Moshe Katz and His Twin Brother, Yehuda Katz, Carrying a Ladder
Photo Credit: Aditya Gaddam
One of the many components of WaterShed is its messaging. While the house itself will tell a narrative during the competition, the team has been spreading their message of sustainability and water conservation for months, through their website and social media. Moshe Katz (and his identical twin brother Yehuda), WaterShed’s computer guru, has been the instrument behind Team Maryland’s groundswell.
Moshe, who has been part of the WaterShed team since May of 2009, has a hand in all things related to computers and data management on the project. An undergraduate majoring in computer science, he has worked tirelessly on the website, set-up, and managing team listservs, as well as programming WaterShed’s smart house system. All of this, while holding down a fulltime job this past summer (which may explain his affinity for caffeinated soft drinks). Moshe has been an integral player on Team Maryland, and is always eager to help and find a solution to team challenges.
What has been your personal WaterShed moment so far?
MK: I was able to take a break from the desk work to actually run conduit for lights in the house. As important as the desk work is, it has a more distant feel than actually working inside the house.
What has been your most important learning experience on the project?
MK: Learning how to deal with all kinds of people.
Has working on WaterShed personally affected the way you use water?
MK: Not really, but only because I was fairly conservative in my water use already.
When people come to visit WaterShed on the Mall in September, what do you hope they will take away from the experience?
MK: I hope people walk away with an understanding of how hard the project as a whole is to put together and how many people it takes, but at the same time how easy it is to make small but significant changes in their own homes. Also, that there is so much that modern design and technology has to offer – and no reason not to reach out and take it.
What do you always have with you on the job site?
MK: A computer.
How do you spend your time when you’re not on the job site?
MK: I do programming for desktop and web development for businesses and non-profits.