aboutme

I’m Al Potter, originally from Windham, Maine, and currently studying Philosophy and Computer Science at Princeton University. I graduated as valedictorian of Windham High School’s Class of 2023, serving as Class President and student representative on the RSU14 School Board. I am also an Eagle Scout, where I designed and built a solar-powered irrigation and ventilation system for my community greenhouse. 

At Princeton, I spend most of my time in production environments. As Systems Director for Theatre Intime, I’m leading a $500,000 lighting and data infrastructure rebuild for the nation’s oldest student-run theatre. The project replaces analog dimmers with a fully networked ETC LED system, distributing signal across six DMX universes and modernizing power, data, and redundancy for the next generation of designers. Alongside the upgrade, I’m engineering an automated recording, archival, and livestreaming infrastructure featuring a three-camera Canon PTZ system, three HyperDeck recorders, and an ATEM switcher. 

I’m building a hybrid hosting solution using AWS, Backblaze, and Cloudflare to host thousands of Theatre Intime’s historical assets securely and affordably. The platform automates replication, metadata tagging, and storage optimization to minimize egress costs while creating a sustainable digital archive for future generations of technicians. 

I’m also the co-founder of Physics 2 Astrophysics, a global online education platform that bridges high-school physics and astrophysics for students from more than ten countries. I designed and maintain its custom PHP/MySQL backend, automating enrollment, classroom tools, and backups while reducing operational costs by 70 percent. The platform continues to run reliably with 100 percent uptime and has reached dozens of students worldwide. 

I also design and program lighting for the Princeton Triangle Club, creating touring shows that play venues along the East Coast, including the state-of-the-art McCarter Theatre. 

My creative work extends internationally. As part of a Princeton Global Seminar in Gesualdo, Italy, I collaborated with Broadway artists and local technicians to produce a bilingual musical, managing both cultural and technical translation in a small Italian piazza. More recently, I co-directed the documentary Enrosadira, filmed in the Italian Dolomites with support from Canon USA and Albolina Film. The film explores the philosophical concept of the sublime through interviews with artists, farmers, and historians, weaving together aesthetics, anthropology, and cinematography. I

When I’m not designing lighting or debugging network loops, I’m usually restoring vintage amplifiers, rebuilding speakers, or prototyping a custom control board for my Breville espresso machine. I like making cool things!