Hi 👋
I'm Kieran, a Software Engineer based in Bridgend, South Wales.
I'm an enthusiastic, yet realistic, developer with an eye for performance and future enhancement.
As I progress both professionally and personally, I aim to become an engineer who can turn their hand at anything.
Skills Summary
- Python
- HTML5
- CSS
- JavaScript
- PHP
- C#
- .NET
- AWS
- Docker
- Git
- GitHub
- REST and GraphQL APIs
- SQL (Microsoft SQL Server, SQLite, PostgreSQL, Oracle)
- SQL Server Reporting Services
- Power Bi
For more information, feel free to reach out on Linkedin or Email! I'm always happy to chat about my skills and experiences.
↓ Contact me ↓Places I've Worked
Nov' 2024 - Present | Newport
Working within Digital Innovation to produce, deliver and maintain a range of innovative software solutions. Within this role I:
- Develop and maintain applications using a range of technologies.
- Work with a range of stakeholders to understand requirements and deliver solutions appropriate to their needs.
- Deploy solutions to cloud environments, such as AWS, having an awareness of security and any maintenance required within our architecture.
- Produce well-tested and standardised code using a range of testing and linting utilities.
- Review code of others and provide constructive criticism.
- Work within an agile environment, using Jira and Confluence to manage workloads and document solutions.
- Mentor less experienced developers, such as year in industry students, to help progress their careers.
- Suggest technical improvements to our existing systems, to improve our efficiency and better organise our digital landscape.
I work with a range of technologies within this role, such as:
- Python.
- HCL / Terraform.
- HTML, CSS, Javascript.
- Python web frameworks like Flask and Streamlit.
- SQL.
- Docker.
- REST and GraphQL APIs.
I gained this position through open and fair competition within the Civil Service, using my previous apprenticeship experience to help me secure the role. I am aiming to continue to climb the ranks as a software engineer, and to continue to develop my skills and knowledge within the field.
Feb' 2024 - Nov' 2024 | Newport
Within this role, I worked on a range of projects to help ensure developer standards, best practice and productivity. I gained this position through my degree apprenticeship with Network 75. As a Network 75 Software Engineer, I gained a range of experience with regards to commercial software development, such as the importance of accessibility and security within applications, and the importance of testing and documentation. In this position, I also managed to gain a range of technical skills and boost my hobbyist knowledge of software development (particularly with Python) to a more professional level. I gained a lot of experience with cloud architecture and deployment procedures, as well as the importance of version control and CI/CD pipelines.
Dec' 2023 - Feb' 2024 | Newport
As a Power Bi Developer, I worked alongside DST Resource to create a range of Power Bi dashboards to provide greater financial insights within DST. The role involved working with non-technical stakeholders to understand their requirements and deliver solutions that met their needs. I often had to work with large unstructured datasets, and had to use a range of techniques to clean and transform the data into a usable format. Within this position, I also had to introduce development standards (such as version history notes) and upskill other members of the team to help them understand the capabilities of Power Bi and how to use it effectively. This would ultimately allow the team to become more self-sufficient, reduce their reliance on external developers and produce and maintain their own dashboards.
Sep' 2022 - Oct' 2023 | Taff's Well
During my time at UKWDG, I worked on a range of projects regarding databases and reporting, using technologies such as SQL, SSRS and Power Bi. In the role, I experienced a scrum routine, attending daily stand-ups and sprint reviews. I worked on various Help Desk tickets for non-technical users, and was responsible for the maintenance and development of a range of databases and reports. This position allowed me to work with large, relational datasets and to understand the importance of data integrity and security. I also gain experience around database/report performance tuning, data warehousing techniques, and the development of triggers, stored procedures and functions.
Towards the end of my time at UKWDG, I also started to investigate the Angular framework, and began to develop a range of small applications to help me understand the framework and its capabilities. This would allow me to become a self-sufficient developer and handle tickets across the full stack. In addition to Angular, I also had some exposure to Android Studio and Kotlin, being used within the shop floor's barcoding system.
Things I've Done
Education
University | In Progress...
BSc (Hons) Computing @ the University of South Wales (2022 - 2027).
Studies include:
- C# Development using .NET.
- Web Development using PHP, HTML5, CSS and JavaScript.
- Exposure to Content Management System such as Drupal and Joomla.
- Database Development, SQL and Spacial Databases.
- Networking and Operating System theory.
- Project Management and Professional Practice
A full course overview can be found here.
A-Levels
Subject | Grade |
---|---|
Computer Science | A* |
Mathematics | A* |
Physics | A* |
Welsh Baccalaureate | A* |
Studied at Coleg Cymunedol y Dderwen and Brynteg Comprehensive School under the WJEC examination board. |
GCSEs
Obtained 14 GCSEs at A*, including English, Mathematics, Computer Science, Addition Mathematics and Physics. Studied at Coleg Cymunedol y Dderwen, under the WJEC examination board (2020).
Achievements
- EESW Gold Crest Award 2020-21 in collaboration with Sony.
- The Brilliant Club 2021 (Grade 2:1).
- UK Bebras Challenge Elite 2021 (Distinction).
Projects
To see my projects, please visit my GitHub.
Stuff I Use
Hardware
PC
My PC is a custom build, with the following specs:- MSI X570S Torepedo Max
- AMD Ryzen 7 5800x
- AMD 6950XT
- 32GB DDR4 RAM @ 3000MHz
- Corsair RMx 1000 Shift
- Phanteks P500A
HP Laptop
- HP Pavillion 15-eh0009sa
- AMD Ryzen 4500U
- AMD Radeon Graphics
- 32GB DDR4 3200MHz
MacBook Pro
- 2019 16" MacBook Pro
- 8-core Intel i9 @ 2.3GHz
- AMD Radeon Pro 5500M
- 16GB DDR4 2666MHz
Software
OS
I daily drive Windows 10 (11 soon?) on both my PC and Laptop, and use MacOS on my MacBook Pro. On my Windows machines, I use Ubuntu WSL2 for development purposes as I prefer Linux's terminal.
In the future, I would like to migrate to a Linux distro as my daily driver for my laptop, making use of a virtual machine or portable installation of Windows for any software that requires it. I'd probably either move to Ubuntu (for simplicity and ease of installation) or Arch (to challenge myself).
IDEs
I primarily use Visual Studio Code for development, with a range of extensions to help me with my workflow. I enjoy VSCode's flexibility to work with a range of languages. I would like to explore JetBrains' suite of IDEs in the future, as I have heard good things about their capabilities. Although, I do not plan to move away from VSCode any time soon.
Other Useful Tools
Some notable tools I use include:
- Yazi - Terminal based file manager for MacOS.
- MkDocs - Static site generator from markdown for code documentation.
- Draw.io - Useful for any designs or mock-ups.
- Amethyst - MacOS tiling window manager.