Biography
After completing a Sport Science degree I made the transition in to computer programming in 1998. I worked for a number of years as a mainframe programmer using COBOL then switched in to web development in 2001 using mainly ColdFusion as a development language. I initially joined IET on a very short term contract to help with the completion of a project for the Student Statistics & Surveys team. Following this enjoyable period, I joined IET in a longer term role. As part of a fairly small development team, my role is primarily to support and develop a number of websites including:
- iSpot - a website for nature and wildlife enthusiasts. Users can upload and get help with the identification of wildlife observations, help identify observations for other users and contribute to forum discussion.
- PePLE - a learning resource for newly qualified social workers, using valuable footage of real life social work situations from the BBC's 'Someone to Watch Over Me' programmes.
- Cloudworks - a place to share, find and discuss learning and teaching ideas and experiences. The software behind the Cloudworks site has recently been made available as open source software, known as CloudEngine
Most of the development work in IET uses PHP with a variety of frameworks (e.g. Drupal, CodeIgniter), with a small number of ColdFusion sites. I also have an interest in mobile development.