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STEM Tutor (Ph.D, Northwestern) | Algebra–Calc, Bio, Chem, Physics, CS
William M.

4.9 (99 ratings)

306 hours tutoring

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Hourly Rate: $60
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Response time: 2 minutes

About William

Bio

I tutor Math, Science, and Computer Science — from Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Precalculus, Calculus, Physics, and Chemistry to introductory programming and computer science courses. My focus is on making tough concepts clear, building confidence, and raising grades. Students who once struggled often find math and science “click” for the first time and discover they can excel.

When we work together, you’re not just getting an hour of lesson time. After each session, I create custom...

I tutor Math, Science, and Computer Science — from Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Precalculus, Calculus, Physics, and Chemistry to introductory programming and computer science courses. My focus is on making tough concepts clear, building confidence, and raising grades. Students who once struggled often find math and science “click” for the first time and discover they can excel.

When we work together, you’re not just getting an hour of lesson time. After each session, I create custom practice problems tailored to what we covered, and I send a short recap with next steps through Wyzant’s messaging system. Students also get a quick-question coupon — if something small comes up between lessons and it takes me less than 10 minutes to explain, I’m happy to clarify it at no extra charge. Before big exams, I can also schedule a focused pre-test review session to identify weak spots and boost confidence (students just need to let me know their test schedule in advance). Parents appreciate my progress updates, which show exactly what we’ve mastered and where we’re headed next.

I earned a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Northwestern University, a Master’s in Metallurgical Engineering from UIUC, and a Bachelor’s in Physics/Math from Carleton College. Alongside my academic training, I’ve taught and tutored students for years, learning how to explain complex topics in simple, memorable ways. My students have gone on to excel in many directions — from Harvard Law School to Ph.D. programs at Purdue, and Master’s degrees in Computer Science — proof that a strong foundation in math, science, and problem-solving opens doors everywhere.

For students who want to go further, I also tutor in Computer Science and programming (Python, C++, Java, Swift, Kotlin) and in creative technology (Blender 3D, Unreal Engine). This gives students a chance to see how math and science skills power real-world projects like 3D models, animations, apps, and games.

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Education

Carleton College
Physics
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Masters
Northwestern University
PhD

Policies

Schedule

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Approved Subjects

Blender

Blender

I specialize in advanced lighting and rendering in Cycles and Eevee, including volumetric fog effects, dynamic visibility, and complex material shading with PBR workflows. My expertise extends to rigging, physics simulations (cloth, fluids, fire, smoke, particles), and procedural environments built with Geometry Nodes, supported by automation and custom plug-ins created with the Blender Python API (BPY). I have created cinematic sequences using multiple camera effects, including overlays of distant and close-up shots similar to Sintel, and synchronized audio and animation through the Dope Sheet and Action Editor. My projects include a one-minute animated film with Mixamo characters, as well as title sequences inspired by Bad Robot (dynamic grass and camera movement), Skydance (rotating letters with sun animation), and Marvel (layered text reveals with dramatic lighting and transitions).
C

C

I have been a C and C++ software developer for 20+ years. I have been teaching C at the college level for more than 7 years. I also have taught C and C++ to industry professionals all over the US, as a consultant.
C++

C++

Worked as a software developer for 15+ years in C++ at Scientific software, Statistical software, and Pharmaceutical companies. Especially experienced in Object oriented software, Design patterns, and working with the C++ standard library (previously called the Standard Template Library). Have taught and tutored the C++ language to students and industry professionals who are changing languages (from Python to C++, or Java to C++). Have also worked with game developers using Unreal Engine's C++ class frameworks.
Computer Gaming

Computer Gaming

I have taught College game development for several years in Unreal Engine 4, using Blueprints and C++, for deployment onto macOS, Windows, Linux, and iOS and Android mobile phones. I concentrate on 3d game development, using static meshes, 3d rigging and animation, and for some games like Crossy Road and Minecraft, using Voxels. I also teach game development using Artificial intelligence (for games that fight back). Finally, for students interested in learning Python, I teach how to use Python to create games in Pygame (the Python wrapper for the C SDL (Simple Direct_media Layer) graphics library). Interested? Send me a message!
Computer Science

Computer Science

I taught and tutored CS at the Adult/College/HS and Middle school level for more than 7 years, and have worked as a Senior software developer and Team leader. I teach Python, C++, C, Java and Kotlin (Android), Swift (iOS), and JavaScript. I have taught adults and students to use these languages for general programming, game development in Unreal, create mobile apps, do OS (multi-threaded) development, use Machine learning libraries, and for Artificial intelligence.
JavaScript

JavaScript

Teach JavaScript full-time at a local college for the past 3 years.
Linux

Linux

I have Linux Kinetic Kudu (22.10) and Jammy Jellyfish (22.04), as well as Red Hat RHEL 9.1, and Solaris (Oracle) 11.4 installed as virtual environments (using VMWare and using Virtual Box) on my macbook pro running ventura 13.4 -- the mac uses a proprietary version of Unix, but is not open source and its kernel uses darwin, an offshoot of BSD Unix). Using various Linux environments, I am thoroughly aware of its vast command line arguments, including regexes like grep, file location utilities like locate and find, directory manipulation/information like ls, pwd, mkdir, rm, mv, cp, ln, cat, more, head, and tail, words/line information like wc and ls, encryption like gpg (-c), and of course have written from scratch the C code for awk, sed, grep, and diff. Well, grep I pulled out of the C code for the ED editor as a bet I made with another programmer. Typical programs I have written in Linux include multi-threading, multiprocessing, like consumer/producer, forking multiple processes to do sorting like mergesort, dining philosophers, or reader/writer. I can write code using emacs, vim, nano (just short edits with nano), or even ed, but I prefer to use vsCode these days, either from a host computer using ssh, or directly using vsCode from within Linux. I have helped countless students solve problems using all of these utilities, and I could help you as well. If you wish, give me a problem to solve and I can show you by coding it in bash or C.
Neuroscience

Neuroscience

I earned my PhD in Neuroscience from Northwestern University, where I studied neuronal ion channels, followed by postdoctoral research at the University of Colorado on expression of rat mRNA Na channels in frog oocytes. At Axon Instruments, I managed software development for patch clamp and voltage clamp experiments, helping create software systems to acquire and analyze high-speed electrophysiological data. My later work expanded into artificial intelligence, including convolutional neural networks for image analysis, AlphaGo-inspired architectures for advanced AI, and natural language processing to build innovative software for learning Chinese. This blend of neuroscience, software engineering, and AI research gives me a unique perspective on both the biological and computational foundations of intelligence.
Pharmacology

Pharmacology

I majored in Neuroscience at Northwestern University specializing in Neuropharmacology, working in the Pharmacology dept. with 32 other post-docs and PhD candidates. I taught Pharmacology there to the post docs, especially the mechanisms of actions of anesthetics, neurotoxins, stimulants (caffeine) and depressants (alcohol).
Python

Python

I have been working as a professional developer, and college professor, teaching Python for several years. I have also taught talented students in Python in high school, and occasionally in Middle school.
Swift

Swift

Have taught iOS programming for 4+ years at the college level, and have taught iOS to High school and Middle school students as well. Emphasis is on teaching students to create Apps on the App Store: puzzle apps, efficiency apps, and apps using Unreal Engine and Unity.
UNIX

UNIX

I have several UNIX operating systems on my computer: Ubuntu 22.10, macOS Sequoia (15.0), Solaris (Oracle), and I teach how to run Unix command ine arguments, how to create shell programs using fork/exec/pipe in Unix, creating multithreaded programs that are synchronized using Unix semaphores, mutexes, monitors, and condition variables, avoiding deadlock among Unix processes, managing virtual paging and file managers in Unix. Using various Unix distributions, I am thoroughly aware of its vast command line arguments, including regexes like grep, file location utilities like locate and find, directory manipulation/information like ls, pwd, mkdir, rm, mv, cp, ln, cat, more, head, and tail, words/line information like wc and ls, encryption like gpg (-c), and of course have written from scratch the C code for awk, sed, grep, and diff. Well, grep I pulled out of the C code for the ED editor as a bet I made with another programmer. I can write code using emacs, vim, nano (just short edits with nano), or even ed, but I prefer to use vsCode these days, either from a host computer using ssh, or directly using vsCode from within macOS, Ubuntu, or Solaris. (for those learning Unix from Windows, I can also show them how to use WSL to create an Ubuntu distro within their Windows machine). I have helped countless students solve problems using all of these utilities, and I could help you as well. If you wish, give me a problem to solve and I can show you by coding it in bash, C, or C++.
ACT Math
ACT Science
Algebra 1
Algebra 2
Anatomy
Astronomy
Biology
Calculus
Computer Programming
Geometry
Java
Linear Algebra
Prealgebra
Probability
SAT Math
Statistics
Trigonometry

Examples of Expertise

William has provided examples of their subject expertise by answering 50 questions submitted by students on Wyzant’s Ask an Expert.

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William M.'s Photo

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Ratings and Reviews

Rating

4.9 (99 ratings)
5 star
(94)
4 star
(5)
3 star
(0)
2 star
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1 star
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Reviews

Helped with emergency project

Great review from my son, who needed help understanding and completing a difficult computer science project. William took the time to gather information and troubleshoot our connectivity glitches. His knowledge and patience are invaluable, and he stayed with the project until my son understood each step, going back to review when necessary. We will 100% use William again without hesitation.

Dawn, 1 lesson with William

Wonderful

Quite simple, I sent him some questions, and he helped me solve them while he also gave me lots of insight into being a good programmer (good books or inspirational speeches etc.) He is very smart and I loved the tutorial!

Anonymous, 1 lesson with William

very helpful!

William helped me complete an assignment over two sessions. Very thorough and helpful, spent extra time analyzing the assignment outside of the actual scheduled hours.

Tommy, 4 lessons with William

Thank you so much!

Student is still in high school while taking a college course in C++. William M. is fantastic and I highly recommend. Student has a long way to go and we hope William M. will continue tutoring him.

Virginia, 1 lesson with William

Great Professor!!

William really know about python, and he was really patient. It took me a while to understand, William was very calm and he knows how to explain and make things easy to learn. Thank you!!

Arturo, 5 lessons with William

very helpful!

William helped me complete an assignment over two sessions. Very thorough and helpful, spent extra time analyzing the assignment outside of the actual scheduled hours.

Tommy, 4 lessons with William

Visual studio C#

William was very patience going over the software. I was completely unfamiliar with visual studio and after our session I feel as if I can complete my upcoming assignments.

Tiara, 1 lesson with William

Helpful, patient, compassionate teacher

William has helped me with my homework assignments for an introductory IT college course today. This class is my first exposure to coding but I walked away with some good insights from our session. I later went over the material again, and the problems we worked on make sense now. I definitely feel a step ahead but if William didn’t work with me today, I would still feel very lost. I feel a lot bit more confident now for the next challenge in the course.

Elif, 3 lessons with William

BEST money EVER spent!

Can’t TELL you how much better I feel after finding William. He clearly knows what he is doing, how to identify what help I need and how to accomplish that as quickly as possible.

Marcia, 4 lessons with William

knowledge and patient tutor

William was very clear, descriptive and encouraging with a subject for which I have no previous experience. I will definitely schedule more sessions to help me understand AP Computer Science.

Jenny, 9 lessons with William
Hourly Rate: $60
Response time: 2 minutes
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