Name: John Lindsay
Role: Senior Embedded Engineer
Bio: After his dreams of winning the World Rally Championship were crushed by a complete lack of talent, he became an engineer and now has over 20 years’ experience developing electronic and software products for major companies worldwide in the broadcast, networking and defence sectors.
What does a typical day look like?
There is no typical day, as with working in a start-up your focus needs to change by the hour. This can range from customer meetings and architecting new systems along with hopefully getting some time to do actual software and hardware development work!
What are you currently working on?
Currently my main focus is to commercialise our protocol for the IoT space. This involves a new embedded software and hardware architecture to interface with client systems.
What inspired you to join this company in particular?
The chance to get experience in the cybersecurity sector and learn something new. In Belfast this is a sector that is currently buzzing with the Titanic area becoming a cybersecurity hub, so it's a good time to get involved.
Did you always want to work in this industry (tech)?
From an early age I knew I wanted to do something in science or engineering. I think the turning point was seeing electronic demos with flashing LED counters and speech waveforms on an oscilloscope at school. I was intrigued and many hours were spent burning holes in things with soldering irons trying to build various projects.
What’s your favourite part about your work?
The best bit is undoubtedly getting systems and hardware running for the first time. This stage invariably comes after months of planning, designing and developing a sum of smaller parts. So, it's always cool (and a big relief) when a system fires up and runs for the first time. Even though it generally then falls over and is the start of more debugging, testing and verifying against a customer's ever-changing wish list!
What would you say to other people considering a job in this industry (tech)?
Go for it, it is a rewarding career choice where you get to make a difference. It is great to be part of something that has real outcomes and tangible results. It's a great chance to work on hardware from bare metal through to application programming. Every day you learn something new so it never gets boring.
How do you see this technology impacting on our lives?
With IoT endpoints pitched to rise exponentially in the coming years and set to revolutionise Industry 4.0, security concerns will only become more prevalent. In the past, IoT devices have had (sometimes deservedly) bad press due to the ease with which they have been hacked. Angoka is seeking to partner with companies to provide the security side of the puzzle, allowing developers and product designers to focus on the key features and added value their devices can bring to the market.
Who inspired you to work in this field?
There have been many people over the years who have inspired and helped me along the way.
What do you consider to be the most important tech innovation or development in recent years?
A cliché! But the biggest impact on life has to be the rise of the Internet. It is difficult to believe we ever survived without it.
What tech gadget could you not live without?
In a world full of tech and a life surrounded by gadgets it's hard to choose, the obvious ones are phones and connected devices, but I have to admit that I would really miss my Fitbit, if I had to give it up.
