First Post: A Little Biography

Source: Dev.to

Introduction

Hello, my name is Jay.

Growing up, I wanted to follow in my dad’s footsteps and become an engineer—and I did, just not in the way I originally expected.

Early Life and Education

My dad is a Professional Engineer licensed under Engineers and Geoscientists BC (EGBC) and works as a structural engineer. Fascinated by his work, I initially set out to become a structural engineer myself. During my undergraduate studies I took courses in calculus, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and other engineering fundamentals. I pursued that path for two years until I realized something:

Structural engineering might not be for me.

Transition to Software

The turning point came when I took my first programming class in Python—and I loved it. I quickly realized I had a knack for programming. Although I wasn’t particularly good at it at the time, the idea that a few carefully written instructions in a Python file could create something useful was exhilarating, and I wanted to learn more.

A group of students in my program were transferring to a nearby Mechatronics Engineering program, which included electronics, controls, robotics, and programming—everything that interested me. After discussions and paperwork with my college, I successfully transferred into the program.

Side note: If you’re wondering whether I should have studied Computer Science or Computer Engineering instead, you’d be right. I chose Mechatronics because I wanted to work with both hardware and software, and the program was much closer to home.

I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechatronics Engineering.

Career at Sanctuary AI

The next challenge was finding a job. I applied to around 50 companies and received little to no response. Just as I was beginning to doubt myself, I reached out to someone I had previously interviewed with at Sanctuary AI during my undergraduate years. They gave me an opportunity.

I studied relentlessly, passed the technical and culture‑fit interviews, and joined Sanctuary AI as a firmware engineer. I’m still there today, and I genuinely enjoy what I do—which is one of the reasons I created this DEV account.

Goals and Community

My goal here is to share insights, participate in discussions, write about engineering topics, and showcase interesting debugging stories from my work and personal projects. As I continue to grow in my career, I hope to document that journey and share lessons learned along the way.

I strongly believe in community and collaboration. To me, progress happens when people share knowledge and learn from one another. If you’d like to connect, feel free to reach out through email or any of my social channels. I’d love to meet and learn from other like‑minded developers.