Benjamin Wheeler

Background

About Benjamin Wheeler

I’m a computer programmer, technology teacher, and startup veteran in Boston, MA. I work as a Senior Software Engineer at Scratch ( scratch.mit.edu ), the leading online community and platform for kids to creatively express themselves using code, graphics, and sound. I’ve consulted as an engineer for many clients, including Twitter. From 2016-2018, I worked with the New York City Department of Education to provide a series of professional development courses, with in-class follow-up coaching, for 150 teachers. I was co-lead author of one of the NYC DoE's first citywide computer science curricula, which has been used in over 50 schools with thousands of students. I’ve taught people to code through Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science (award for teaching excellence), Railsbridge, ScriptEd, CoderDojo, and the ACM. I’ve served as Developer in Residence at the Startup Institute, guiding adult computer science learners, and as an advisor to the The Brooklyn STEAM Center, an innovative technical high school program colocated in the Brooklyn Navy Yards. From 2015-2018, I was the director of Ada & Leo ( adaandleo.com ), a Brooklyn-based creative technology afterschool and in-school program for kids ages 5-10. My work has been published in The Best of Make Magazine. I spent 6 years as an algorithm developer at high-frequency trading firm Hudson River Trading, helping grow it from 10 employees into one of the top 10 firms for market trade volume in the world. I also started up The Interactive Consortium with Morgan Spurlock, where I developed the technology behind the first internet-based video series that made the jump to MTV. I graduated from Columbia University with a major in computer science, and received a master’s degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education in learning design, innovation, and technology.