3d. Created a robot simulation game to demonstrate its power and test code written for our FRC ROBOTICS team.

•Summer 2005-present: Interpreter for Overlook Mountain hiking group, Woodstock, NY

-Volunteer as a “Fire Tower Steward” on weekends.

-Help maintain the beauty and prestine nature in the Catskill State Park

-Interpret the view for visitors

-Lead group hikes to the fire tower. Ensure safety.

WORK (PAID)

•2009 Freelance photography: Photos used on two book covers for Simon and Schuster.

•2005-2009 Freelance website designer: pattisilverstein.com, citron-guitars.com, janetperr.com, hiphopfordogs.com, and yiddishfordogs.com

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

•2009-2010 INTEL SCIENCE COMPETITION (RESULTS PENDING)

-Studied neural networks created by natural selection of artificial agents via simulated evolution.

-Created my own algorithm for calculating the “synergy” a neural network contains.

-Performed experiments to gain a better understanding of how certain metrics of neural networks change as agents evolve.

-Worked closely with Virgil Griffith (of Caltech University) and Larry Yaeger (of Indiana University) who are both prevalant experts in this area.

-Wrote and submitted “INSERT TITLE HERE” to Intel Science Talent Search, Siemens Competition, and NYSCEF (part of ISEF)

•Summer 2009 OUTWARD BOUND

-Two week wilderness backpacking expedition in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

-The physical and mental exhaustion we faced could not be described in sentences.

Research Statement

Everyone seems to be approaching cogsci from two distinct perspectives: top down (introspect, philosophy) and bottom up (biology, external observation). I think it’s fascinating to note that evolving artificial systems with the intent of deciphering their behavior and analyzing their structure bridges the two approaches. Given the ability to control the complexity of the experimental machine we can more easily observe both large-scale behavior and low level processes. Evolving intelligence in simulation gives the human experimenter god-like power over the developing agents. By placing ourselves in this position, we can control every aspect of the simulation whose analog in reality may be considered absurd. This intrigues me to no end, and is why I am spending so much time studying and performing research in this field.

Intel STS 2010 Participant

I participated in the 2010 Intel Science Talent Search with the attached research report on Integrated Information in evolved neural networks. I worked closely with Virgil Griffith (Caltech University) and Larry Yaeger (Indiana University). I employed the Polyworld neural network evolution environment and the Consciousness integrated information calculator.

Download PDF (500k)

Results from Integrated Information experiments. The data set includes anatomical neural network sampled from 5,202 Polyworldians, at death, from three genetically independent simulations. Each data point represents a 200 time step bin size. *First sample for which p < 0.01

View the full set: Arty on Flickr.

Videos ‘n stuff…

Hover over the Photography tab above to view more galleries.

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I am a senior at Stuyvesant high school in New York City and will be attending The Cooper Union this fall. I am involved in many technical and creative projects both inside and outside of school. I plan to maintain this blog as an unofficial resumé of my work. A Blogumé, if you will. There’s also an old-fashioned resumé for you fuddy-duddy types.

This Website:

The backbone of this website is the blog. You can browse all of my blog posts by hitting the Blog tab at the top of this page or by using the sidebar to navigate directly to posts that interest you. I sort posts into two categories: “left-brain” and “right-brain.” All posts are represented between the two. Tags are yet another way to filter posts on this site, so click on one that sparks your interest!

There are a few portfolio style pages accessible only from the tabs above. Check out my Photography for example! I will attempt to update the portfolio as often as possible, but the blog will always be a more accurate reflection of who I am.

Though my old website is no longer useful, I could not bring myself to delete it. I wrote it from scratch (PHP) back when I was 15. Some things are simply hard to part ways with! Check it out!