Overview
I am an engineer - photographer - natural builder - musician - traveler - writer - web designer -activist. Below you will find a list of my recent formative experiences, followed by my engineering career and formal education. This document is not intended to follow traditional resumé rules: it is more of a narrative biography meant to provide insight into my skills, interests, and influences. At this time I am not interested in a job inside the corporate track, but if you would like to offer a position or a partnership in which I can use my creative and technical skills to benefit the world, please contact me.
Recent Formative Experiences
Lead Intern, 2004 Natural Building Colloquium—East
May - July 2004
Bath, New York
This experience is difficult to put into words, but here goes. Along with a crew that fluctuated between 1 and 5 other volunteers, I was responsible for laying out and building the foundations for 4 demonstration buildings: one on a sloped, wooded site with 15 concrete piers (with round black locust posts and a floor deck on top); one with 10 piers on a flat, wooded site; one with 8 piers forming an octagon with a circular stemwall surrounding them on a muddy, poison ivy-surrounded site; and one with a circular, frost-protected floating slab. In addition, we were tasked with staging building materials and equipment for each building site in preparation for the week-long Colloquium. Creative problem solving, poise, jocularity, and physical strength were key as we faced mud, rain, heat, cold, illness, injury, and a terrifically rushed building schedule. Post-Colloquium activities included roofing, plastering, cobbing, and site cleanup.
Sole Proprietor, Jason Perry Design
Since January 2004
www.jperrydesign.com
I established this sole proprietorship so that I could begin selling my black & white photography and rustic woodwork independent of commission-hungry galleries. I also decided to hang out my shingle for web site design services.
Straw-Bale House Construction
June - November 2003
Forestburgh, New York
I worked with a small team to build a post and beam framed, straw bale insulated house. We used insulated concrete forms for the 4-foot frostwall. The rough-sawn pine frame is a hybrid of traditional joinery and steel fasteners. We installed a steel snap-lock roof, over a rafter and collar-tie structure. The exterior has one coat of clay plaster, and pine siding was installed after my involvement with the project. We applied clay plaster (with a gypsum finish coat) to the interior of the bale walls. I lived in a tent near the building site, composting humanure and conserving water by bucket-bathing. There is a complete set of photographs for this project.
Black Ranger, The Black Range Lodge
Fall and Winter 2002/2003
Kingston, New Mexico
I lived at the Black Range Lodge for 5 months working on various projects, my favorites being the things I made with bamboo. I also learned the basics of arc welding and backhoe driving. I mixed an incredible amount of concrete and some cement/lime stucco, and messed up my wrist working on a tractor cob woodshed. Two roofing projects forced me to overcome my fear of heights. The larger roofing project involved replacing 30,000 pounds of clay tiles with 3,000 pounds of metal panels; I made good use of my process engineering skills to streamline the daunting task of making and installing about 1400 feet of T-shaped purlins.
Artist in Residence, Inn Serendipity
Summer 2002
Browntown, Wisconsin
Inn Serendipity is an organic farm and bed & breakfast whose owners set an example of how to live sustainably. My work on the farm included revitalizing old outbuildings for new purposes using salvaged materials, creating unique furniture from otherwise unusable barn wood, applying earthen plaster on the interior of the straw-bale greenhouse, and repairing broken items retrieved from other peoples' trash. Some of my larger design/building projects were a 500-gallon, tower-mounted rainwater collection system for greenhouse irrigation, a solar shower integrated into the water tower, and a cob garden wall. Other activities: studying the writings of Paul Hawken and William McDonough, researching natural building techniques, improving my ability to play guitar and sing, and entertaining an 8 month old boy.
TV Turnoff Article
March 2002
Giving up television in March 2000 had a great positive impact on my life. An essay I wrote describing my first 2 years without TV and my subsequent departure from the corporate world was published in issue #41 of Adbusters magazine.
Backpacking Across America
Spring 2002
After leaving my corporate engineering job I traveled solo by train to New Orleans, Austin, Phoenix, and northern California. I encountered diverse people, music, food, architecture, and ecosystems, and I chronicled the journey with black & white and color photography. I visited some old friends but also made many new ones, from young Canadian travelers in New Orleans to the ancient redwoods of Humboldt County.
Straw-Bale Greenhouse
September 2001
Browntown, Wisconsin
I was invited to participate in the conversion of a 100 year old barn into a straw bale-insulated, passive and active solar-heated greenhouse at Inn Serendipity. It was there that I fell in love with natural building and the path from my cubicle job became clear.
Partnership for Cecil County
August 2001 - March 2002
Charlestown, Maryland
Northeastern Maryland is a farming area that is in danger of becoming a suburb of both Baltimore and Philadelphia, so I helped organize a non-partisan citizen group to slow rural development and encourage public participation in local politics. In addition to hosting their web site (no longer in existence), I helped craft their Statement of Principles and designed their first pamphlet. Unfortunately, the group is now defunct.
Deathbike.net
Since July 2001
I designed a web site to display my growing portfolio of photography and writing. I needed to bring back the HTML skills I learned in college, but I also picked up some new tricks using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). To make it catchy and enigmatic I named the site after a formidable city hybrid bike that I built out of parts purchased from a bicycle courier.
Turkey Adventure
April 2001
Some friends and I explored and photographed the bazaars of Istanbul, the caves of Göreme, and the ruins of Ephesus. I learned enough Turkish to get around and be friendly, and ate every type of kebab there is. Because of the people I met and the things I saw, I discovered that there is much more to life than working in an office. I was also amazed by the very effective solar water heaters that were being used in remote areas.
Photography Training
January 2001 - March 2002
North East, Maryland
I first discovered my talent in Black & White Photography 101, and continued with an independent study program under Kristi Eisenberg, Director of Visual Communications at Cecil Community College.
Upper Chesapeake Green Party
August 2000 - March 2002
Charlestown, Maryland
Rescued from political disillusionment by Ralph Nader's campaign, I co-founded and led the Upper Chesapeake local of the Maryland Green Party. We represented our region at state level party functions, registered and encouraged people to vote, and campaigned at our local polling places. Demonstrating at the Commission on Presidential Debates and at the 2000 Presidential Inauguration were highlights.
Wooden Kayak
Summer 2000
Charlestown, Maryland
When I moved to the Chesapeake I was inspired to build a beautiful 17-foot sea kayak using mahogany, epoxy, and fiberglass. Anticipation, confusion, frustration, discovery, and finally elation resulted from this project.
Engineering Career
Design Engineer, W.L. Gore & Associates
1999 - 2001
Elkton, Maryland
Combining solid-modeling software, creative problem-solving skills, and an excellent working relationship with a machinist, I designed and built elegant devices that assembled impossibly small microwave transmission connectors and cables. I channeled my growing concern for the environment to aggressively drive recycling, waste reduction, and conservation efforts, and was a radical voice as I represented my business group during ISO 14001 Environmental Management System implementation.
Design Engineer, PPC
1996 - 1999
Syracuse, New York
I designed and tested new connectors for the cable telecommunications industry, and developed them for full-scale manufacturing. By challenging this company's stodgy status quo I learned how to assert myself when I knew I was right, and to admit when I was wrong.
Design Engineer, LRC Electronics
1995 - 1996
Horseheads, New York
This is where I started collecting khakis and plaid shirts, learned to drink coffee, and earned a patent.
Formal Education
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
1991 - 1995
Troy, New York
Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering