Angus Gother recently joined our Research & Development team as a Senior Software Engineer. We caught up with Angus to find out a little more about him and his role at Online Electronics.
1. Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m a senior software engineer. That means that I know something about the processes, approaches, and tools for doing software development. My experience has been in developing and supporting mostly line of business applications for companies in the Oil and Gas, Chemicals, Manufacturing, and Care sectors.
I’m a South African who moved from Durban to Aberdeen in 2001. I have settled in Scotland, got married here, and am looking forward to what the future holds.
My wife and I like to travel when we can. We enjoy the occasional holiday back to South Africa to visit my mother and sometimes other family members. We also like going to Fuengirola in Spain, visiting friends in the USA, or taking a cruise. Sometimes we travel within the UK to visit family in Scotland or England.
I also give my wife a hand with looking after our Labradoodles and enjoy reading Science Fiction and Fantasy. I’ve taken an interest in a range of subjects from History, Geography and Science, so could be an absolute gold mine of nearly useless information!
2. What is your background and how did you get into the industry?
I was always curious about computers while I was growing up, but never got the chance to indulge my curiosity. My parents didn’t have the resources to get me a computer, which was a very expensive item in 1980’s and early 1990’s South Africa. I finally got a chance to learn about the subject during my last two years of High School, taking an optional subject for my Matric (South African school leaving qualification).
I went on to complete a BSc degree in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics with the Faculty of Science at the University of Natal, Durban.
After I completed my studies, I went to work for a small company in Durban as a junior software developer. After three years there, I was able to take an opportunity to come to the UK in 2001, starting with Technology Managers in Aberdeen.
I spent the next six years learning a lot about developing and supporting time writing, HR, and care scheduling systems. I then spent a brief year at Global Energy Group before starting at PSN in Aug 2008. I did a lot at PSN, supporting the merger with Wood Group, and moving gradually from an application development role to an application support role.
When I was made redundant in June 2020, I decided that I wanted to return to software development. I started a new role with EPIC Tracking in Mar 2021 as a software engineer. I made several contributions to their mustering and evacuation system, learning a lot about improvements to software engineering that I had missed during the previous 15 years. I was promoted to Senior Software Engineer in May 2022 in recognition of my efforts and contributions.
3. Can you explain what your role at Online Electronics entails?
On a day-to-day basis, I will be supporting the rest of the R&D team in developing changes to the existing software applications that are required for projects and change requests. The biggest change is likely to be enabling the parallel development of software changes while other work is ongoing. This should result in better outcomes for the R&D team.
In the longer term, there is lots to do. I will be investigating ways to improve the software application development, release, and versioning processes. I will help develop and implement the longer-term strategy for software product improvement.
We will be looking to simplify our software offering while improving our capabilities for configuring and monitoring Online’s products.
We want to move the software to a true cross-platform basis, with applications able to run on Windows, Android or Apple devices with a consistent appearance and suitable functionality on those platforms.
4. What are you most looking forward to in your role at Online Electronics?
It is very exciting to be breaking ground in a new role. The vision for the role offers many opportunities for me to leverage my experience and expertise, while continuing to improve my software engineering skills and grow my personal capabilities.