For our Senior Data Engineer, Lewis, tinkering with computers was all fun and games from very early on. By the age of 12-13, he was already experimenting with Visual Basic and C#, and even building an early facial recognition solution that scanned and compared pictures against vector templates. While other kids were swapping football cards, Lewis was having the time of his life, coding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No surprise that programming also turned into a career for Lewis. He started as a Full-stack Engineer, later also lending a hand in customer experience. At UpCloud, he shifted gears into the world of data as well. Sideways, upwards \u2014 career growth has had many shapes for our zestful Lewis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lewis first crossed paths with UpCloud when he was evaluating cloud providers at his previous employer. Already fascinated by the cloud, he quickly realized this was the domain he wanted to build his career in. Traditional web hosting? Too small. Real cloud infrastructure<\/a>? That was the big league.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So when the chance came to join UpCloud, the decision wasn\u2019t hard. Here was a company that not only built its own products but also offered an easy-going group of like-minded people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In his varying roles, Lewis\u2019s days are never quite the same. A significant portion of his time and focus is spent building and evolving UpCloud\u2019s own data platform. His team is making sure the gathered and modeled data answers the right questions, not just piling up for the sake of it. How all this is done, at the end of the day, determines how the company will grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other times, Lewis is programming, which is still very exciting for him, too. In all of this, he still has the same spark as back in the days of a 12-year-old, \u201cmaking your own toys\u201d, so to speak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now and then, Lewis is also the company\u2019s social media ambassador, bringing a human touch to the cloud. \u201cSure, people compare specs and performance of clouds \u2014 but it\u2019s also cool for them to see the people behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lewis recalls one of his \u201caha\u201d moments. The cloud really<\/em> is just someone else\u2019s computer! – Except, at UpCloud, of course, it\u2019s our<\/em> computer. \u201cGoing to the data centers<\/a> and seeing the actual machines is pretty cool,\u201d he admits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Generally, lightbulb moments and deep discussions that lead to those, are the very fabric of what it\u2019s like to work at UpCloud. Colleagues become friends, and random office banter may become the most intriguing talk you’ve had in a while!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of all the projects Lewis has worked on, one stands out: the audit log service. \u201cWe built it from scratch, and it hasn\u2019t ever failed because it can\u2019t afford to. It just runs constantly.\u201d It wasn\u2019t just the technical challenge that made it special, but the teamwork. \u201cWe had to go through every single engineer in this company, talking to each of them, when deciding what to do. It was hefty, but really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking ahead, Lewis sees the biggest challenge \u2014 and opportunity \u2014 as physical. \u201cWe literally need more computers. More racks. It\u2019s a hurdle, but an exciting one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nWearing many hats and a bit of showmanship<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Lightbulb moments in the world of cloud<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Building something to be proud of<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Out-of-this-world camaraderie<\/h2>\n\n\n\n