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About me

Hello! This is Jim Hart. I am self-employed, developing and hosting websites and all of the services necessary to do so.

My background

I was born in Pittsburg, Kansas, USA. My hometown is Columbus, Kansas but I only lived there the first 5 years of my life; my residence is in the country outside of Thayer, Missouri where I have lived since 1996.

Previous work

Retired in 1996 as a Navy submarine nuclear propulsion plant supervisor (specialized as an Electrical Operator). While in the Navy, I was an instructor for 3.5 years at the Naval Nuclear Power School when it was in Orlando, FL; I also instructed at the Naval Reactors Facility outside of Idaho Falls, ID.

  • The below submarine model was provided through Bentley © 2022 MAXSURF © 2022 Modeler with a Student License for educational use only.

After retiring, I taught Industrial Electricity and Electronics for 2 years at the Vo-Tech School in West Plains, MO; now the South Central Career Center.

After teaching for 2 years, I became involved with web development and internet service while working for a friend in a local ISP in Thayer, MO. In April 2001, I developed Pneumatek, Inc., a dial-up and wireless ISP in Thayer, MO; this included developing and hosting websites and all of the services necessary to do so. While in the storefront, The Tek Shop, I used to sell and service computers and all related equipment. For excitement and necessity I did the entire tower climbing/work to deploy and operate the wireless infrastructure. In 2007, I closed the storefront and decommissioned the dial-up and wireless ISP equipment.

My college major was Computer Information Systems (Obtained a Master of Science degree and Cybersecurity Graduate Certificate through MSU-Springfield).

I taught at Missouri State University - West Plains from 2007 to 2021. Accomplishments at MSU-WP: I was the Technology Department Chair; this included program coordinator of Computer Information Systems, Computer Science, and Technology departments. As the Technology Department Chair, I coordinated technology courses conducted in the Greater Ozarks Center for Advanced Technology (GOCAT) where I provided hands-on labs for advanced industrial maintenance, manufacturing, and alternative energy students; additionally, I was the academic administrator overseeing the computer graphics and programming as well as engineering technology departments. Most of my time was spent in the GOCAT, where I designed and built the GOCAT Fab Lab. After building the Fab Lab, I was required to go through the “Train the Trainer” program so I could teach others “how to make (almost) anything”. After careful consideration, I realized that in order to fully immerse myself in learning through the Fab Academy, more time was required to do so; this could only be accomplished by stepping away from MSU full-time employment.

I am now focusing on the business of Pneumatek, Inc. as well as continuing as a student with the Fab Academy in my personal Fab Lab.

My motivation

I have had the plans for a Glen-L 15’ wooden sailboat since I moved to my current residence in 1996. Life happened and the boat has not been built. The discovery of the Fab Academy and the ShopBot rekindled the motivation to build this boat.

My inspiration

As I was learning about what the Fab Academy is, I discovered Valentina Kwofie; “an eight-year-old girl in a small village in Ghana”! I found a video documenting her progress of “cobbling together a circuit board”. She was having difficulties, but refused to give up. Her parents could not convince her to stop…she persisted until she made the microcontroller board work properly. I have not been able to find the video again, but she inspired me to do whatever it takes to make a Fab Lab and be a part of this incredible network of digital fabricators. I did find an article by Apoorva Mandavilli @The New York Times; you can read all about it here: Valentina Kwofie