About Brainfire
Training
Brainfire is the Brainchild of Mark Patterson
Mark Patterson has always been fascinated by the brain and how learning could be enhanced. Mark graduated from Brigham Young University with majors in Neurobiology, Computer Science, Physics, and Statistics.
Mark went on to receive his MBA from Carnegie-Mellon's Tepper School of Business and then launched MindBank, a start-up specializing in educational technology.
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MindBank: a Pioneer in Interactive Education
MindBank developed custom training and multimedia applications for large corporations including US Steel, and PPG. Working with Equitable Gas, MindBank developed SOLO, a control room “flight simulator” designed to train pipeline control-room operators to respond in pipeline emergencies.
In a joint venture with accounting heavyweight Price Waterhouse, Mark established the MindBank Mastery Center -- an interactive learning center in the US Steel Building, downtown Pittsburgh. The Mastery Center featured a large library of interactive videodisc business courses.
MindBank also developed “The Name Game”, an interactive, computer-controlled videodisc simulation of a party at the French Embassy in Paris, France. Students mingled at the party, meeting many guests, and were subsequently approached by these guests and asked to recall their names. Mark helped bring the Name Game to thousands of customers across the United States by setting up interactive learning centers in major cities where business people improved their memory for names.
Researching the Neurobiology of Memory
After an extensive review of the literature on how the brain remembers, Mark developed a detailed model of the physiological basis of the four stages of memory and the most efficient methods to move memories from one stage to the next.
Development of Brainfire is Underway
Software engineers at MindBank had attempted to create Brainfire. However, the technology needed simply didn't exist at that time. Now Microsoft and other companies have introduced several key technologies making Brainfire applications possible. Mark is leveraging this technology to develop initial versions of both the Brainfire's Knowledgebase Authoring System and Brainfire's Learning Engine and will soon be introducing Radical Learning Packs (RLPs) covering diverse subject areas that will enable students to learn 4X faster with 100% recall.