What makes me tick?

During the interview process. People commonly ask me what makes me tick? My answer is always that I enjoy creating. I enjoy making something from scratch and I enjoy refining that process to make it more efficient. Creativity meets automation.

While I do spend a lot of time behind a computer creating, I also like to get out in the workshop and build physical things. A couple of years ago, after watching one too many episodes of Forged in Fire, I felt inspired to build a forge—and I’ve been crafting custom, one-of-a-kind blades ever since.

This fall I tasked myself with making Damascus knives with elk antler handles to give as Christmas presents. I made 10 in total. I cut out, stamped, hardened, acid etched, and sharpened. Each time through I improved the process a little more.

First I fine tuned how much material I removed to limit grinding with the sander. Then adjusted sanding grit configuration to improve time to edge. Finally I adjusted tang size and orientation to better seat in the elk antler handle.

All in all I love to create things and I love to improve the automation process while doing that. I suspect a lot of my fellow developers are the same way. What hobbies do you have that mirror the qualities you bring to your job?