Technical Speaker Bio
Steven Hammond is a software engineer and Ruby developer at PatientsLikeMe. PatientsLikeMe is leading the way in changing both patient care and medical research. Check it out.
As part of his work at PatientsLikeMe, Steve has contributed some code back to the Rails community. Many people are using Steve’s mysql_bigint plugin to enable large integers in MySQL tables in Rails. Steve has also posted a mock object for testing OpenID in Rails.
Prior to PatientsLikeMe, Steve was a PMI Certified Project Manager in a Fortune 500 insurance company.
Steve is also very active in his local community. He is a Solar System Ambassador for the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In this role, he volunteers his time to go to local schools, and libraries to teach people about space and space exploration. Steve is also a member of the Aldrich Astronomical Society and he tutors people on the Internet at the local library. Finally, Steve serves on the local school committee.
Astronomy Speaker Bio
Steven Hammond believes that open and free sharing of information is the real revolution of the 21st Century. Steve is a software engineer and active community volunteer. He tutors people on Internet usage at the local library and he serves on the Wachusett Regional School Committee.
A life-lover of science, Steve’s childhood interest in Astronomy was rekindled by the sight of the comet Hale-Bopp in the sky over his Chicago Apartment during many late nights with his new-born son.
Steve has built his own telescope from a piece of glass and sonotube and spent many night observeing and learning the night sky. His real passion is sharing his love of space exploration with others.
Steve is a Solar System Ambassador, a volunteer educator for NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In this role, he bring the excitement, wonder and possibilities of space and space exploration to kids and adults accross the state.
