Cole is the Web Developer at Kai Analytics and is responsible for helping bring Unigrams to you. He was born and raised in Langley, BC and is pursuing his degree in computer science at Thompson Rivers University. He loves playing video games with friends and playing music.
Welcome to the team, Cole! How are you settling in?
Really good, thanks for asking! This new job has definitely been challenging, but in a good way. I am working on a lot of aspects of web development that I haven’t had a chance to try before, and that is exactly what I wanted. So that’s been great!
Tell me a little bit about your role and what you are working on right now.
So, my role at Kai Analytics is Web Developer. Right now, I am helping out with melding the back-end, the actual software, of Unigrams (the qualitative analysis platform for higher education that Kai Analytics will be officially launching soon) with the front-end, the visual aspect of the platform.
I am helping out with melding the back-end, the actual software, of Unigrams (the qualitative analysis platform for higher education that Kai Analytics will be officially launching soon) with the front-end, the visual aspect of the platform.
Basically, I am finalizing the scripts of the platform through an API and connecting the HTML of the front-end of the website to the back-end, so everything is connected and runs smoothly. I also do server hosting, implementing the data base, things like that.
What inspired you to work in web development?
Web development is something that I came around to on my own because even though I did a little bit of web development in school, most of my degree focused on programming fundamentals. At my first job, at XOMBO, I really got to try web development and I had a lot of fun with it. That really solidified my interest in web development and set me on the career path that I am on right now.
How did you find out about Kai Analytics and what made you excited to work here?
That’s actually kind of a funny story. I’ve known Kai, the founder and CEO of Kai Analytics, since my second year of university because I interviewed at Kai Analytics about a year ago. I might have even interviewed for Colin’s role, but I am not sure. At the time, Kai was working on Unigrams and the natural language processing aspect of it, so what ended up happening was that Kai hired a PhD student as he wanted someone more experienced. But he was so impressed by my interview that he recommended me to the person that would become the boss at my first job! He recommended me to Nolte at XOMBO and I worked there for about a year, and then the opportunity opened up at Kai Analytics to do something that was more in my field and here I am now!
What are you most looking forward to accomplishing and learning at Kai Analytics?
I really want to learn how to set up multi-complicated systems. At my previous job, a lot of that foundational stuff was already set up so I never got to understand how it all worked, as I mainly maintained the systems that were already put together. But I was always curious about those initial implementation processes – how to start web applications, how the server hosting works, how to make sure that the whole software development cycle runs smoothly, how to do automatic integrations and deployment, things like that.
I was always curious about those initial implementation processes – how to start web applications, how the server hosting works, how to make sure that the whole software development cycle runs smoothly, how to do automatic integrations and deployment, things like that.
But if we are talking about more immediate goals, I would say that my goal is to get the web application done and hosted by the deadline on June 9.
What do you like to do outside of work?
Usually after work I like to cook. I’ve started to meal prep for the week recently and I’ve also gotten back into reading; right now, I am reading Dune by Frank Herbert. I also like to play video games with my friends and most of my friends are online now, because well, COVID-19. And that’s the thing, there simply isn’t much to do right now because of the pandemic. But one of the few activities that I enjoyed even before COVID-19 that I got to continue doing was going for walks, so I’ve been doing that a lot too.
What’s the best concert that you’ve ever been to?
I have been to a lot of small festivals but I haven’t been to a ton of big concerts. The one that comes to mind is Imagine Dragons, in like 2012. That was a really fun concert.
But if we are counting musicals as concerts too, then I would say Les Miserables. I saw it a couple of years ago and that was really good!