Gravitywho? Ellis Hughes

In this series, I interview the award-winning team of creative geeks, thinkers and grafters, one by one.

 

Hey Ellis! Where are you from and how long have you been at Gravitywell?

I am from South Wales and have been at Gravitywell for around a month!

Cymru am byth! What’s the best thing about working here (so far)?

The diversity of work - it’s been great to get my hands on different projects and contribute to them early on.

Who would be your dream client and what would you like to work on for them?

If I could work on any project no matter the experience required it would be SpaceX’s Crew Dragon interface. The dev team at SpaceX have done AMA’s in the past and talked about how they use web-based components for the astronauts to interact with the vehicle. Being able to work on a project of that scale doing things nobody else is currently doing would be incredible.

Mars would be cool, although I'm more of a Snickers guy myself. So, how did you get into software development?

I had worked for around 4 years in infrastructure but wasn’t enjoying it anymore. I had some friends who had been working in development for a few years and suggested I look to see if it’s something I would enjoy. I gave it a try and fortunately, it stuck.

Well, infrastructure's loss is our gain! What’s your advice for someone wanting to get into development?

Don’t try to learn everything, focus on understanding what needs to be done and where you can find that information (documentation / MDN etc.) rather than trying to remember it from memory.

Sound advice. I tend to not remember anything, either. How about the worst thing about being a developer?

Internet explorer 🙄 On a serious note though maybe tunnel vision of working on the same bug/feature for too long. You can start to miss easy-to-spot things, and it’s good to have a fresh set of eyes to look at the problem.

Devs and bugs, like peas in a pod. What’s your favourite piece of tech and why?

Unfortunately my phone. As much as I’d like to say we shouldn’t depend on them, the convenience makes them essential. Being able to replace my home phone, sat nav, wallet, watch, calendar, etc. all with one small piece of tech, is something I couldn’t live without.

Agreed! Most importantly, what's your Hackathon dream destination?

Hawaii. A recent trip has left me wanting to return, despite the 17 total hours of flying…

Okay, you've just made me very jealous. Finally, what’s the best-kept secret in Bristol?

I’m not too familiar with Bristol, but on my first visit to the office, we went to an Asian restaurant called Tuk Tuck which I would highly recommend!

A huge thank you to Ellis for being interviewed.

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