I’m Eric Brown – engineer, teacher, husband, father, rotarian, sailor and runner. On this site you can find information about my classes, my blog, and a copy of my resume.

A brief bio

As of August 2023, I am a teacher at the San Lorenzo Valley High School. Prior to that I worked as an engineer at Khan Academy, Apple, Adobe, Sony, Kodak, and a string of smaller companies, startups and non-profits. I’ve also led programs encouraging youth leadership and character development in San Lorenzo Valley.

I received my Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Rochester. And I’ve run marathons and raced sailboats for most of my life.

Community

San Lorenzo Valley High School and Middle School
SLV Rotary, “Service above self”
Santa Cruz Lions, “We serve”
Scouts Troop 604 and Santa Cruz Sea Scouts, “Do A Good Turn Daily” / “Be Prepared”
Maker’s Night / CoderDojo: 1st Tuesday Evenings 🌙




In sailing, “port tack” refers to the orientation of a sailboat relative to the wind. When a boat is on a port tack, the wind is coming from the port side (left side) of the boat. In practical terms, when a boat is on a port tack, the wind is hitting the port side of the sails, and the sails are typically trimmed (adjusted) to allow the boat to sail in the desired direction. The opposite of a port tack is a “starboard tack,” where the wind is coming from the starboard side (right side) of the boat. Understanding the tack of a sailboat is crucial for determining right-of-way and avoiding collisions, as the rules of sailing are that the sailboat on a starboard tack has rights over one on a port tack. (starboardtack.com was taken when I was looking for a domain name two decades ago. Both my wife and I are left handed and port is easier to spell than starboard, so “now you know” why my site is named porttack.com!)