Discover more about our developer, Jared!

Jared, what is your current role with MediMatrix? Software Developer. I guess Full-Stack Developer, since with a small team I wind up wearing many hats.

How long have you been with MediMatrix? Around three years I think? I started off as contract for a few months before being hired full-time if I remember correctly.

Which colleagues at MediMatrix have you worked with the longest? Technically a lot of people are tied, since there’s still members who haven’t left after I joined. As for the development team that I’m a part of, Charles would have to be the colleague I’ve worked with the longest. The rest of the dev team were either hired after me, retired, or moved to different positions.

What is your favorite part about this job? Making and breaking things. I like solving puzzles and watching what I’ve made hum along. Creating stuff is just intrinsically rewarding. It’s also nice to be in a job in the healthcare industry. We’re helping people y’know?

What do you like to do in your spare time? Playing video games mostly. I play a lot of genres, but I usually favor roguelikes/lites, shooters, and strategy games. I tend to revolve through games frequently, I don’t really have a “forever” game, but the two games I do find myself coming back to are Risk of Rain 2 and Dwarf Fortress. Shoutout to Outer Wilds as well, but that’s a game you can only really play once, but it’ll stick to you forever. Go into it blind, do not spoil yourself.

I also draw, and have been learning 3D art programs such as Blender. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I am also learning game engines such as Godot.

Do you learn better by observing or doing and why? Doing. It’s much easier to zone out or not pay attention if all you’re doing is watching, and if you aren’t paying attention the tutorial will continue on without you. But, if you’re behind the wheel, then the lesson will only continue if you demonstrate that you understand. You need the right tutorial however, which for me is usually snippets of information for the problem at hand, and not a linear checklist. Otherwise you go through the motions by copying blindly and not understanding why you are doing it.

Are you an early rise, or a night owl? Night owl 100%, which is a bit of an issue in a world built around early risers. I’ve been trying to fix my sleep schedule, but I wonder if I’m truly trying to fix it, or just trying to defy my natural clock.

Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know about you. Outside of my friends and family, I usually don’t go around telling people I have a special interest in spiders. I love the little (and sometimes big) guys. That fascination also extends into other insects as well. Most spiders are pretty harmless, and won’t bite unless you actively provoke one. Did you know that some spiders can use electricity to fly? They can throw out silk into the air to carry themselves across vast distances, which is called “ballooning,” but it isn’t the wind that carries them, but Earth’s electric field. There’s also an aquatic species of spider called the diving bell spider. Land, air, or freshwater, spiders are everywhere. You cannot escape.

Would you rather travel to the past or the future and why? The future. Quality of life generally declines the further back you go. My skill-sets also wouldn’t translate very well in ye olden days. No guarantees on the future either, but I choose to be hopeful. I know a lot of people see the future as bleak, or that the world is ending, but as someone who fought real hard to get where I am, it’s worth fighting for.