The first book Mark read, other than "See Spot Run", was "Rocketship Galileo" in the 2nd grade. He was restricted from the library in the 3rd grade because it was such a wondrous place, he forgot to do his "real" homework. Things haven't changed much since.
Mark has been an Air Force officer fuzzing radars, a bouncer, a technology consultant, geek in a cube in a couple .com's, folk singer, and recently retired faculty in MIS. He has published papers and conference proceedings on Computer Security, Hacking Motivations, Geographical Information Systems, and Grizzly Bear Habitat. Academically, Mark has a BS in Computer Science from MSU, MBA from UND, MS in CS from WSU, and a PhD at the U of I focusing on Cyber Security. Mark has promised his wife he will enter a 12-step program to kick his education habit.
When he was younger, Mark competed as an IPF power lifter and was a technical rock climber. Mark's hobbies include Civil War Reenacting, Reading, Folk Guitar, and cooking gourmet food for his wife of 40 years and 3 grown offspring. Mark is also known as a gamer and author. His fifth novel, “This Fine and Pyrrhic Beauty” now out on Amazon.
Sessions in which Dr. Mark Rounds participates
- Firearms in Fiction and Gaming Red Lion Hotel Pasco, WA - 3121- Gaming/Fan Track
- 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM | 1 hour
- Many writers and game designers have only an academic knowledge of modern weapons, much of it drawn from movies and TV, which is either wrong or im...
- Panel
- Research and Writing Red Lion Hotel Pasco, WA - 3125- Writing Track
- 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM | 1 hour
- From science to history to magic, the world is full of source material for writes if you only know where to look. Our panel of writers, game design...
- Panel
- Real Steam Punk Red Lion Hotel Pasco, WA - 3123- Science/History Track
- 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM | 1 hour
- The Surprising Inventions of the Victorians. Electric elevators? Wireless phones? Computer programming? Car races? Fax machines? Electric power sta...
- Panel
- Dr. Mark Rounds Book Reading Red Lion Hotel Pasco, WA - Harvest
- 1:20 PM - 1:50 PM | 30 minutes
- Reading
- A Taste of the Civil War Red Lion Hotel Pasco, WA - Harvest
- 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM | 1 hour
- Want to write realistic prose set in the past? Time travel to the American Civil War and use all five senses to experience what life was like durin...
- Panel
- Dirigibles, Automatons, Steam trains! Red Lion Hotel Pasco, WA - 3123- Science/History Track
- 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM | 1 hour
- Dirigibles, automatons, steam trains, and what's with those giant wheels on bicycles anyway? Steampunk devices are rooted in actual science. Come a...
- Panel
- RPG GUNS, GUNS, GUNS Red Lion Hotel Pasco, WA - 3121- Gaming/Fan Track
- 5:45 PM - 6:45 PM | 1 hour
- Panel
- Roots of Steampunk Red Lion Hotel Pasco, WA - 3127- Writing Track
- 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM | 1 hour
- Steampunk is a subset of the science fiction genre that poses an alternative history where 20th century technology operates in the 19th century Vic...
- Panel
- Veterans and Speculative Fiction: a support group Red Lion Hotel Pasco, WA - 3125- Writing Track
- 8:15 PM - 9:15 PM | 1 hour
- Panel
- Privacy Law in a Cyberpunk Era Red Lion Hotel Pasco, WA - 3119- Art/Media/Wildcard
- 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM | 1 hour
- In the wake of disclosures by Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, many are left wondering whether we’re already living in a Cyberpunk Dystopia. Joi...
- Panel
- Experimental Archaeology Red Lion Hotel Pasco, WA - 3123- Science/History Track
- 12:45 PM - 1:45 PM | 1 hour
- "Experimental Archaeology" refers to hands-on attempts to re-create various aspects of the past. From building a Medieval trebuchet to test its act...
- Panel