- How long have you been in the city you live in and what brought you there?
22 years - I am a born and raised Calgarian!
- Where did you grow up?
I grew up in the deep south of Calgary in Shawnessy and have been in the same childhood house my entire life (although am looking forward to moving closer to downtown for a shorter commute to the office).
- What field of study/practice did you pursue?
I just recently graduated from Software Engineering with a specialization/minor in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Calgary.
- What are your hobbies/interests?
Besides programming, I love playing guitar and all things music production. Currently I’m working on an instrumental progressive rock/metal project with a drummer friend of mine, and once that project is done, I’m very interested in getting to produce songs for other local bands/artists. When I’m not either programming or working on music, I’m usually spending time with my friends, lifting weights or getting food.
I’m also currently taking interest and working on a couple of side projects in the audio-tech space - The first being a real-time implementation of the open-source Magenta DDSP library for Windows platforms, essentially allowing you to use machine learning models to transform the timbre of source audio into that of a different instrument, and the second (without giving too much away) being a music streaming service that promises the best quality of music for the listener by adjusting the mix and master on the track that the artist submits based on the form of speaker/audio system that it is being played out of.
- Tell us something fun/interesting not many people at work know about you!
From the time I was 5 up until high school I trained in and got my black belt in Kung Fu, however it’s been about 6 years since I’ve trained so I’m a little bit rusty.
- If you could travel anywhere in the world where would it be?
Growing up, it was always my dream to go to Jamaica after seeing a Jamaican tourism commercial on TV. I recently got to cross that trip off my bucket list, so I’m still waiting for the next form of travel inspiration to hit me. The first places that come to mind are Africa and/or Australia, specifically to see all the cool wildlife that we don’t have here.
- If you could have dinner with one person living or dead who would it be?
Elon Musk. Love him or hate him, I think that objectively he would be one of the most fascinating people currently alive to get to sit down with to try to pick his brain for both engineering and business/marketing knowledge.
- If you had to eat one thing and one thing only for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Charcuterie without a doubt – the cheese is gross, but I could snack on the fancy meat and crackers forever. Tacos come in a close second.
- What are you passionate about?
I’m very passionate about helping out those who need a hand and leaving a net positive impact on people’s lives. I’ve always been of the mindset that one small action on your part could make a world of difference in somebody else’s life and try to live by that.
- What are some things you’ve accomplished/are proud of?
I’m still very fresh out of University, so I am still very proud that I was able to complete my Software Engineering degree with distinction and land such a good job at Arcurve to launch my career. During my time in school, I worked for multiple different internships and summer positions where I feel that I’ve already gained some proud career accomplishments, the most prominent of which being successfully helping build a startup called Creative Protein Solutions being the main developer on the team with Jeroen De Buck as the founder, where we had sent out POC hypo- and hypercalcemia blood monitoring devices for dairy cattle to farms across Canada. The company has since stopped producing devices, however it was a great experience to be part of that I am very proud of.
- If you could achieve one thing in the next five years (big goal) what would it be?
I would love to one day run some form of business on the side, where I’m able to meld my two worlds of software programming and music and be able to push the envelope of audio engineering further into the tech space. Currently, the world of music production is just beginning to overlap with AI, and I would love to be able to play a role in that transition. How I’m going to do that? I don’t know yet. My current plan is to continue to work on audio-tech projects as a side hobby as mentioned above in order to gain more knowledge of that space, and in the coming years once I’ve built up that foundational knowledge base and have gotten a few projects under my belt I can re-evaluate where I’m able to make the most impact in the audio-tech world.
- What brought you to Arcurve?
While searching for jobs to land after graduating, I had a friend who had previously interned at Arcurve and I had only heard good things from her. This led me to check out and apply to the company, and I am very glad that I did.
- What about Arcurve makes you want to stay? (Does it challenge you, help you grow in your role?)
The biggest thing about Arcurve that makes me want to stay is the sense of family and support that the company offers. As I mentioned, I’ve spent lots of time working in different offices and work-environments during various internships and summer positions as part of my undergrad, and I’ve never felt quite as ‘at-home’ or strongly supported by all of the people around me as I do at Arcurve, which I love and hope that I can project onto those around me.
