UI Spotlight: Software Engineer Jasper Chauvin

Join us in welcoming the newest member of the Upstate Interactive team, Jasper Chauvin, a Software Engineer extraordinaire.

Hey Jasper! We’re glad to have you aboard. Tell us a little about yourself!

I am a Software Engineer specializing in Front End Web Development and working my way into the blockchain space. In my spare time, I enjoy gaming with friends, long walks, and playing chess. Before graduating from the Hack Reactor Software Engineering Immersive BootCamp, I worked at my local YMCA as a Healthy Living Coach and a ChildWatch Counselor. While working at the YMCA, I had the pleasure of working with a community-focused team and assisting/caring for people in my community of all ages.

Very cool. As you know, we’re very community-oriented here, so that fits really well. Why did you end up leaving the Y?

Although I enjoyed my job at the YMCA, I felt that I was not being challenged in the ways I needed. I started to look for other career possibilities where I could put my values of community and teamwork to use. I wanted a career where I used my brain to solve complex problems and worked with technology, so I started looking into Web Development.

I feel thrilled to be a software engineer, and I’m excited about what’s to come for me. I’m relatively new to the space (I graduated from Hack Reactor over a year ago), so I feel there is still a lot to figure out in terms of what technologies I will use. One of the things I love about Software Engineering is how vast the options are. I love Web Development, but maybe at some point, I’ll branch out to something else.

What led you to work at UI?

I think I’m a somewhat unusual hire. I was on a tough job search right after I graduated from Hack Reactor in the middle of the pandemic. However, I had an excellent experience during the interview process, and I felt like I fit in well with the team. Everything else has been a great experience and a lot of fun for me. I’m looking forward to growing within the company as well as getting to know everyone better.

What are you most excited about in your new role?

I’m most excited about taking on new challenges and using new technologies. I’m ready to put my technical skills to the test and expand my technical knowledge. It’s looking like crypto may be the next thing that I deep dive into, which is very exciting for me. Also, I’ve just started working on two projects simultaneously, which is pretty exciting. I enjoy the challenge, and I’m confident I’ll live up to it.

I’m also fairly excited to work more with my coworkers! Everyone seems so nice, and I’ve really enjoyed working with my current project team members.

I know you were a contractor with us before you moved over to full-time. What’s the most interesting project you’ve been able to work on? (As a UI contractor or otherwise)

As a contractor, I worked on an internal webpage for making payments on a customer’s account for a furniture company. It was interesting to assess a company’s internal needs as well as the specific technical requirements. My job was to rebuild their current page with the newer React framework. The old framework used was SilverLight, an outdated competitor to Flash. Being in charge of the front-end UI as well as some aspects of the design made it an enjoyable and challenging experience.

Is there anything that excites you right now about your local tech scene?

I’m not too knowledgeable about the tech scene here in Houston. I’ve only ever worked and studied remotely, but perhaps I should get more familiar with my tech community. I do know that some bootcamps are very close to where I live. It’s on my to-do list to work part-time as a teacher there when I can. Teaching would be great for me; I’ve always really enjoyed it, and I get very excited when I get the opportunity to help a colleague with a technical problem.

Generally, I’m really excited about changes in the Web Development landscape because the technologies are always improving. Recently, I’ve been learning more about data-fetching techniques (server-side-rendering, client-side-rendering, static-site-generation, etc.). We needed to decide which framework to use on a recent project, and we ended up deciding on the React framework Next.js. It was updated under 2 years ago with the ability to render pages statically or dynamic on a case-by-case basis. This made it the clear choice for our project and made me excited for new standards coming out in Web Development.

Outside of work, what kinds of things can we find you doing?

My current favorite hobby is chess. I enjoy thinking deeply to solve problems understand complex concepts. Chess is a very fun way to do that! I’m also a gamer, and I go through phases where I put many hours into them, especially over the weekend. I grew up playing them, and my favorite memories are the many times I’ve spent hours playing with my younger brother. My love for chess and video games guided me to the software space, as solving complex problems and working closely with technology are so prevalent.

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

I would like to have a superpower that keeps the people that I care about safe. Perhaps super strength or super speed would be good. Super strength is a little bit more fun; I’d like to be strong enough to where I’m much stronger than a human could normally be, but nothing godlike. Perhaps I could lift a car easily, but not a building. That way, I can still live a normal life, and I’m not expected to save the world when the aliens come. Another one would be the ability to fly. I feel that would be very freeing and beautiful. People pay good money to zipline, and I’d be able to do it for free and with more freedom!

Well, if this ever comes through, let me know- I have a dryer that needs moving! Good chatting with you, Jasper!