- What motivates you every day? I am having fun everyday. Building software is like playing with Legos for me. Instead of building with Lego bricks, I am building with lines of code. I get a lot of satisfaction from thinking about how the program should be built, how bugs should be resolved and finally getting to see the final working software product. An even greater bonus is knowing that the work I do at IQ is being used in the real world such as helping people see better and helping doctors perform safer surgeries. I also enjoy learning about new domains from the projects that we work on, now I actually have some ideas how certain eye surgery works.
- Briefly describe what you do at IQ. As a software engineer, I spend most of my day designing and implementing the solutions and features that our clients need. Most recently, I worked on improving the user interface and usability of an eye surgery machine. Before starting any coding, there’s usually time spent to understand the users’ requirement, the current code base and think about what’s the best way to integrate the changes into the existing system. This is like finding the missing pieces to complete a jigsaw puzzle. After the changes are implemented via code, I will work with Software Testers to correct any errors and verify the software functionalities.
- What does your workspace look like? I have a pretty simple setup, a laptop and an external 27” monitor. My favorite investment is my vertical mouse. It’s designed to keep the hand in an upright neutral posture to avoid strains in the wrist. Every now and then my kids would help to “decorate” my workspace by adding random toys to it.
- What do you like to do outside of work? During the summer, I like to go bike riding with my family. In Fall and Spring, I enjoy watching my kids’ soccer games. In winter, we do a bit of skiing and watch the kids play futsal. In between everything, I binge watch drama series.
- What advice do you have for others in your profession? Have more confidence and keep learning! IT is always changing, new frameworks, new programming languages, somewhat similar and yet slightly different. It is sometimes scary to use a new tech stack or framework, but there’s always your fellow team-mates and StackOverflow to help you out.
- What do you love about IQ Inc? I feel very lucky to be working with a group of talented and helpful software engineers and architects. I have learned a lot from them and am constantly motivated to keep learning to be a better software engineer. I also love the high level of trust between the company and employees which in turn allows the wonderful work flexibility that we enjoy in the company. Last but not least, everyone in the company is always so helpful and friendly!