About Me
Table of Contents
Hi, I’m Richard.
I’m passionate about following my curiosity. I think most things have a surprising amount of depth if you look hard enough. That’s why I love turning over every stone and uncovering interesting problems. I’m always making hypotheses about how things work. Usually I’m wrong, but I never stop asking why.
Among other things, my curiosity led me to a career in software engineering. I spent 8 years at Amazon and AWS, learning, solving problems, and working on e-commerce type things. I’m lucky to have a career where every day I still feel like there’s a ton to learn. Occasionally I even make something useful.
I’m also a true believer in the ability of software and automation to make life simpler and more beautiful.
Why blog? Mainly to practice articulating my thoughts into something resembling a cohesive narrative. Do I have anything useful to share? I’m not sure, but my therapist thinks so. If these thoughts are useful or interesting to you, feel free to let me know.
When I am not coding, I’m playing with my kids, strumming my guitar, reading, or hiking with my dog, Ella.
Experience #
-
Circle
2022 - Present
Staff Software Engineer
- Owner of trading and pricing software
-
Amazon & AWS
2014 - 2022
Senior Software Engineer
- Led migration of over 60 on-prem applications to AWS
- Designed and implemented marketplace facilitator tax collection
- Collaborated with cross-functional stakeholders
- Amazon Bar-Raiser, interviewing over 170 applicants across 20 teams
- Mentored 8 engineers on technical and communication skills
-
University of Victoria
2012
Bachelor of Combined Physics and Biochemistry
See more on LinkedIn
Recommended Reading #
- Tanya Reilly: The Staff Engineer’s Path
- Major Hayden: Why technical people should blog (but don’t)
- Joel Spolsky: The Joel Test: 12 Steps to Better Code
- Steve Huynh: A Life Engineered
- John Miller: The Deliberate Engineer
Attribution #
This site was created with Hugo and the amazing Blowfish theme.
Disclaimer #
All opinions expressed on this site are my own and do not represent the views of my past, present or future employers.