Sam received the BS in Computer Science at BYU in 2005 and defended his Master’s Thesis in computer science in 2008. He received the BYU half-tuition scholarship and was on the Dean’s List twice. He started working with IDeA Labs in May 2005. His main research thrust was in feedback systems and optimization methods. During the time he spent in the group, he was the lead student of the factory optimization and laser stabilization projects, and worked on the retail laboratory and path control projects. He also was one of the system administrators of the labs. Prior to that time, he worked as a teaching assistant for an operating systems class and as a student manager at BYU. After graduating from BYU, Sam went to work in industry.