Staff

I love to program, and I love teaching. After 7 years as a Bioinformatics Scientist at a biotech in San Diego, California, I’m excited to be here at BYU. I love this school and I believe strongly in its mission. My wife and I have three young children, and my family is a delight in my life. Stop by my office and say hi!

I am excited to help you get started in the fascinating and extremely useful world of computing! I love using computers to solve problems and have been doing that for more than four decades. I have professional experience in software engineering, technical program management, and technical product management for some very well-known companies. Currently, I work in industry in data science engineering. I am a computational linguist and teach in both the Computer Science and Linguistics departments at BYU. My wife and I have four sons (one who is currently studying CS here) and we all love the outdoors. Besides my family, among my favorite things are scuba diving, hiking/exploring, photography, and gardening.

I love watching students learn how to program and see the amazing things they can do. I’ve been teaching introductory programming here for 5 years. I have 3 beautiful daughters, 2 of whom are students at BYU. I enjoy being with my family, being outside, reading, and cooking new recipes.

I love BYU and I am excited to teach CS110. I got a BS at BYU in physics and I was a TA in several CS courses. Those were the days of Fortran and COBOL. I did a PhD in biophysics and medical informatics. I did extensive programming during graduate school. After graduate school, I went to medical school and practiced anatomic and clinical pathology at Intermountain Health. I selected and managed the laboratory information system in addition to doing some application programming. I am looking for toward helping you develop a love for computers and especially programing. With the skill of programming, you are not locked into the App store. You can write your own programs to solve problems.

Hello! I’m excited to teach you how to program! I truly believe anyone can succeed in this class if you’re willing to practice regularly. There is no such thing as a “coding gene”. My research area is usable security and privacy, which focuses on people and designing technology that fits their needs. My hobbies include reading, hiking, genealogy, and landscape photography. You can learn more about me at zappala.byu.edu.

I am passionate about making programming accessible to everyone - I started college as an English major but stumbled upon an intro to computer science class and have never looked back. I run the Social Technology and Privacy Lab researching how to support social connection and personal well-being by looking at ethics in technology design, particularly for vulnerable populations.

Hi! I’m excited for this semester of CS 110! I did my undergraduate degree here at BYU in the computer science department and I am now doing my PhD here as well. I work in the Social Technology and Privacy Lab led by Dr Page and my research examines ways to better support vulnerable populations on social media and AI-based online features.

Hey Everyone! My name is Alessandro, I come from Guatemala and I am studying Computer Science: Machine Learning. I enjoy playing soccer or video games. I speak Spanish and I am currently learning French. I am excited to help you with any questions you have. See you!!

Yo. I’m Andy Mam. I grew up here in Utah, and I’m a sophomore (I think?) here at BYU. I’m a CS software engineering major. I be gaming and chilling in my free time. I’m excited to work with you guys and learn with you 💯💯💯💯

Hey! I’m Christian from Fairfax, Virginia. I’m a Neuroscience major, but I loved this class, and love what I’ve seen of CS so far. When I’m not at school or working I try to get some reading, writing, and cooking time in to keep me from burning out. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need help!

Hey, everyone! My name is Eliza, and I’m a sophomore from Orem, Utah. I love playing guitar and banjo, hiking, drawing, reading, and anything to do with penguins. I had a lot of fun taking CS 110 last year, and I’m excited to help you have a wonderful experience in the class too! ps. you are amazing:)

Hello everyone! My name is Jacob and I’m a sophomore from Holladay, Utah. I’m studying computer science and doing a Spanish minor. Some of my favorite things to do are frisbee golf, bowling, skiing and playing kendama. CS 110 was such a great class. I loved the wordle project and the way the class was structured. I’m excited to work with you all this semester!

Hello everyone! My name is Jarir and I am from Syria! My first language is Arabic, and I really enjoy lifting and soccer. This is my sophomore year and I am majoring in computer science. I am very excited to work with you all!

Hey everyone! I’m from Chewelah, Washington. I am majoring in Computer Science with a Business minor. I absolutely love the outdoors and spending time with my friends! I am excited to get to know you all this semester!

Hey everyone! My name is Lacy Miller. I am studying computer science with an emphasis in software engineering. I love playing the piano, singing, and running! CS110 is one of my favorite classes it can be really fun and gives you a great foundation into computer science! I am excited to get to know all of you this semester and I hope we can help you love this class too!

Hey! My name is Laurel, and I am a sophmore from Minnesota. I am majoring in computer science and minoring in portuguese teaching. CS 110 is the class that helped me decide to major in computer science because I just loved it so much, so I hope you love it too! I served my mission in the Brazil, Porto Alegre south mission. I love to read, and go camping, and I’m so excited for this semester 🙂

My name is Libby, I’m a sophomore in the AMCE program with an emphasis in CS. I’m from Boise, Idaho and I live on a llama farm. I love music, dance, hiking, biking, and ASL. I took CS110 last Winter and loved it! I loved the structure and flow of this class, it is supremely organized. I’m excited to help out!

¡Hola! This is Mailen Cruz. I’m a sophomore from Querétaro, México. I am part of BYU Animation and so excited to work with you! I love videogames and reading, also going to the gym! I loved CS110, it gave me the tools to start exploring the power of art and science inside Autodesk Maya, if you want to know more please reach out! And remember my name, you might see it in the credit list of your next favorite videogames!

Hey everybody, my name is Mason Kenney. I am majoring in Mechanical Engineering and I have a minor in Mathematics. I love to dance, bowl, cook, and enjoy the outdoors. I had a ton of fun taking CS 110 that I wanted to become a TA for the class! I can’t wait to get to know you all and help you have as much fun in this class as I did!

Hi! im Porter Dickinson, im a senior in the CS program here and have been a TA for the class 2 semsters. I took the class when I decided to switch from a mechanical engineering major and really enjoyed it. just some background on me, I grew up in Colorado, on my mission I visa waited in the Lubbock TX mission then served in the India Bengaluru mission, most of my personality comes down to a nerd who likes the gym so that’s pretty much me.f

Hey y’all! My name is Salma, and I’m majoring in Computer Engineering. I’m a freshman from Egypt! I LOVE listening to music, annoying my friends, and have an (unhealthy) obsession with Modern Family! I really enjoyed CS 110 and had a lot of fun in the class! I’m excited to pass that energy on to all of you and help out as much as I can!

Hey! My name is Skyler and I am a Computer Science major. Some of my favorite things I like to do include listening to music, playing sports (especially Soccer), learning about Jesus, and helping students pass CS 110 😉 But in all seriousness I love CS 110 because this class was what got me excited to major in CS. It’s a great class and I look forward to working with you all this semester!

Hey everyone! My name is Tyler and I’m a Computer Science major (with probably an emphasis on software engineering in the future). I love to hang out with friends, go to the beach (when I’m at home) and play games. My favorite part of taking CS 110 was learning how to code in Python, and hope to help you all have a great experience too!

Hi! My name is Elena Evans and I am from Tennessee. I’m a sophomore in Mechanical Engineering and am trying to squeeze in a CS minor. I love coding and am excited to share that love with yall!