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Tyler Menezes
Menezes speaking at CodeDay in Atlanta, 2017
Born
Toronto, Ontario[1]
EducationUniversity of Washington,[2] Y Combinator[3]
OccupationExecutive director at CodeDay[4]
Known forCodeDay
Websitetyler.vc

Tyler Menezes is a Canadian–American[5] computer programmer and businessperson. He co-founded several startups, and is currently executive director of the nonprofit organization CodeDay.

Life and career

Early life and education

Menezes was born in Toronto, Ontario, and moved to Spokane, Washington, when he was young. He has stated that his interest in technology started during a period of long social isolation while living in Spokane and being uninterested in sports like the rest of his classmates.[6] He was introduced to computer programming after moving to Redmond, Washington, when he stumbled on a book offering to teach the creation of a slot machine in Visual Basic.[6][7] Menezes has said his later interest in STEM education was a result of realizing his luck in finding that book at that particular time.[8][9]

In high school, Menezes participated in a video game programming competition organized by Microsoft,[10][11] which would later serve as the inspiration for the CodeDay program.[12]

Menezes worked on CAPTCHA research in Microsoft Research's Machine Learning and Applied Statistics department while attending the University of Washington.[2]

Career

In early 2012, he dropped out of university to create a startup focused on live video streaming, and in mid-2012 he moved to East Palo Alto, California to attend Y Combinator for it.[13][14] In 2013 the startup switched its focus to providing live video infrastructure as a service.[15]

During his time in the technology sector, Menezes was volunteering at CodeDay (then StudentRND), a not-for-profit headed by Edward Jiang which operated a 3,500 sq.ft. makerspace in Bellevue, Washington.[16] As a volunteer he helped start the CodeDay event.[17] In 2013 he left the startup to join CodeDay[18][19] and in 2014 became the executive director of CodeDay.[20] Speaking to Forbes about this career change, he stated "There was this huge inequity in Silicon Valley. People were working on big problems but they weren’t necessarily serving a lot of the U.S. population who come from marginalized, lower-income backgrounds.".[21] He was profiled during this period in the book Be a Changemaker: How to Start Something That Matters.[22][23]

Menezes has become known for eating KitKat candy bars without splitting them into pieces in all his videos[24][25] and many students have created satirical games as a result.[26]

Additionally, he is a programmer and is the author and maintainer of several open-source projects.[27]

Work in education

Menezes' work in education is focused on educational motivation. He has said he believes that creativity and excitement are important to motivate students, and that schools have ignored this when teaching STEM disciplines, resulting in inequity in the technology industry.[28][29][30]

Menezes has stated he focuses on computing as a useful way to increase equality.[8] In an interview with Tech&Learning Magazine he is quoted as saying of programming "It takes almost no resources, it creates wealth, and it’s very empowering."[31]

Recognition

Menezes was recognized in 425 Magazine's "30 Under 30" in 2015,[32] as a Game Changer and Most Inspiring in EdTech by Tech&Learning Magazine,[33] and by Forbes Magazine as a top "30 Under 30" [34] and "Canada Under 30 Innovators You Need to Know".[5]

References

  1. ^ "Tyler Menezes".
  2. ^ a b Darko Kirvoski; et al. (May 24, 2001). "A Few Simple Guidelines Related to Image CAPTCHAs" (PDF). ICASSP 2011: 1. Retrieved November 13, 2006. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ Lawler, Ryan (August 8, 2012). "YC-Backed TapIn.tv Launches To Bring Instantaneous Live Video Streaming To The iPhone". TechCrunch.
  4. ^ "About | StudentRND". CodeDay.
  5. ^ a b Coyne, Marley. "Best Of Canada: These Are The Forbes Under 30 Innovators You Need To Know". Forbes. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Why I Do What I Do". December 5, 2013. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
  7. ^ Halvorson, Michael (1998). Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Professional step by step. Redmond, Wash: Microsoft Press. ISBN 1572318090.
  8. ^ a b "Declassified College Podcast | College Advice That Isn't Boring: ep. 78 what should college students know that college isn't teaching them? | college advice from Chris Do and Tyler Menezes on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts (Podcast). Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  9. ^ "Ep. 58: Striving for Excellence with Tyler Menezes". Youngpreneur with Anjalee Naren (Podcast). June 16, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  10. ^ Decker, Mary (May 27, 2010). "RHS students to participate in Microsoft's 'Hunt the Wumpus' game design contest – Redmond Reporter". Redmond Reporter. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  11. ^ Coyne, Marley. "Best Of Canada: These Are The Forbes Under 30 Innovators You Need To Know". Forbes. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  12. ^ "SpotClub: Bringing Innovators Together: Tyler Menezes—Teaching Over 50,000 Students To Program on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts (Podcast). Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  13. ^ Taylor, Colleen (August 21, 2012). "Y Combinator S12 Demo Day, Batch Three: Dreamforge, BigCalc, Tracks.by, And More". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  14. ^ Constine, Josh (August 22, 2012). "TechCrunch's Picks: The 10 Best Startups From Y Combinator's S12 Demo Day". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  15. ^ Kumparak, Greg. "YC-Backed TapIn.TV Evolves Into Framebase, Aims To Make Building Video Products Less Painful". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  16. ^ "Y Combinator for high-school kids? It's students only at this new startup incubator". GeekWire. March 29, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  17. ^ "Tyler Menezes". Forbes. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  18. ^ "Taking The Plunge When You're On The Wrong Path with Tyler Menezes | Pursuing Greatness #43" (Podcast). March 4, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  19. ^ Contributor, The Macallan. "The Macallan BrandVoice: Inventing Impact—Decisive Moments Of Under 30 Visionaries". Forbes. Retrieved September 15, 2020. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  20. ^ "Tech Moves: Rosenthal returns to Madrona: Aronchick lands at Chef; and more". GeekWire. July 14, 2014. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  21. ^ Contributor, The Macallan. "The Macallan BrandVoice: Inventing Impact—Decisive Moments Of Under 30 Visionaries". Forbes. Retrieved November 5, 2021. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  22. ^ Thompson, Laurie Ann. (2014). Be a changemaker / how to start something that matters. Simon Pulse. ISBN 978-1-4844-3942-5. OCLC 1003837377.
  23. ^ Author (November 28, 2016). "Be a Changemaker update: StudentRND". Laurie Ann Thompson. Retrieved September 15, 2020. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  24. ^ Virtual CodeDay December 2020 Kickoff, retrieved August 30, 2022
  25. ^ CodeDay Tyler Intro, retrieved August 30, 2022
  26. ^ "What if Tyler Menezes was a catgirl? nya~~". CodeDay Showcase. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  27. ^ "tylermenezes (Tyler Menezes)". GitHub. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  28. ^ Schlosser, Kurt (November 11, 2016). "Geek of the Week: After startup stint, StudentRND's Tyler Menezes returns to focus on kids and coding". GeekWire.
  29. ^ Cook, John (March 29, 2012). "Y Combinator for high-school kids? It's students only at this new startup incubator". GeekWire. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  30. ^ "Sapphire Now 2018 – bridging the tech divide by getting youth the digital skills they need". diginomica. June 6, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  31. ^ June 2019, Sascha Zuger 24 (June 24, 2019). "Game Changers: Tech & Learning's Most Inspiring in EdTech in 2019". TechLearningMagazine. Retrieved September 15, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  32. ^ MC. "425 Business". 425business.com. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  33. ^ Zuger, Sascha (June 24, 2019). "Game Changers: Tech & Learning's Most Inspiring in EdTech in 2019". TechLearningMagazine. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  34. ^ "30 Under 30 2019: Education". Forbes. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
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