jonkiddy

Joined 13 years ago

Karma

190

Submissions

113

Member since

May 29

jon dot kiddy at gmail dot com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonkiddy/

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Recent submissions

Comment · 1 year ago

Two things come to mind… my work and my involvement with FIRST robotics.

I’m the Director of IT Operations for a contract research organization (CRO). While that might not sound inherently interesting it’s deeply fulfilling. My role involves building and maintaining software that help facilitate critical research for NIH and NCI, often supporting breakthroughs in healthcare and science. I love the intersection of technology, problem-solving, and enabling teams to deliver life-changing results by helping change the standard of care for people affected by cancer.

Outside of work, I’m heavily involved with FIRST robotics, which is a worldwide competitive robotics program for high school age students. It’s an amazing initiative where students design, build, and program robots to compete in team-based challenges. And it’s very fun. I mentor students, guiding them through the technical challenges we come up against and help them discover their own potential. Watching young minds light up is very rewarding. Being a small part of that community is one of the most rewarding things I do.

Comment · 2 years ago

Perhaps Toronto, Canada?

Comment · 2 years ago

Reading, FIRST robotics, soccer

Comment · 2 years ago

After 10+ years working as a web developer with a non-CS degree, I heard about Georgia Tech's OMSCS program [0] and signed up almost immediately. The timing was right for me and my family and my employer offered tuition reimbursement. I kept my day job and spent nights and weekends working on assignments and studying. It was challenging and learned quite a bit.

[0] https://omscs.gatech.edu/

Comment · 3 years ago

I use Royal TS/X [1] nearly every day and enjoy it very much. I'm not affiliated with them in any way, just a happy customer.

[1] https://royalapps.com/ts/mac/features

Comment · 3 years ago

I recently read a news article that Sam Altman is attending the Bilderberg Meeting [0]. The timing is perfect.

[0] https://bilderbergmeetings.org/meetings/meeting-2023/partici...

Comment · 3 years ago

This is the basic plot in the singularity series of books. [0]

[0] https://www.amazon.com/Singularity-Series-4-book-series/dp/B...

Comment · 3 years ago

I suggest you look into getting involved with something hands on. FIRST Lego League[0] is a rewarding experience.

[0] https://www.firstlegoleague.org/

Comment · 3 years ago

A few years back before Covid, I held biweekly open meetings for anyone to learn practical Git basics where I work. I had about 20 people come through (PhD's, Statisticians, etc.) Let's talk! My email is in my profile.

Comment · 4 years ago

If you truly want to learn, I suggest joining a local FRC Robotics team as a new/junior mentor. If you simply ask the students to show you what they have been working on, you may be inspired to join in and help. You'll learn together... mechanical, electrical, programming, etc.

A short overview of what FIRST robotics is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd29kzjclV0

A web based tool to search for local teams: https://www.firstinspires.org/team-event-search#type=teams&s...

I've been volunteering as a FIRST mentor for the last nine years and have learned more about robotics from the students than I did in my master's program or on my own.

Comment · 4 years ago

stipend for books and/or conferences

Comment · 4 years ago

I have benefited monetarily indirectly by lurking on HN for years and reading others’ thoughtful comments on a variety of subjects. Then apply some of those thoughts to my career as a developer, then later a EM. HN has been a gold mine of ideas by reading what others on HN post while interacting with each other.

Comment · 5 years ago

For representing the technical architecture on a whiteboard, I tend to gravitate towards the first three levels of the C4model [0]. For meetings with management, I like to use AWS's architecture icons [1] within a slide deck.

[0] https://c4model.com/ [1] https://aws.amazon.com/architecture/icons/

Comment · 7 years ago

I'm the technical lead for the IOTN [1] which is a part of the Cancer Moonshot program [2]. Our mission is to improve immunotherapy outcomes and to ultimately prevent cancer before it occurs. Our team is moving forward on a few projects internally that I'm not at liberty to share but will be released later this year. There is a lot of hope that immunotherapy will have a profound affect on patient outcomes.

[1] https://www.iotnmoonshot.org [2] https://www.cancer.gov/research/key-initiatives/moonshot-can...