We asked the DigitalLabs@MMU team members 5 questions to help you get to know them better.
Laurie: Senior Enterprise Associate
1. What do you do?
I run DigitalLabs@MMU – it’s a bit like spinning plates. Occasionally, there’s a crash. (That’s a software joke).
2. How did you get involved in tech?
I got my first computer in 1982 (I was twelve…). It was a ZX Spectrum, the basic model. I wanted to play Ant Attack, which was a game in spangly 3D, and needed lots of memory to run. I saved up, bought the memory chips and fitted them myself. There’s a particular aroma which comes off printed circuit boards and whenever I smell it, I’m taken back to the moment I switched the computer back on – and it worked (surprise!!!). I’m now hooked on eureka moments. It made me start programming. I never really stopped.
3. How or Why did you join Digital Labs?
I worked in a small, growing tech company. We found it really difficult to recruit and retain young software engineers, because the environment is so different from the bigger tech companies ( not bad, just different!). Mostly it comes down to the fact that everyone is doing the best they possibly can to keep a business alive. To be involved in that sort of endeavour is pretty intense. If you’re not prepared for it, it can be quite daunting. After 5 years and time coming to move on, I looked around for ways to help. The University had been running DigitalLabs for a little while and I found out they were looking for an Android developer. 3 years later, I’m still here! Just like before, I get to be involved in everything, except now I get to share experiences with students and academics, bringing the small company ethos that bit closer to the curriculum.
4. What do you like best about your job or What do you like best about being part of the Digital Labs team?
DigitalLabs is really special. It pushes all my buttons. I get to work with a small team of dedicated, talented people, who speak their minds with kindness and humour; I get to work on stretching projects, with researchers and communities who need our skills and I get to work with the new generation of digital designers, engineers and entrepreneurs who need our experience. I really feel that we are part of a movement to make digital technologies more responsible, accessible and accountable. That’s what gets me up in the morning.
5. Quote, motto or personal statement
The journey only ends when you do.
Stuart: Developer
1. What do you do?
Primarily, I develop front-end web technology to be deployed as mobile apps or single page web apps.
2. How did you get involved in tech?
Originally it was through computer games that I became interested in technology, I studied a games technology degree, which is where I began to learn programming. But as I got into programming my interest veered to UI design and usability.
3. How or Why did you join Digital Labs?
I interned with DigitalLabs for over a year. The internship was a great opportunity for me to develop skills while working on real projects with support and guidance from a mentor. At the end of the internship I was offered a role in the team. I wasn’t finished with the projects I was working on at the time and I had enjoyed my time during the internship so I decided to take it.
4. What do you like best about your job or What do you like best about being part of the Digital Labs team?
I enjoy that the role is multi-faceted. I don’t just get to write code; I meet, present-to and work with clients face to face as well as work with students and give guidance in their group projects. My favourite part about all that is that I get to learn so much.
5. Quote, motto or personal statement?
Macro patience, micro speed.
Dave: Mentor
1. What do you do?
I develop software and systems for Digital Labs, provide mentoring for students coming through our Jobs4Students programmes, and assess toolkits from the media arts, creative technologies, arts and critical theory worlds, which I also inhabit. I am strongly motivated by creating equity in technology, and raising awareness around anti-human uses of tech. I also am one of the founders of ThingsNorth and ThingsManchester, the fastest-growing open (and free) IoT network in the world.
2. How did you get involved in tech?
In a copy of Buster comic was a marketing campaign insert from Atari, with Paul Daniels explaining how he used his Atari 400 to learn Spanish. I was spellbound. For Christmas that year, my parents got me a ZX81 from Boots, and a defective tape cable forced me to learn to program (or I would have nothing to do with the machine).
3. How or Why did you join Digital Labs?
I’d been involved in eclectic projects in the past, and set up both MadLab in Manchester and the teaching programme running there. Digital Labs offered a more concrete basis to work with students with the solid background of an established institution behind it.
4. What do you like best about your job or What do you like best about being part of the Digital Labs team?
It’s a small, dynamic team, which means we can be more responsive and accountable for the things we work with; it’s also a great opportunity to shape what’s taught down the line at the university, as we explore the coming demands and reality of industry and research for the future.
5. Quote, motto or personal statement
It’s not that the bear dances badly, but that the bear dances at all.
Claire: Comms
1. What do you do?
I’m currently updating the Digital Labs website. I’m also going to be telling our story, which means that I’ll have the opportunity to use some of my digital marketing skills.
2. How did you get involved in tech?
I originally got into web development because I had a small business with a website and I couldn’t afford to pay somebody else to update it. I came to Manchester Met as a mature student and learnt to code as part of my combined honours degree. By the time I graduated, I definitely preferred writing HTML to selling children’s clothes, so I abandoned retail and started building websites for small businesses instead.
3. How or Why did you join Digital Labs?
I met the Digital Labs team whilst I was studying as a post grad in the Business School. I found the projects they were working on really interesting and so when the internship was advertised on Jobs4Students, I jumped at the chance to apply.
4. What do you like best about your job or What do you like best about being part of the Digital Labs team?
There have been loads of positives, but I think that my favourite thing is that I’m getting the opportunity to learn new skills. I’m the sort of person that likes to ask questions, so I love the fact that I’m surrounded by a friendly team of other developers. When you’re self employed, your personal development can suffer because you don’t always know which things you should be learning about and although there is lots of information online, you need a certain amount of knowledge to identify which sources you can trust or even understand the answers that you get back from a Google search.
5. Quote, motto or personal statement:
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should