People of Interact: Ewan Kilpatrick, Employee of the Year 2022
Ewan Kilpatrick, Software Engineer and Interact’s 2022 Employee of the Year kickstarts our 2023 ‘People of Interact’ interview series! Through ‘People of Interact’, we aim to spotlight the incredible work our team does, celebrating the achievements and journeys our individuals undertake.
Ewan talks about his transition from physics graduate to Software Engineer, his work on Interact’s search architecture, and his other life as a musical virtuoso.
Ewan, tell us about your background… ⚙️
I joined Interact after graduating from university. I studied physics, but I was looking for a new challenge in an area I was less familiar with, which also focussed on problem-solving and lateral thinking.
There was a very steep learning curve starting out as a Software Engineer, but that was what I was looking for as I’ve always been more for the jump-in-the-deep-end and learn-by-doing kind of approach.
I hope to continue getting exposure to new things all the time, and remain out of my comfort zone!
What does your day-to-day look like? 💻
The best thing is that my day-to-day is totally varied. Generally though, I am either investigating and resolving bugs and defects or introducing new bugs and defects by building new product features.
You’ll usually find me staring wide-eyed into a screen of code, hoping that if I look at it look enough it will miraculously start working correctly.
How would you describe yourself in 3 words? 🤔
It’s a feature.
What/ who inspires you? 💫
What: Music – how something as apparently mundane as a melody on top of harmony can invoke feelings that words will just fail to justify.
Who: The genuinely selfless people among us – those you see putting others above themselves with no ulterior motive or promise of reward. And also, people who are seriously passionate about things – when you see their face light up as they talk about it. Even when what they’re passionate about is toadstools or something.
What are the best things about your job? 🎉
It’s honestly just fun solving puzzles! Whether it be resolving defects or building the shiny new features, software engineering really feels like a great big game, with huge arrays (pun not intended) of different ways for approaching things.
There’s something to be learned in every single thing you do, and you’re always fully aware that however well you’ve done something, there’s something else you could have considered, something to take away from the process, and something you’ll do better next time.
Do you have a favorite project that you’ve worked on? 🌟
Getting down and dirty with the search architecture within the product. This was a great personal challenge to understand and look to improve a large and complex area of the codebase, and promises to lead to some fun and exciting new features soon…
Why is Interact a good place to work? 📣
You’re not only surrounded by remarkable people but remarkably selfless and generous people. There are some of the brightest and best working at Interact. Everyone is genuinely committed to working with each other and helping each other improve. The tech leadership is really hands-on, positive, and creative – no individual is “too small” to have their ideas and opinions heard.
And finally, what do you enjoy doing when you are not working? 🧗🎻
I play a lot of music, particularly piano and violin, and enjoy composing too. In another lifetime I would have pursued music after school rather than physics. I’m not sure how that turned out though. Other than that, I’m into kickboxing, climbing, and running.
At Interact, we’re constantly on the lookout for talented Engineers and Software Developers to join our technical teams.
You can view our live vacancies here.
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Learn more about working at Interact here.
