James (Jim) Frankenfield - About Me - Expertise

Expertise - Experience - Authority - Trust

When you hire or engage a tutor or teacher you should expect expertise, as well as experience, authority and trust.

I have a high level of expertise gained from my own education, my teaching experience and my industry experience.

I earned my B.Sc. degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), one of the top STEM universities in the US. Getting in is tough and getting out is even tougher. It is known to this day for it's tough grading scale. I began in Computer Science but ended up in ECSE (Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering). I have always enjoyed the mathematical challenges of systems analysis and later taught courses in this area. But by the time I graduated I had developed more interest in the physics of semiconductors - especially device physics but also process physics.

During my undergraduate years I had the opportunity to develop hands-on expertise in computer engineering by working with experts at IBM in both diagnostic microcode and logical design. After graduating I spent a summer modeling chip yields and then a semester initiating a transistor research project at RPI before moving into an industry position at Intel. At Intel I was in process engineering and honed my expertise in solving production problems. After my time at Intel I then moved to Utah to work for Morton-Thiokol where they make rocket motors, including the space shuttle boosters. In that position I investigated the automation of shuttle propellant quality control using robotics and FTIR.

Industry was not so fulfilling for me so I returned to graduate school at Utah State University to study Physics. I became interested in the physics of seasonal snow and avalanches and concentrated on that. While working at Thiokol I had accumulated credits in Mechanical Engineering (which were the only courses possible in that situation). I ultimately completed two M.Sc. degrees in Physics and Math but applied credits from Mechanical and Electrical Engineering towards these as well.

Following my graduate work I pursued a variety of interests and worked on research projects related to cloud physics, fluids in porous media, and physical oceanography.

I have been privileged to be able to share my expertise with students by teaching courses over the years. At the university level, where being an expert is expected and required, I have taught a variety of engineering, math and science courses. These range from freshman level (or below) to unique graduate level courses which I designed from scratch. I have also taught in a few high schools for short times.

In the area of snow and avalanches I have also served as an expert and consulted for construction projects in avalanche zones, developer due diligence, and insurance claims.

As you can see, I have done many things and developed a great deal of expertise in a wide variety of STEM areas. Before you decide on a tutor you should consider their level of expertise, especially in relation to their fees. If you are looking for low level homework help then expertise may not be so important and a student for $20/hour may be sufficient. On the other hand if a tutor is charging $50 or more per hour you should expect true expertise in the field they are tutoring. Be sure to ask them about their expertise and how they acquired it.

A lot of my expert background can be found on my full c.v.