Welcome! I’m Chad Patten, and this is my personal website, now in its seventh or eighth incarnation (I’ve lost track).

I live in Aurora, Colorado with my wife and two daughters in a townhome just outside the city limits.

I work as a Principal Software Engineer for Stratagem Group. I’ve been there since 2016. Previously, I spent 13 years at Raytheon, after a short stint out of college at Quark.

I earned my bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma is in Computer Engineering. I graduated cum laude in May 2000.

I spend quite a bit of my free time with Mischief Managed Entertainment, which is the non-profit theatrical company behind Avistrum Academy of Sorcery. It’s not really what it sounds like – it’s really an interactive experience for children and adults alike which is set in a fictional school of wizardry like Hogwarts of the Harry Potter books. In addition to playing the character of Professor Polonius Aberfoyle, I am the Executive Producer of the company.

I also do some acting, singing, and dancing with other companies in Denver, although things have been a bit slow sine before the pandemic. That sort of happens when you hit your mid-40s. You’re too old to be the “young man” parts, but not old enough yet to be convincing as the dad to adult children.

I love sports, movies, music, and politics. I am an ardent supporter of Free Software (also known as Software Libré). Ever since George W. Bush’s misbegotten presidency, and especially with the rise of the evil Donald Trump, I’ve identified strongly as a Democrat. The one area in which both parties are very wrong is in copyright and patent law. If there is one issue where I’m more of a Libertarian, it’s that. I would recommend everyone subscribe to the Electronic Frontier Foundation‘s newsletters and get active: the erosion of the public’s rights in copyright and patents is eating away at the economic, scientific, literary, and democratic foundations of America.

Favorites

Something I’ve always liked to do on this page is list my favorite sports teams, movies, TV shows, and bands:

Movies

• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
• The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
• The Princess Bride
• The Star Wars Trilogy (not so much the prequels)
• Grosse Pointe Blank
• The Harry Potter films
• The Ocean’s Eleven movies

TV Shows

• The Mandalorian
• The Flash
• The Good Place
• The West Wing

Sports Teams

• Oklahoma Sooners (obviously)
• Colorado Avalanche
• Colorado Rapids
• Arsenal FC
• Denver Nuggets
• Denver Broncos
• Colorado Rockies
• Minnesota Twins

Bands/Singers

• They Might Be Giants
• Barenaked Ladies
• Cake
• U2
• Sheryl Crow
• Lisa Loeb
• Dixie Chicks
• Shania Twain
• Pete Yorn
• Ben Folds
• Queen
• Franz Ferdinand

Some Other Facts About Me

• The Oxford Comma is the correct way; all other ways are wrong.
• I have a deep and abiding love for The Flash.