What is your position at BPD Zenith?
I am a Senior Consultant, doing a variety of application development, support, and data conversion projects at a major energy client in Calgary Alberta. In my almost 6 years with BPD, I’ve worked for several additional projects for other clients, primarily focussed on medium to large data conversion projects, bringing in data from other large systems into Maximo.
What led you to choose this career path?
As a young person going into post-secondary education, I needed to decide between my interest in Commercial Art and computer graphics, and computer systems and programming in business. I chose the Computing Science faculty at the University of Alberta, with a minor in Business. Later, I took a Business Analyst certificate program, as I found having business knowledge in project areas such as requirements gathering and project management issues came in very handy.
Which part of your job do you most enjoy?
I enjoy working with client personnel and brainstorming with my BPD colleagues to come up with solid ways to solve real business problems, always keeping an eye towards how we are bringing value to the customer. I have found Maximo to be a great environment and toolkit to solve problems in creative ways.
What do you enjoy doing when you are not working?
I enjoy performing stand-up comedy and also produce a couple monthly comedy shows in Calgary, the tiny comedy show. I occasionally produce a show in my original hometown of Edmonton as well. It keeps me busy!
Performing at (Left) the tiny comedy show and (Right) at Calgary Elbow River Yuk Yuk's Comedy Club
If you were not a Maximo consultant, what alternative career path would you have chosen and why?
I’ve always been interested in comedy and animation so if I were not involved in Maximo consulting I might be involved in video game design in some creative and/or technical capacity.
What’s a work related accomplishment that you’re proud of?
At my current client a while back I was involved in the technical redesign and delivery of a daily invoicing system along with related contract / rate validations. My part of the project was large and complex, with quite of lot of new objects, applications, and data validations via scripting and workflows throughout. The project was a lot of work but was quite successful and added a lot of value for the client. I’m pretty please the way the project turned out.
What’s your favourite way to unwind after a busy day?
I’m a big fan of the card game Cribbage, I play about once a week with a friend or a with a group. I enjoy grilling and cooking, so I may be prepping some veggies or chicken or a lean cut of beef such as a marinated flank or skirt steak on the grill.
Cribbage!
What would we most likely find you doing on the weekend?
In summer, I would be lining up a tennis game, urban bike ride, or a mountain hike. In winter, finding time for hiking in the nearby Kananaskis Parks area west of Calgary, Cross-Country Skiing, or just looking for a urban patch of ice set up for a skate. Or, visiting my folks at their year-round lakeside home north-east of Edmonton.
Alberta Rocky Mountains
A fresh sheet of ice!
What is a quality that you have cultivated in your career or personal life that has been an important part of your personal or professional development?
Having a strong work ethic, attention to detail, and a desire to see a job through to the end, has served me really well. Also, I’m always mindful to ensure I’m bringing value to the client.
