06 Aug Neil McCurdy, PhD

Hi! I am the principal of The School for Entrepreneurship & Technology. This is my 14th year teaching, my 10th year as an administrator, and my 5th year as the Principal of SET High. I have been thinking about education reform for a long time and it was just as I started to formalize my ideas for what an ideal school would look like that I discovered that there were others who shared my same vision. I joined the SET team just as the charter was being approved in June of 2010.

I received a Bachelor’s degree in computer science from UCSD in 1994, worked as a computer programmer and division head at Infotech Systems Management until 2001, and then returned to UCSD to join the doctoral program in the Computer Science Department, where I studied Ubiquitous Computing with my advisor, Bill Griswold. I was awarded a Ph.D. in 2008 for my research in Ubiquitous Video which culminated in the creation of an application called RealityFlythrough that allows people to use a video-game-like immersive interface to explore the world live and in real-time.

I began my teaching career at High Tech High where I learned not only how to make my classes fun, but relevant as well. I have fond memories of my time at High Tech High and miss my students and colleagues dearly.

I first met my wife in high school in New Delhi, India. We re-met five years later here in the U.S., married, and now have three adorable kids. Collette is almost 17, Ian is 14, and Annalise is 11. Ask me about my kids. I can talk about them incessantly.

I have a ton of interests outside of education, computers and my family. My wife and I love to travel and go on frequent long camping trips in our pop-up trailer. I love playing sports and now satisfy that passion by coaching my kids’ soccer teams. I also love to do construction and remodeling projects on our house. Above all, I love learning, discovery, and inquiry, and I love infecting my students with this same bug.