Hi Readers,
I am Russell Feathers. I’m a software developer in the CORE Studio group at Thornton Tomasetti, as well as a computer science student at Oregon State University. This semester I’m finishing up my time here with this Capstone class and Cloud Applications.
Before starting on my CS journey I worked as a structural engineer which involved using software to solve unique technical challenges for clients. As I grew into a project manager role managing client relationships as well as managing engineers, I was able to see that many of the roadblocks of working on challenging projects (high-rises, museums, etc.) was that the software didn’t always have the capability to aid in creating solutions. This time coincided with me learning Python from classes on coursera and I began writing some python scripts to interact with the different software APIs. The impacts were significant savings on the cost of steel and concrete, and a huge reduction in time on multiple projects. From there I was hooked, and began taking classes at OSU where I transitioned into working at a structural engineering firm doing software development.
Now with my OSU journey coming to a close (in june!) the capstone is a way to mesh all the different skills I have learned from the program and on the job. The projects I chose from the survey were reflective of my desire to work with skilled software engineers in the industry where I can broaden my experience of the field. Even though I work as a software developer I find that you can learn more by working with others rather than siloing and working by yourself. I also hope that I can learn more technologies, and tricks along the way.
Three of the six projects selected were industry projects related to investing. Working in investing is something that interests me since I live in NYC and jobs in the financial industry are plentiful, and the projects selected have the opportunity to be impactful and allow me to learn more about the industry. On whichever project I work on I expect to take a hybrid of roles (why choose one anyway?). I think it’s easy to say that there is one defined role everyone will take on but with everyone on relatively even footing the hope would be to learn and grow with each other. My goal would be to be an effective collaborator, contributor, planner, and leader at times. Very excited for this capstone and look forward to sending more great updates in the future.
-RF
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