Meet the Team
The Experts Behind Gemstone Academy
Our dedicated team of instructors, mentors, and industry professionals are passionate about guiding the next generation of tech innovators. Every instructor at Gemstone Academy is carefully selected for their expertise, teaching ability, and commitment to student success.
Leadership Team
Jackson (Jax) Hutton
Co-Founder & CEO
Specializing in Systems Programming, Jax has been writing software since he was 8. His lifelong desire for a different approach to youth coding education inspired him to start Gemstone Academy when he was 16. He has worked in the professional world since high school. He is now at Northeastern University, where he is pursuing a major in Computer Science with a minor in Chinese. Beyond the binary, Jax enjoys piano and rock climbing.
Jeffrey Drew
Co-Founder & COO
In the academic world, Jeffrey is pursuing majors in Computer Science, Economics, and the pre-law track. He specializes in machine learning and remote sensing, and does AI research under Dr. Alina Zare and the US Department of Energy. At UF, Jeffrey competes as an attorney for the undergraduate mock trial team. Outside of academia, he builds automated pipelines for the legal industry. When he can, he plays table tennis and bikes.
General Instructors
Yuwei Huang
Amethyst Rank Instructor
Yuwei is an experienced developer and computer science student at the University of Florida. She has spearheaded initiatives with the Freshman Leadership Engineering Group and WiCSE (Women in Computer Science and Engineering). Yuwei is passionate about adding personal creativity to programming.
Micah Tam
Amethyst Rank Instructor
Pursuing a degree in Computer Science at the University of Florida, Micah is passionate about the applications of programming and innovations in AI. His industry experience has equipped him with the skills to navigate the evolving landscape of computer science. Micah also enjoys playing all kinds of sports and is a self-taught pianist.
Want to Join Our Team?
We're always looking for talented instructors who are passionate about teaching programming to the next generation. If you're a student at UF, Northeastern, or another top university with strong technical skills, we'd love to hear from you.