Hi! My name is Ryan I am Lead Mobile/Web Developer for SMART Software in Effingham, Illinois. I co-lead a developer meet up for area developers, lead a 4-H SPIN (Special Intrest) club, and work on pet projects in my free time.
My Experience
I went to school for Web Application Development at Lake Land College, a local junior college, in Mattoon, Illinois. I leveled up my experience by learning more than what was taught as part of the work. While attending college I worked at a drive-in movie theater, doing general labor and maintaining the website with showtimes, what’s playing and links to trailers.
After college, I worked for a major retailer in their e-commerce department. I added products to the website, updated listing, helped customers place orders over the phone, handled returns, worked with the eBay Sales, and more. I learned a lot about web businesses in general. I moved on at the end of 2012 and started working as a software developer.
I started working as a software developer professionally at the end of 2012. I started working as a consultant for a company in Effingham, Illinois. I mainly developed and maintain applications using the Ruby on Rails framework. While working as a consultant, the company also co-developed an application for service management(SMART Software). I worked on this project a large portion of time, while I worked for the consultancy. The consultancy sold their shares and I was hired on by the other partner to continue development, this is where I currently work.
What I Do For Fun
I have a few hobbies outside of software development, which are photography and hiking. I love hiking because it allows me to clear my mind and relax and get some fresh air. I do hiking and photography in tandem, to capture the cool things I see when I hike. I share my favorite shots on Flickr.
I am trying to get back into cycling as well. I purchased a Trek Dual Sport 3 in Volt Green. I plan to cycle more in the coming months.
Giving Back
Giving back is important to me, I co-lead a special interest club as part of our local 4-H chapter, teaching kids programming and computer science. We are making Games using the Python programming language. I also co-founded and co-lead a software development meetup for local developers from different workplaces to come together and learn from one another.