I am originally from the town of Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. When I was 18, I moved to the “big smoke” of Saskatoon where I eventually earned my first degree, a B.Sc., majoring in physics, from the University of Saskatchewan. However, the subject I always enjoyed the most was computer science.
I have always loved writing computer programs. I used to do it for free! My first paid position was as “stagiaire“ (intern) for the Quebec government in 1992. It was a great opportunity as I got paid to program in BASIC, (and write comments in French)
After that I got away from programming for a bit, spending 2 years completing a B.Ed degree at the University of Calgary. I found I liked to teach - just not teenagers! So after a year teaching math, physics and computer science in Hanna, Alberta, I moved to Brisbane, Australia in 1994.
My first job here was as an “Apps“ trainer. MS Access, Excel, and some VB.
This led to my next job with a company called ImageWord, that began my career as a Microsoft Certified Trainer. It was an ideal job for me as my time was split more or less evenly between software development and training. During my time there I taught and consulted in technologies like Visual Basic 4, 5 and 6. MS Office development (including Access 2.0, 95 and 97), SQL Server 6, 6.5 and 7. I even got a bit involved in teaching operating systems courses like Windows 95, 98 and NT 4.
ImageWord was a great company to work for. Like many good companies, they got bought out. The culture changed and I left them in 1999 and started Data Cogs Information Technology. By this time, I had completed my MCT, MCSD, MCSE and MCDBA certifications.
I am still a Microsoft Certified Trainer (I spend about 20% of my time teaching Microsoft courses (BizTalk, SQL Server, .NET, SharePoint). The rest of my time is spent developing software, along with my small team of highly qualified developers.
I continue to keep up with the latest Microsoft software development technologies. I also try to keep my certifications current. (see my transcript for a full list)
Data Cogs has many interesting clients in many industries such as local government, mining and finance. We do some work for Microsoft including consulting and working at training events, such as Tech Ed (US and Australia) and the Partner Readiness program.
You can find more information about my employment and education background on my CV. If you want to more about the projects that I have been involved with see this article.
posted on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 11:30 PM