This month we dived into our product delivery and support team, as we learn a little more about Kevin, a Systems Analyst at Montrium. Kevin reveals his love of robotic engineering as well as how he attributes his passion for engineering to George Lucas, creator of Star Wars. Read on to see how this months interview with Kevin played out.
1. What was the first project you ever worked on for a client?
The first project I worked on was migrating a client from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010. It was quite challenging for me, as my experience with SharePoint was really only from 2010 and 2013. I'd been shown the basics by the technical team here, and been told to write a script that would perform the migration between the two. I practised with dummy data in our development environments until I was able to pull it off. All in all, a great learning experience!
2. What do you enjoy most about your job?
The great people I work with and the constant challenges that enable be to grow as a professional. Being in an environment where I'm never bored and constantly learning new things keeps me motivated to come to work. Depending on what day you catch me on, I'm either happy, sleepy or any one of the other seven dwarves - besides Doc of course!
3. Stuck on a desert island, what 3 things would you bring with you?
Since people are not things, I guess I should stick to inanimate objects. The first thing would be a multi-tool (which would include a knife and other handy things to help build a shelter and a boat), my Kobo e-reader (so I can relax and take a break from working) and a solar powered charger to recharge the Kobo.
4. What makes you get out of bed in the morning?
My girlfriend telling me breakfast is ready. I'm not really a morning person, but having a great job (and great girlfriend who is a morning person) definitely encourages me to get up.
5. What is your proudest work achievement?
I'd have to say that my proudest work achievement to date would have to be my transition from being someone constantly consulting everyone else to find the answers I needed, to becoming someone who is regularly trusted with large projects and asked advice on projects. The great thing about this industry, and specifically this company is that you can never stop learning! I'm still constantly asking questions since there's always something new, but I'm proud of the work I've done and that I can give back and help/teach others.
6. Are there any magazines, books, blogs or publications you couldn't live without?
I couldn't live without books in general. I have hundreds of paperbacks and hardcovers all but one of which I've read a several times, and hundreds more e-books which I'm still trying to get through for the first time. As for anything else; the great thing about the internet is that if you want to know about something or hear the latest news there are tons of websites that you can visit. Here are a few of the top blogs and websites in the life sciences - if you're interested!
7. Who has had the biggest influence on your career?
George Lucas, indirectly of course. When I was 4 or 5 I watched Star Wars for the first time, which made me want to build robots (and be an astronaut). From here I joined the Robotics club at my High School, which introduced me to several engineers from a range of companies that ended up helping us out. Meeting them I realized I wanted to be an engineer, and then the people I met and the courses I studied led me to work at Montrium.
8. In your opinion, why is Montrium different from other organizations you have worked for?
Definitely the team of people working here. They are a wonderful group of people that work well together and truly care about the work they do. Everyone brings something different to the table, and is willing to learn from others even when the topic at hand is not their specialty.
9. When you’re not in the office, what would people find you doing?
Spending time with friends and family, reading or working with electronics (building robots or small projects with an Arduino).
