Proudly writing his first "Hello, World!" with BASIC in the 8th grade, Derek went on to study C++ and Java in high school and wrote his first 3D video game at Columbia University. After graduating at the top of his class in Computer Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Derek traveled the length and breadth of the American continent, and he never stopped coding. From a secluded cabin in the wilds of Denali National Park where he assisted climate change researchers, to downtown Santiago where he collaborated with a team of .NET developers, Derek continued nurturing his love of the field.

Derek first bumped into Drupal during his tenure as IT Business Analyst at Georgia Tech, and the connection was undeniable. Normally a skeptic, Derek drank the Kool-Aid® straight from the fire hose and began "Drupalizing" all his client websites with Drupal 6. Now happy to be developing in Drupal 7, Derek continues the Drupal love story with Mediacurrent.