Education | Experience | Skills | Projects
I am a curious and deep-thinking individual who is enthused by learning (both my own and others), science, technology and sport. I have achieved a number of things both personally and professionally, but my greatest achievement is that I have facilitated the learning of hundreds of young people in my time as teacher. I am currently focussing on my own learning as a Junior Developer. With the 'tool-box' of skills, knowledge, TDD and AGILE practices from Makers I am keen to take up new role.
I have very strong verbal and non-verbal communication skills, developed over many years in teaching and refined during my time at Makers. I can communicate my ideas and thought processes in an effective way, but also accept other methods of finding a solution. This was incredibly useful when pair programming. During group projects, we made use of tools such as Slack, stand-ups and retros to communicate progress, successes and blockers.
Due to the nature of my previous roles I have had to constantly work to deadlines to ensure that I am fulfilling my role. Most recently, I have used resources such as trello and waffle.io to facilitate tracking issues/tasks during projects, but also getting weekend challenges finished for the Monday morning pull request deadline whilst balancing a personal life.
Whilst at Makers Academy this discussion, decision making and coaching centred on finding creative ways to find a solution or a more effective and elegant way to refactor code produced. In my roles as a Head of Department, and as a Section 2ic in the Reserve Forces (Army) I had to prioritise tasks and make decisions based on the information at hand. An example would be the management of departmental finances to ensure the best value is sought without compromising the integrity of the education delivered to students.
From my time at Makers Academy I have learnt:
- to be a better independent and reflective learner
- to be more of a creative problem-solver
- Pair Programming
- OOP, TDD, SOLID, MVC, DDD
- Software Craftsmanship
- Ruby, Rails, JavaScript, Node.js
- Rspec, Jasmine
| Title | Technologies | Comments | Link | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final Project - RememberAll | React-Native, Jest, Cavy | A multi-platform app to allow people to remember information about others. | RememberAll | 2 weeks |
| Practise Project - ShowNTell | Python, Flask, Tensorflow, Object Detection API (Google) | A simple Python server storing and serving an image ot Google's new object detection API. | ShowNTell | 1 week |
| Thermostat | JavaScript, Jasmine | First project in JavaScript. A simple Thermostat interface also makes use of OpenWeather API to get temperature in global locations. | Thermostat | 2 days |
| Acebook - group project | Rails, Rspec. | Our own take on a well known social media platform, with fun! | Acebook | 1 week |
| Takeaway Challenge | Ruby, Rspec, Twilio | Week 2 individual challenge. A takeaway service with sms notification using Twilio. | Takeaway-Challenge | 2 days |
Modules ranged from Renewable Energy, Integrity Monitoring and Project Management to Underwater Vehicles, Optics, Acoustics and Control.
Thesis: SLAM: Simultaneous Location and Mapping.
- This project was a precursor to course correction by recognising navigational waypoints for AUVs.
Foundation of study in a number of areas of Science including Oceanography, Geology, Environmental Science, Marine Biology, Ecology.
Thesis: Development and production of a budget CDT (Conductivity, Depth and Temperature) sensor.
- Gained QTS through the GTP (Graduate Teacher Programme) as a school based trainee teacher with a Science specialism.
- This award was gained as pre-requisite to lead groups outdoors as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Tata Consultancy Services (Aug 2017 to present) Assistant Systems Engineer / Developer
- Part of a Digital innovation team to produce prototype/proof of concept web applications.
- The team engage with clients/projects early in the process to help identify pain points and solutions.
- A variety of technology used, choosing the most appropriate language/framework for the task.
St. Richard Reynolds Catholic College (Jan 2016 to April 2017)
Teacher of Biology & Head of House
- Responsible for the planning, implementation and teaching of the new GCSE Biology curriculum to students.
- Also responsible for the motivation and celebration of successes of students in one of the school's six houses.
The Holy Cross School (Sept 2006 to Aug 2015)
Head of ICT '12-'15 & Teacher of Science '06-'14
- Responsible for the planning, teaching and assessment of all student who studied ICT.
- Part of school wide E-Strategy team to continually assess and improve IT based provision across the school community.
- Responsible for managing all staff delivering ICT within the school, including supporting their professional development.
British Army (Reserves) (Jan 2008 to Oct 2016)
Section 2ic - Royal Logistics Corps
- Gained CAT C Driving License and HAZMAT awareness
- Unit Navigation Instructor
- Deployed to London 2012 Olympics as part of contingent to deal with personnel and vehicle security
- Successfully summited Mt. Kilimanjaro in Oct 2009 whilst raising money for Help for Heroes
- Active novice triathlete, hoping to complete first Half Ironman in 2018
- Sports fan - F1, NFL and Ice Hockey fan - Guildford Flames Season ticket holder!