Sam joined Mohawk in the fall of 2016, bringing with him twenty years of experience teaching computer science, mathematics, cognitive science, and philosophy at the university, college, and high school levels. In 2011, he received a Certificate of Achievement from the Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence for his teaching at Ursula Franklin Academy in Toronto. He is regularly asked to present at professional development conferences and workshops for high school computer science teachers.
Sam holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computing and Information Science from Queen's University, a Master of Computer Science from the University of Ottawa, a PhD in cognitive science from Carleton University, and a Bachelor of Education degree from OISE. He also spent two years as a post-doctoral fellow in the Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology program at Washington University in St. Louis. He has published original research in machine learning, natural language processing, philosophy, and cognitive science.
Sam also worked at Bell Northern Research / Nortel for several years in the 90's and moonlighted for Image-Line during grad school, writing manuals and demo tracks for their popular FL Studio music creation tool.