Hi Jon. Can you tell us a little about your background?
Growing up, I have always loved technology. I remember looking at an encyclopedia (yes, an actual book before the internet) and seeing an example schematic and telling my parents I wanted to build a robot. My father taught himself how to write code, and when I was seven, he wrote an elementary math game on the family’s commodore computer. I sat and watched him, then learned a few commands, and I modified the source of the game to make it easier, then later made it more challenging. I could barely read sentences, but I loved writing code. I spent many evenings with a programming book with lines and lines of code that you would manually type into the pc to get a basic game.
When I was in High School, I got a TI calculator. I found that it had a basic compiler built into it and found myself sitting in the back of class, always writing code. I continued doing this through college. While attending a Linear Mathematics course, I sat in the back, writing an app on the calculator to do what the professor was teaching. As he taught, I wrote. After the semester was over, I showed him the app I wrote. He asked me about my degree, and I informed him I was thinking of Information Technology. He looked at me and said no, you are a computer science major.
You would think, hearing this, I was the quiet, nerdy kid sitting in the back row, but that would not fully describe me. With all my clubs, instead of focusing on technology, I focused on leadership and speech. I won state awards for extemporaneous speeches and received the rank of Eagle Scout in scouting.
Later in life, I got married and had four wonderful daughters. You will now find me with them, as I am greatly honored to be in their lives. They are all very unique, from my fishing buddy to my gamer partner to my favorite artist to my favorite dancer, and I am so proud of them all. They have taught me so much in life, and I look forward to seeing them turn into strong women.
Lastly, although you think that with four daughters, I would be overflowing with estrogen. Last December, I got engaged to a beautiful, smart lady with a wonderful daughter. I am so fortunate she said yes, and they are becoming part of my family. Do not be on the edge of your seat for a wedding date, as that might be years away. We both have commitments to our kids before our own desires.
What attracted you to come to work for Signalysis?
After my first year of college, I found myself working at RadioShack. One day, a gentleman came in with his fiancé looking for accessories for a new computer she recently purchased. Being the fantastic salesperson I was (three months on the job), I started discussing computers with this gentleman to figure out what else I could sell him. I mentioned that I like writing software, and he said he also does. He informed me that they always look for good people and gave me his card. It said Phil Wilkin, Software Engineer, Signalysis. I was so excited that I went home and sent him every cool project I had worked on. He invited me in, and I interviewed with him, Neil and Kyle.
In September 1998, I was made a team member at the best workplace. I gained much experience, knowledge, and wisdom from Neil, Kyle, and Phil. Each taught me so much. Phil showed me diversity in coding with free thought, Kyle showed me structure and taught me patience, and Neil showed me love and that a place of work can become more like a family than just a building to do work. I am so grateful to come back and get this chance to work with not just these three again but everyone else. As I have heard, there is so much talent at Signalysis.
What are some of the more interesting jobs that you have had or projects that you’ve worked on in your career?
I have worked on so many different types of projects. A fun project was when I was working for Signalysis. Neil got a company to fund a gym court floor testing stand. This device would be a cart pushed back and forth across a basketball court. For every few steps, the user would press a button to release a calibrated basketball. We recorded the ball drop and determined how high it bounced and what the floor sounded like when it bounced against the floor. Using this data, we informed the user if this floor section needed to be replaced.
I prototyped out a golf cart with an RFID reader and a barcode scanner on its base that would allow sales members of CarMax to drive around having the system read a barcode painted on each parking spot and read the RFID tag on the car. They would drive this around every evening so they knew where every car was parked for the next day of customers.
What is the most challenging and rewarding aspects of your job?
The most challenging times are when you spend hours reviewing code, trying to find a solution to a problem, and can’t figure it out. Only to keep coming back and re-review everything until you find a solution.
The most rewarding is seeing someone use what you built. One of my favorite books is Ready Player One. In this book, a software developer writes a game that the world plays. One of the last lines this developer says in the book is, “And thanks. Thanks for playing my game.” Software development is a bit of an artform, and I have much appreciation for those who enjoy what I have made for them.
What’s something about you that not many people know?
Although I mentioned my father giving me my love of software development, my mother gave me my love of math and history. But she also, through genetics, passed a little hidden talent. Every spring, when the grass starts growing and the clover blooms, I begin to find four-leaf clovers. I tend to find them most when I am not looking for them. I can walk down the street thinking about a complicated piece of code, and boom, one sticks out from all the other clovers. So, I like to say “My hidden talent is finding four leaf clovers, but somehow luck finds me…”