About Tom Jennings (dba World Power Systems)

I make things, mostly technological, but don't hold me to that, consistency is not a human virtue. Electronics and software, cast iron and plastics, microcontrollers in vintage automobiles, faux historical machinery that could (not) have been; finely crafted, rigorously rugged, reliable, most often.

A lot of what I make now gets called "art" though that's not always how I think of it, but saying so ends a lot of questioning. I am the major repository of technical crafts, practical philsophy, and the physics of programming at the ACE (Arts Computation Engineering) program at UC Irvine, where a large part of my job is teaching and mentoring graduate students in technical arts. I recieved an MFA from this program in 2009.

A very large number of brain cells are devoted to doing strange things with old automobiles. I wring aerospace-level reliability from my ancient Ramblers, commuting 100 miles/day in objects that ought not be running at all. It helps that they were quite good things to start with, so long ago.

I do most of my work under the guise of World Power Systems, a vague entity with dubious past and an uncertain future.

I'm reasonably obsessed with the early history of electronic (notice I did not say "digital") computing, especially of the non-stored-program sort. I collect, and read, a lot of original technical and scientific material in my favorite period (more or less, 1938-1964), including little bits I've put online here and have a pretty good grasp of what Thomas Kuhn calls the 'integrity of a discarded mode of thought', at least from this peculiar period.

Contact: Tom Jennings <tomj @ wps . com>




Resume
About my work
Industry and science were a major part of my life from a very young age. I grew up in a cold-hearted rural suburb, m...
Resume of Tom Jennings
My main strength is synthesis -- problem-solving across multiple discipline boundaries. These days my main focus is my art. Teaching since...
Curriculum vitae of Tom Jennings
Works, employment, awards and honors, shows experience, and exhibitions, ......