Father, Husband and developer of ideas, code and tangible things. Very varied experience, ranging from residential and retail development to full stack web development and IT consulting. My ideal would be an agile, close-knit team of diverse minds and skills working together on something that pushes the bounds of what most consider possible...or something in accounting.
Probably a favourite of mine since it is it's own reward with the added bonus of the acquired knowledge. I enjoy the challenge of solving or getting around a problem. Whether it be mechanical, legal or virtual in nature, I love exploring possibility and overcoming hurdles to produce a reality. Wearing many hats over the years has helped broaden my horizons in this regard. Tech in general is a very real passion of mine (...and skiing/snowboarding) and I'm always looking forward to the next challenge.
The ability to independently learn quickly is a skill that has allowed me to take on many roles and responsibilities over the years. My varied work experience, in-turn, has further developed my ability to learn quickly as my reputation pushed me into more and more challenging roles.
- OOP, TDD, BDD, MVC, DDD
- Agile/XP
- DevOps
- JavaScript, Node.js, Express
- Python, Flask
- Ruby, Sinatra, Rails
- React Native, Bootstrap, HTML, CSS, jQuery
- MSSQL, Oracle, Postgres, MongoDB
- RSpec, Jasmine, Capybara, Jest, Mocha, Chai, Unittest, Pytest, Cucumber
- Appium
- Docker, including:
- Machine
- Swarm
- AWS in general, with a focus on:
- EC2
- VPC
- Fargate
- Lambda
- Device Farm
- GCP
- Compute Engine
- Cloud Run (AWS Fargate competitor, currenlty in Private-Alpha)
- Azure
- VMs
- Container Instances
- Digital Ocean, Heroku
- Travis CI, Jenkins
- Hashicorp (certified)
- Terraform (community, enterprise)
- Vault (community, enterprise)
- Consul (community, enterprise)
- Packer
- Sentinel
- Ansible
- BASIC
- Classic ASP
- Java
- Lisp
- Eiffel
- C++
Feb 2019 - April 2019
A world first - unprecedented exploitation of AWS Lambda's underlying power and near-instant scaling ability to enable massive parallel execution of full end-to-end test-suites, reducing execution times from tens of minutes down to the time it takes to execute the longest-running single test in the suite (usually a couple of minutes). All in a standard Selenium Grid network formation with normal Selenium reporting. Each Lambda instance executes a single test only, therefore increasing reliability and reducing flakiness. This setup enables end-to-end testing to move further left, and costs less in the process. This is Selenium Grid and not just multiple instances of Selenium Standalone Server
Jan 2019 - Feb 2019
Creation and deployment of an automated mobile testing framework into a CI pipeline. Project was for a UK television network, consisting of Appcelerator based, cross-platform product. Appium (javascript test scripting) was used for testing and AWS Device Farm was utilised for parallel, real-device execution with Jenkins controlling the flow.
Nov 2018 – Jan 2019
Creation scripts utilising industry standard tools, methods and services to deploy fast, secure, stable, scalable Selenium Grids on AWS (EC2, ECS, Fargate), GCP (Compute Engine and Cloud Run - Fargate equivalent, currently in Private Alpha) and Azure (VM and container instances).
- Terraform (community, enterprise)
- Vault
- Packer
- Ansible
- Docker (containers, machine, swarm)
- Selenium (custom servlets, proxies)
- Bash/Chrome/Firefox/Xvfb
Oct 2018 – Nov 2018
Project descriptionCross-platform, hybrid mobile app. Front-end
- React Native
Back-end
- Axios
- Express
- Nodejs
Database
- MongoDB
Testing
- Jest
- Appium
Sep 2018 – October 2018
A RESTful shared shopping list app with google assistant (OK GOOGLE...) for a front end. Built using NodeJS, Express and MangoDB. Working on automatic ordering from 3rd-party vendor based on previous brand purchase habits...
May 2018 – May 2018
Nice is a single-button mobile phone application (iOS, Android) that facilitates charitable donations to a random UK registered charity. Developed with strict adherence to TDD principles and within a space of 5 days with zero prior knowledge or experience in any of the languages used in the stack; Python, Flask, Pytest, React Native, Axios, Jest, MongoDB and hosted on Heroku/mLab.
The idea was to create an app that would allow it's user to "pass it forward" whenever they got randomly lucky IRL without giving a charity company enough personal details to emotionally blackmail you for more money (the app is anonymous by default but can be changed by ticking a single check-box).
Other contributors: Antonio Ciniglio, Paola Schiaffino, Daniel Campos
Apr 2018 – Apr 2018
AceBook is a social media platform, TDD'd In Ruby on Rails that enables users to create profiles, share, like, dislike and comment on posts. This project was built in 10 days by Team byte4 of the February 2018 cohort at Makers Academy. Read about this journey in the project blog here: https://medium.com/acebook-byte4
Other contributors: Agnes Donat, Irfan Durrani, Antonio Ciniglio
Apr 2018 – Apr 2018
Simple Javascript thermostat operating on a Mark I Nintendo GameBoy!
https://thermoboy.herokuapp.com
Attained Training and Certification from Hashicorp in implementing their products and services directly to their clients. The certification allows me to present myself on a Hashicorp assigned engagement as a Hashicorp employed consultant. Hashicorp's enterprise offerings are the focus, so training centres around Terraform, Consul, Vault and Nomad
- Curious and passionate about code. I have been experimenting with code since 7 years old, starting with BASIC on an AMSTRAD 6128+ all the way through to university where I gained experience in a much wider variety of languages. It gives me a real buzz to solve a problem or make a 'thing' or even just understand something technically complicated so naturally, code was always going to be in my life. Makers has brought this passion back into the spotlight for me and the rewards have been fantastic.
- Fast, independent learner. If necessity is the mother of all creation, it's not possible to be as passionate about making things as I am without understanding and getting the hang of new skills quickly. In my final project at Makers Academy I had only 6 days to learn a brand new stack (Python - Flask, MongoDB, React Native, JustGiving.com API) and present a final product in the form of a native iOS and Android app - linked here. It was a success and I look forward to similar challenges.
- Great collaborator. Working in a small team is where I have really thrived at Makers. I think a small group of keen, believers in a project is greater than the sum of its parts; many times over. Not just in what it delivers outwards but just as important, what it gives each member of the team. At Makers I was fortunate enough to be a part of several such teams and we made our MVP for every project and within the time limit (usually 5 days). Pair programming has also been key to maintaining momentum and healthy work balance while boosting understanding and cutting over-all learning times for the group as a whole.
- BEng in Network and Electrical Engineering (Hons)
- 1st two years were originally BSc Computer Science
- Vice President of HUSKIS (Hertfordshire University SKi & Snowboarding Club)
- Real Estate Regulatory Authority (of Dubai) certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager (CRB)
- M-201 Facility Management Certified
- M-100 Community Management (Strata)
- CLSCMP (Certified Logistics and Supply Chain Management Professional) from the American Institute of Business & Management
-
Portland Solutions (2006 to 2010)
Founder & CEO - Portland Solutions was an IT consultancy and support company working with SME's based in Dubai and Abu Dhabi -
New City Developers (2008 to 2015)
Vice Chairman - Day to day running of Dubai-based Property Developer. Heavily involved in the more technical aspects of the completion and running of a twin-tower project in Dubai Marina. I managed the hand-over of approximately 400 residential and retail units. I was the Engineering contact for the building, liaising with Civil Defence, Economic Department, Land Department, RERA (Real Estate Regulatory Authority), DEWA (Dubai Electrical & Water Authority), Architects and Lawyers. I was responsible for all legal matters, registering all title deeds for the building, creation and registration of hundreds of pages of Strata contracts, the creation and running of both the Residential & Retail Owners Associations. -
York Estates (2008 to 2014) Director - Non-executive role. In order to qualify for the role, the law required I have an intimate knowledge of all Dubai's ever changing real estate laws and regulations with annual exams for recertification.
-
Portland Middle East (2010 to 2014) Vice Chairman - A facility management company, holding contracts for several large high-rise buildings in Dubai with a city-wide domestic service launched in 2012.
-
Portland Products (2008 to 2014) Vice Chairman - An import/export company with a focus on sports apparel, cosmetics and building materials. As Vice Chairman, I oversaw the expansion into sports apparel and the creation and launch of our own branded body spray and its listing in Tesco, Sainsbury's, Boots and Harrods.
-
Portland Holdings (2007 to 2017) Vice Chairman - Portland Holdings owned all of the above companies. My responsibilities were to develop these businesses and acquire funding to help them grow. As well as this, new opportunities for extra revenue were constantly being explored and assessed.