I was the kid who always had to know how things worked. The one who spent a rainy Saturday taking apart and figuring out how to fix the family VCR. The one driven by a powerful analytical curiosity from a very early age. My interest in computers and IT began to blossom in high school, yet through my college years, I would have considered myself little more than a dabbler. It was an intensive six month course through Alltel’s “Client Server University” that helped me realize what I wanted to do for a living, and propelled my career forward. Two months training in VB6 (fat client side), two months of C++ (server side), and six weeks of Java (thin client side) helped me see not only my own potential, but how I could use my skills and knowledge to help others. I really came into my own with Edgewater as a Software Developer and Lead Technologist, gaining broad exposure to the Microsoft Stack. I was tasked with developing an enterprise application with 10 other developers over a two year period, was flown to company HQ for the project team kickoff meeting—and collaborated with the Lead Architect on introducing a new database project genre for Visual Studio. More recently as Lead Developer/Architect with Catholic Health Initiatives, I architected numerous mission-critical system enhancements, and architected and co-developed the organization’s new Medical Information System. What I enjoy more than anything else as a developer is adding value to my clients’ businesses—as a consultative, attentive partner, augmenting existing systems or building and implementing new ones. Within the organizations for whom I have worked, I have thrived as a trusted resource—as a developer of training materials, and a trainer, thought leader, author of informational articles and blog posts. I’m particularly passionate about writing “reader-friendly” code that is scalable, maintainable, and with as little “technical debt “as possible.