My name is Eric Barker and I am a recent graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. I provide web design and computer consulting, tutoring, and troubleshooting to residents of western Pennsylvania. Although my work as a computer consultant causes me to travel during the week, I can provide technical support to clients and friends in Indiana County, Pittsburgh, and beyond.
Sometimes a beginner has difficulty learning computer skills in a non-personal classroom environment, because the instructor sets his or her own pace. Sometimes it's not convenient to disconnect your entire computer and haul it in to an expensive repair shop when there's a problem. Sometimes it's difficult to find someone to design a website to suit your personal needs at a reasonable price. That's where I step in to provide solutions, either remotely or at your home in a relaxed, personal environment. Please contact me with any questions or to discover if I can help you.
IndianaVIE. Indiana Voter Initiative and Education, my latest project. An organization to register people to vote in the upcoming election.
Citizens Against Terror. I managed the development of this site to empower citizens against terrorism. Interactive functionality produced by someone who I hired.
Pittsburgh GCM's. This is a site that I constructed for the Greater Pittsburgh Chapter of Geriatric Care Managers.
Triad USA, Inc. I built this site for a benefits plan consulting film in downtown Pittsburgh.
Maize Photography, a well-known photography studio in Indiana, Pennsylvania. I've designed, created, and maintained this comprehensive website for the past three years.
Eric's work on our website is outstanding. As a photographer, I am fairly fussy about how the site looks. Eric has the technical competence to complete the practical parts of my design ideas as well as the communications skills to explain the limitations of HTML in normal English. He consistently suggests reasonable alternatives, and shows examples of them. Over the past two years he has learned my preferences, and adapted his designs and updates to them, while retaining the initiative to strongly recommend features he believes important. Eric also has the confidence to admit when he does not know something and then find the answer. The feedback on maizephotography.com has been excellent from customers, vendors and other photographers. The site has helped us communicate visually with customers very effectively. If I were doing it over, I would hire him again.
Over the past three years Eric has been very helpful in developing my computer skills which were non-existing at one point. Eric is a skillful and patient teacher. He doesn't seem to mind to go over a problem again and again until I finally get it. I highly recommend Eric as a private teacher.
My admittance essay for Carnegie Mellon University
The field of technology and computers is a rapidly growing sector of the job market, and one in which I am highly interested. In fact, the occupation of systems analyst is projected to be the number one growing occupation through the year 2005. I enjoy working with computers, and many of my current activities reflect this.
There are many achievements that are important to me that cannot be fully expressed by my major extra-curricular activities and long-term work experience. Many of these achievements center around my career ambition, to be a systems analyst. I enjoy tutoring individuals and troubleshooting computer problems for local residents. The satisfaction of solving a problem and helping someone often overshadows the money I get paid for doing so. I have created a website for two area businesses which are currently online; one for a photography studio and one for a geriatric care manager. When unfortunate circumstances arose and the teachers at my school district went on strike, I created a "strike page," which landed my picture on the front page of the paper and "filled a need in the community," according to Indiana County Chamber of Commerce President Dana Henry. The page generated over 900 hits and was complete with streaming audio news releases, scans of newspaper clippings, student quotes, and a chatroom. My computer expertise is also well known at my current school, Homer-Center High School. I received the Computer Maintenance Award the only two years it was offered at an academic awards assembly. One of the proudest moments of my high school career came when the Vice-Principal of Homer-Center requested me out of class to fix the school's ailing computer network. I have also served on the Homer-Center Strategic Planning Technology Committee since seventh grade, which has determined the direction of the district's implementation and purchase of technology over the past five years. I also regularly attend the Indiana County PC Users Group and am a member of the Indiana County Technology Consortium. A volunteer computer science mentorship at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a three-credit college course, Fundamentals of Computer Science, taken in the summer of 1997 have enhanced my technology education. I am continually searching for opportunities to raise capital while enhancing my knowledge of computers.
About me, the services I provide
ebarker@cmu.edu
