About me
Hello!
I’ve always been excited about what people can do with data. Way back when I started my career, I had this intuition that we could learn from patterns in data and I believed by observing them, we could discover new insights and be able to harness those patterns to do new things. At that time, the kind of insights from data that I imagined were far off and futuristic. We didn’t have the hardware or software to process data at scales large enough to be useful. So, I rolled up my sleeves and became one of the countless developers that built the database systems that support analytic workloads. I worked on some of the boring parts and some of the exciting parts. I took on developer roles working with relational database partitioning and disaster recovery, performed functional and systems QA, led teams and managed projects. Database technology advanced, the web matured and we lifted everything up to the Cloud. And, it was at this point that I realized the future I imagined at the start of my career had arrived.
Rather than pursuing the path of taking on ever more responsible management roles in software development, I decided to restart my career as a developer in the Cloud. I took a new role at AWS as a solution developer in the Media and Entertainment industry where I develop demos, POCs and reference architectures for M&E use cases. This role puts me in a position where I can get to know specific Media and Entertainment industry use cases, learn and understand all that AWS has to offer and translate it to solutions that help solve real problems for our partners and customers. Happily for me, M&E has rich use cases that can take advantage of machine learning and data analytics for video production, video delivery and for enhancing viewer experiences. The most fulfilling part of my work here is sharing what I learn through interactive demos, published code samples and tutorials.
I like learning new technologies and prefer to keep my feet on the ground by being hands-on. I’m a tinkerer and a bit of a dreamer. I prefer to cultivate a broad understanding of technical topics so I can make good technology choices to solve specific problems. My approach to projects relies heavily on Design Thinking, a technique I applied at IBM. With Design Thinking, technical projects start with building empathy for the end-user, understanding the skills and knowledge they bring to the task, what they are trying to accomplish, why it is painful and what would make them say “wow!”. I’ve found this practice useful whether I am working directly with a customer, creating a code sample, writing a blog post or developing workshops for conferences. It is also an iterative process that relies heavily on feedback loops which makes it a good framework for collaboration that keeps teams focused on valuable outcomes.
My professional interest areas include data analytics, computer vision, natural language processing, cloud computing, technical education, techical careers, and quality feedback loops for products (metrics). I like to spend my personal time in the mountains volunteering with Mt. Hood Ski Patrol, hiking, paddling, and playing in the snow. I’m a lifelong home improver and have seen inside every wall of my house. I’m the proud mother of two teenage boys who never stop surprising me. I will never say no to Happy Hour.