ON THE COVER

It reads like a book, not a website.

(the above title, that is, not the entire website). Afterall, this website may very well likely BE my book. I struggled with the design of this “cover” for a while. Landscape photos that I took? Nice, but not indicative of a “person site” unless you’re Ansel Adams. Revolving images of me in my varying pursuits in life? Sure, now it’s indicative of a personal site, but also is just so gawd damn vain. Having a website and domain at tommyschaeffer.com is already vain enough. So I chose this array of inspiring souls to be your backdrop.

Why I chose this lot of incredible people.

Why them, you ask? Every one of these incredible humans were experts in their field and masters of their craft. Each of them inspired me and moved me on multiple levels within each of the disciplines over which they reign. All of them left this world far too soon. I chose each person not because I aspire to be or be like any one of them, but because they–both individually and collectively–inspire me to be and become uniquely me.

Click the copyright info in the corner.

Learn more not only about the person behind the image, but also the artist behind the lens who created the image itself.

A SHORT AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Hiya!

I am an engineer, actor, sound designer, sailor, cook and gardener.
*some more than others, so your mileage may vary here.

I graduated from Lehigh University with degrees in both Mechanical Engineering and Theatrical Production & Design.

In addition to that formal education, I have also studied music composition, film production, acting (Meisner method), improvisation (longform), web application development, digital marketing, and search engine optimization (SEO).

In 1995, I started my career as an aerospace engineer. Each role demanded more and more software & systems expertise until I eventually evolved fully into software development. I have been working as a software engineer since 1999. I added audio engineering in 2007 and since then have held several roles in on-location audio recording, post-production studio mixing/mastering, original music composition and live performance mixing.

This is the first time I have re-written my bio in the first person. A fascinating thing stood out to me during this process: It is much easier to list your accomplishments in the third person! Upon switch to this first person view, I wanted to cut half of it out because it sounded like an arrogant a-hole speaking, haha. This site is going to be an exercise for me!

See more about my software and audio engineering company, Polymathus, LLC. here.
See more about my latest nonprofit pursuit, Sailing for Good, Inc. here.

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Tommy Schaeffer

Engineer. Artist. Sailor. Cook. Bottle Washer.

Hiya! I’m Tommy. I graduated from Lehigh University with degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Theatrical Production & Design. I began my career in aerospace engineering in 1995.

I soon evolved into a software engineer and have been working as a developer since 1999.

I have been working as an audio engineer since 2007 and have experience in location audio, post-production studio mixing/mastering, original music composition and live performance mixing.