Who are you, and what do you do? What do you like to do outside of work?

I’m Dave, and I do Dave Things. During the day, I’m a computational scientist working with some of the world’s fastest supercomputers. In my spare time, I like to design furniture and miscellaneous projects for my woodworking and 3D-printing hobbies.

When I need a break from the screens, I like to go on long bicycle rides through the New Mexico countryside or traveling the world with my wife. I enjoy taking lots of pictures of just about every subject.

What hardware do you use?

For my employer and most of my hobby work, I use MacBook Pros with corresponding Apple displays. I also have a frequently used Windows 10 box, since my CNC design software doesn’t exist for MacOS just yet.

I use a Wacom tablet for basic drawing and sketching, though a lot of that has been moved to my iPad Pro over the past few years.

My major build tools are an X-Smart 3D printer, a Shaper Origin handheld CNC router, and—through a local maker space—a four-foot-by-eight-foot ShopBot CNC router.

I use a motorized standing desk that holds all three screens just where I need them. This was a custom desk that I built during the pandemic, when work-from-home looked like it was going to be a full-time gig for the foreseeable future. It still is.

I keep all of this fueled with a Gaggia Brera espresso machine (for me) and a 5.2 kW solar array for the house and office.

And what software?

For work, I only need my employer’s VPN and multiple terminal windows provided from MacOS. There’s not a lot of glamorous-looking software to show off what scientific/math code looks like.

For my hobby work, I use Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo for the bulk of my photography work and DaVinci Resolve for video editing. I use Trimble’s SketchUp for 3D furniture and object design and Vectric’s VCarve for CNC design work.

What’s your keyboard setup like? Do you use a custom layout or custom keycaps?

I have a Moonlander keyboard and a Logitech upright ergonomic mouse that I use to control all three systems. This is done using Synergy’s awesome device-sharing software. I have been studying French for a few years and recently started studying Spanish. I signed up with Duolingo for their language lessons and I wanted a keyboard layout that allowed me to type accented foreign characters easily, so I created a custom layout for the Moonlander. It is simply named “Duolingo.”

What would be your dream setup?

My ideal setup would have wall-mounted displays for the Windows system and my work MacBook and a wide, curved monitor for my design work. I would also like power outlets and charge ports on the surface of the desk, something I will add eventually. I also need more space in my office for our two huskies, four pugs, and an ornery chihuahua mix.