Web and Cloud Consultant

The experience to develop a plan and the skills to exectute it.

Solutions in the Cloud

I have architected many web solutions through Penguinleaf Technologies, the cloud consulting development firm that I co-founded. As the Lead developer at my firm, I am responsible for every solution that we ship to clients.

Actionable Data and Insights

I conceived and lead development of my firm's data analytics processing services, currently under development. These services will measure a wide variety of metrics on our client's websites to produce a report and actionable checklist.

Focused on client outcomes

One of my most important values as a business person is that every action and decision must be taken with client outcomes in mind. I don't build anything that won't provide the maximum value for my clients or employers.

My Projects

A balance of front-end and back-end web technologies

Web Services

I have created many front-end and back-end website solutions for clients. These range from the sophisticated, like the Penguinleaf client and employee dashboard, to simple sites like this one. Every web service I create offers an opprotunity for me to push the evelope on what I can to so that I can continually develop my skills to maximize client value.

Data Services

My passion is extracting actionable insights from a wide variety of data sources. Every site I create make use of Google Analytics, and motivated by some of its lack of features, I am spearheading development of a new analytics platform that my company plans to offer early this year. Other data solutions are custom products for clients, contact me for more information

Entrepreneur

In the summer of 2014 I founded Penguinleaf Technologies, and enlisted the help of my most knowledgeable colleagues, as a way of formalizing, and structuring the support and development work that we already did. This business has laid the framework for us to be able to maximize the extent to which we can support and develop for clients. An important focus for me in business is to operate in an outcomes-focused strategy and systems-focused implementation.

Programmer

I love working with code and the analytic thought process that it takes to be able to write and understand good code. Coding is an inherently creative endeavor, but it also requires highly specialized technical knowledge of how to approach programming problems, and how to solve them. There are so many fascinating problems that can be solved by developing computer programs, I am particularly interested in encryption, data processing and management, and computational finance. I consider myself fluent in Python, PHP, Javascript and Java. Each language has it's own personality, idioms and texture. It may seem odd to describe programming languages as textured, but just as the artist picks different materials with different characteristics, each language "feels" different even when working on the same problem.

Web Developer

Web development is much more than just making websites, which is a lot to know in itself. I have spent many hours researching, troubleshooting and learning everything that makes the web work. On the lowest level, the web is just pulses of information flowing through electric and fiber optic cables or through the air as electromagnetic signals. Then there is a complex network of devices that interpret and distribute these signals. The Domain Name System (DNS) translates domain names like www.chrisdobson.ca to IP addresses like 54.243.232.142, these are like the difference between a street address and a geographical coordinate. Only with this infrastructure can the web as we know it exist, but we're missing one critical element required for every website, and that is the site server. The web server is a computer that continually listens to requests sent to its IP address and replies with the content of the web site. There is a vast wealth of knowledge on uses and best practises for server management that I have begun to learn. On top of all that, we started developing systems to have websites code themselves, HTML contains site content, CSS formats content, JavaScript creates dynamic content in the web browser, and PHP is among many server-side programming languages that provide the ultimate customizations for dynamic content. Finally it takes a good eye for design and the understanding of what users find difficult versus intuitive, to create the best end user experience.

Student

I believe that education goes on forever, far beyond the classroom. In high school, I obtained the Bilingual International Baccalaureate from the Toronto French School and at the University of Toronto I am studying for a Computer Science Specialist program. Outside of class I have invested hundreds hours of self guided research in learning about coding, finance, business and personal development. One of the most influential books for me was Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, which I read at nine years old and it provided a lot of the foundation for my understanding of the role of education in life. Obviously, there is an important place for schools in young people's lives, but I don't believe that the most important learning is obtained in an academic institution, but out in the real world. Kiyosaki wrote a phrase that resonates with me, one should "work to learn, not to earn." I see jobs, and opportunities to work, serve and produce as learning opportunities that are just as valid as any classroom learning.

My Resume

I am seeking advisors, networking opprotunities, new clients and paid summer internships while I finish my degree at the University of Toronto.

If you think I would be a valuablue fit in your organization, please review my resume and contact me today.


My Skills