Welcome!

Hello there! My name is Matthew, and my interest in creating video game content is what jumpstarted my journey into software development. Professionally, I've been developing software focused on business process automation for the past 6+ years.

What first sparked my interest in programming was participation in custom plugin development for a Minecraft community around 2012-2013. I would sit in with the community's dedicated plugin developers and we would pitch ideas to each other for custom server events, minigames, game overhauls, etc. They helped me get started with the basics of programming, and with some dedication I was eventually able to assist with basic tasks and expansions to their work.

Over the next few years I worked in a network operations center, tasked with monitoring networking equipment, managing outages, and resolving issues via remote device provisioning where possible. I used my downtime to build various tools with Python and Javascript to automate tedious day-to-day tasks, utilizing various internal and third-party APIs, and shared those tools within the work group. I learned the query language for the company's log aggregation and data visualization software, and managers would send me requests for various charts and reports.

In 2017 a small group of friends and I decided to pursue our shared interest in game development, and we founded an LLC - tinyEnt Studios. We used our free time to develop our first creation - a free game written in Unity with both endless runner and shoot-em-up elements titled Creamed.

In late 2017 I secured a software developer position at Lumen Technologies, in a small group focused on business process improvement and automation. The team has grown substantially since I first joined, and I've contributed numerous improvements to our workflow over the years - from implementation of automation health alert notifications to the design of a robust and resilient framework optimized for our team's needs. Today, I handle new projects, team mentoring, code reviews, technical interviews, database management, reporting, and everything in between.