About Me

Kevin McQuown

About Kevin

I graduated from IIT with a B.S. in Computer Science with a Digital Electronics focus. After graduation, I was hired by General Dynamics (now Lockheed) where I spent several years working on embedded avionics development for special projects as the chief architect. I spent many years working for Rational Software as an embedded software architecture consultant, eventually running their professional services organization, worldwide.

I have been developing iOS mobile apps ever since there was the first iOS SDK. I have taught iOS for several years and have developed a high-school curriculum that is now deployed at over 9 high-schools throughout the Chicago metropolitan area as well as an App Dev with Swift Course for Chicago Public Schools.

I was the CTO and co-founder of Glance Displays Inc. I founded Windy City Lab in 2014 to provide consulting and education in the IoT space which is what I am currently doing full-time.

My passion is applying my skills across a broad spectrum of disciplines to build a physical product. This includes embedded development in C/ C++, mobile development in Swift, cloud development in Node, schematic and PCB design, and 3-D CAD design. I current have two on-line Masterclasses, both of which I teach in the summer, in person at Northwestern as part of their Center For Talent Development (CTD). If your interested in learning more about these course you can check out the links here:

I also love to mentor and teach. I regularly do workshops on IoT and also teach a 3-week IoT Engineering class to gifted high-schoolers at Northwestern University each summer.

Some fun facts (in no particular order):

• I was born and raised in Chicago. It has come a long way since I was a kid.
• I got my private pilot’s license in 1983. No, I’m not still current but I still have my log book.
• I’m a dog lover and have two boxers, currently, Iggy and Ogden.
• I love to play piano and no, I’m not very good.
• I built my own astrophotography observatory in the countryside of Santa Rosa, CA. My focus was on deep-sky photography, ie. galaxies and nebulae rather than planetary.
• I’m the photographer in the family. I shoot with a Sony A7SII mirrorless and love it.
• I’m a Trekkie. I really don’t see what all the fuss is about Star Wars. Sorry.
• I was very lucky that I became intrigued with computers at a very young age and pursued it both in high-school, college and throughout my career. My first computer was the Apple-II Plus computer. Maybe I’ll buy one on E-bay someday and restore.
• I’m a big Carl Sagan fan. Watched his original Cosmos series as a kid and was completely enthralled.
• I’m also a big Stephen Covey fan. His 7-habits were right-on. I especially love the “Big Rock” analogy.