“Our team of faculty and staff is a mix of designers, engineers, social scientists, educators, and computer scientists who all share the belief that human-centered design and innovation prepares students for the 21st century. ”
MS Design & Innovation and Computer Science
Jeremy Bank
Jeremy believes that Computer science should be about creating and affecting the world around us. As a middle school computer science teacher, Mr. Bank’s goal and mission is to provide a safe and mentally stimulating environment where students can learn how to not only understand the world but to realize change.
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Mr. Bank graduated from the University of California, San Diego, with a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering. He worked in the fields of data analysis and energy efficiency before transitioning to a career in STEM education. He has been teaching children and adults in the fields of 3D printing, computer programming and robotics for five years.
US Engineering & Computer Science Educator
Misha Kutzman
Director of Design & Innovation
Dan Lenzen
Dan Lenzen is the Director of Design & Innovation and teaches courses in the Upper and Middle Schools. His hobbies include surfing, hiking, coaching lacrosse, and data visualization.
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Before to coming to La Jolla Country Day School, Dan earned his Master of Science in Cognitive Science at the University of California, San Diego. There, he designed software and processes to study gesture and sign language with the Microsoft Kinect and taught human-centered design to undergraduates. This work built on his three years as a researcher at the University of Chicago, investigating the role of gesture in learning in middle school students. His interest in how cognition exists in our mind and bodies began when he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Colorado College. These experiences provided Mr. Lenzen with skills in design education, human psychology, research design, web design and computer programming.
LS Design & Innovation and Computer Science
Julia Noe
Lab Manager
Robin Robinson
Robin has worked at LJCDS since 2016, managing the Innovation Lab and keeping it open and accessible for users of all skill levels. She has instructed many students and faculty alike on machine safety and basics, but also works one on one for instructional deep dives.
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Robin received her Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Math at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, where she performed physics research with superconductors and coordinated the university’s science hackerspace. She worked on upgrades to undergraduate physics labs, adding computer-controlled delta bots to increase the precision and speed of data collection.
MS Innovation Educator
Bob Simon
Bob Simon is a Middle School Educator who focuses on the physical and digital tools of the Innovation Lab. He teaches three middle school electives: Intro to Innovation, Product Design, and Advanced Innovation. Mr. Simon also coaches Girls and Boys Golf teams.
Design & Innovation Founder
Matt Abbondanzio
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After 20 years working in high-tech start-ups and large CPG companies innovating technology and products, Matt Abbondanzio joined La Jolla Country Day School as the director of design and innovation to develop a world-class program for early childhood through Grade 12 education. “I find innovation and engineering absolutely thrilling. After doing it for so many years within industry, I kept asking myself, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to do this in high school?’” Following building a smaller program for the past two years in Texas, Mr. Abbondanzio built an integral division within La Jolla Country Day School. This program allows students to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive world.
Mr. Abbondanzio has worked on innovative technologies such as short-range, ground-based radar systems and E-Ink, the electrophoretic display technology used in the Amazon Kindle. He has been issued more than 30 patents and has developed a multitude of innovative products, some that have been used by U.S. Olympic athletes and others that have sold in the hundreds of millions.
MS/US Innovation Educator