I've been a creative and technology professional since the mid 90's, working in academic, corporate, and non-profit settings, and while my role now as an imām might seem like a 180º pivot from technology that couldn't be farther from the truth.
My years in IT and the visual arts have served me well and continue to serve me in my role as Imām and Religious Director at Middle Ground. I use technology every day;
- a Hermes agent for sending emails via Mailchimp's API;
- Claude tapping into Blackmagic Design's DaVinci Resolve to do rough cuts of videos of my classes and khuṭbahs;
- a Python-based flashcard generator for my Arabic class, assisting students in vocabulary retention;
- a social media card generator using Ionic's framework to make graphics for YouTube, Instagram, Substack and more, that all adhere to our branding.
So I'll be dropping some posts and thoughts about [tech] projects I'm working on as well as some thoughts on technology in general. I hope you'll enjoy stopping by.
Current Stack & Tech I'm Rocking
Hardware
IT Skills
Digital Media Skills
Professional Experience
IT & Web Consultancy
Since 2000 I have worked as a web development consultant for the following clients: University of Southern California, Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Minnesota Press, Zaytuna College, University of Massachusetts Lowell, SLAM Magazine, Isthmus Magazine and Ibanez Guitars amongst others.
2000 – Present
Job Skills
University of Pennsylvania School of Design
Instructional Technology
The School of Design is a large, multi-use environment including undergraduate and graduate students, with a student population of over 2,000. My day-to-day operations include managing all hardware and software for public labs, image creation and deployment, printing, networking and helpdesk support. I manage over 20 employees who work across multiple locations on campus. Additionally, I maintain the school's website and social media outlets for communicating with the student body.
Throughout the year I conduct workshops, training sessions and webinars for incoming students, faculty and staff.
2006 – 2014. Philadelphia, PA.
- Selected Accomplishments
- Project managed the school's transition from static HTML pages to a dynamic HTML website. This involved the hiring and managing of outside vendors.
- Revamped large-format printing and plotting by streamlining the process, print billing, and color calibration. The system is now able to accommodate students plotting on a variety of media types.
- Developed and installed a multi-media system for monitoring print jobs on large-format HD screens with real-time feed of print queues.
- Launched the school's first-ever social media campaign. Revitalized communication to the student body.
Job Skills
Moore College of Art & Design
Web Design Instructor
Founded in 1848, Moore is the first and only visual arts college for women in the United States. I created a custom certificate program in front-end web development. Students were taken through the fundamentals of HTML and CSS, with the goal in mind of training them to work as competent, entry-level web developers.
2008 – 2010. Philadelphia, PA.
- Selected Accomplishments
- Developed the first-ever web certificate program for Moore College.
- Grounded students in web fundamentals by hand-coding.
- Course capstone featured a fully-functional website based off of student's own designs.
- Provided professional support in assisting students find entry-level web development jobs.
Job Skills
Morgan Lewis & Bockius
Technical Liaison
A large, multi-national legal corporation, Morgan Lewis provides legal services to global Fortune 100/500 companies. My primary role here was to provide tech support to partners and attorneys in the Beijing, Chicago, Dubai, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Tokyo offices.
Attorneys would typically call in for remote support for advanced Microsoft Word and Excel support. Complex macros and formatting were required for a variety of legal documents. Support was provided via Citrix web client, phone, and email support. This was a fast-paced, high-intensity position which demanded very quick turnaround times and solutions.
2005 – 2006. Philadelphia, PA.
Job Skills
Edgewood College
Technical Specialist
Desktop support responsibilities for over 2,000 machines. A/V support. Website re-design for college website to support accessibility and web standards. In-class and in-person support for Mac and Windows. Primary lead on the college's switch from Classic (OS 9) to OS X.
2002 – 2004. Madison, WI.
Job Skills
Education, Certificates, and Professional Skills
- Education
- Temple University: Bachelors of English Literature, 2012.
- Certifications
- ESRI ArcGIS Desktop certification, 2014.
- Treehouse certificate in Web Development, 2014.
- Thinkful certificate in Python, 2015.
- W3C certificate in HTML5, 2015.
- Professional Skills
- Strong oral and written communication skills.
- Language skills:
- Spanish.
- Arabic.
- Japanese.
- Organized, self-motivated, punctual.