What led you to software engineering?
“I first became interested in software engineering in high school. It was back when the Apple 2 first appeared in school, but no one else was using them, so I would mess around with them and play with the software over vacations.”
What is your favorite thing about being a scientist?
“Problem-solving, I like solving puzzles with purpose.”
What is one thing that would surprise people about your field of work in software engineering?
“It’s less about what you know and than if you know how to find answers. When software engineers don’t know how to complete a task, we look up how to do it. The work is about how you get things done when you’re presented with a problem, either through documentation or searches or through collaboration with others.”
What kinds of things do you think we should be doing to encourage more people to pursue a career in computer science?
“50% of the problem will be solved by more encouragement from parents to get their daughters interested in software, mathematics, and the sciences. The other half is making math and science more interesting in general.”
What brought you to CIBO?
“I was recruited by an employee who knew I was looking for a change. I had been at my previous company for 30 years, and I came to CIBO to be in an environment where I would always be learning.”
What are your primary responsibilities at CIBO?
“I focus on the performance and efficiency of the software. My work ensures that the technology can run the same task 5 million times in a row without faltering.”
What do you find the most rewarding about your work here?
“Even at this point, the work feels new. I’ve had the chance to learn and use the Scala programming language and application platforms such as Kubernetes as well as learning new things about how data science is applied to tasks like ours.”
About Joel Skelton
Joel Skelton is a Senior Software Engineer at CIBO, a science-driven software startup. Prior to CIBO, he worked as a software engineer at Intergraph, Leica Geosystems, and ERDAS. Intergraph, Leica Geosystems, and ERDAS. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology.