Working With Rails

As well as being an avid Ruby Developer, I’m fond of Python and PHP, and was one of the first 1000 Zend Certified Engineers. I closely follow the Open Web Application Security Project and have had to gain a broad knowledge of data security in order to comply with the Payment Card Industry’s strict Data Security Standards. You can browse my current open-source projects in the Projects section or simply look at the code on my GitHub page.

For hobbies, you’ll find me reading Discworld novels or brushing up on my spoken Japanese and French. I love to travel and aim to see as much of the world as is humanly possible in my lifetime. I’m an active member of the Scottish Ruby User Group.

Currently I am employed by Purchasing Card Consultancy Limited, where I lead, and work closely with, a team of developers working on software for use within the Payment Card Industry and the public sector. Our software, products and services are in use by large companies, government agencies and health boards throughout the UK, Europe and the wider World.

Through my employment, I have gained first-hand experience of building high-dependency systems of a financial nature within the payment card industry and the public sector and solving the scalability and security challenges that these solutions brought.

I was the architect of and the lead engineer involved in the implementation of the technical solution my employer uses for PCI DSS Compliance.

I was educated at Adam Smith College (Fife College at the time) in Kirkcaldy and then the University of Abertay, Dundee. I have over four years of experience in developing with Ruby and over eight years experience in developing with PHP and other less interesting languages.

I’m well versed in all W3C standards from XHTML / HTML5 to Accessibility, with a good understanding of web-application security and the guidelines and recommendations of OWASP. I am a proud proponent of Agile development methodologies and an active member of the Ruby community both online and locally with the Scottish Ruby User Group.