We have some pretty impressive employees here at Datacubed Health — from marathon runners to musicians — we have some eclectic folks in our Datacubed family. And our Employee Spotlight series aims to highlight the talented individuals that work here. Each month we’ll be featuring a Datacubed employee so that you can learn more about the brilliant minds behind our company. For this month’s Employee Spotlight, we spoke with our Senior Frontend Engineer, Joey Wu.
Would you please explain your role at Datacubed Health?
I am a Senior Frontend Engineer at Datacubed. I oversee the development of all of our web platforms and the tasks we have in our mobile app. My team works cross-functionally with almost everyone within the company. We work with the product and design team to refine our build. We work closely with the quality assurance folks to ensure that what we developed works correctly. The science team and frontend teams often pick each other’s brains regarding the development or improvement of new tasks. We interact daily with the mobile team (iOS and Android) regarding the proper development of the tasks within our platform. Everything we develop has to work within our system architecture, — our API, so that means the frontend and backend teams congenially yell at each other –nay, collaborate– daily.
How did you land at Datacubed Health? Can you tell us more about your career journey?
I have an undergraduate degree in finance, but clearly, I did not utilize that degree since I am in engineering now. I worked with my father for a few years after graduating in our family business, specializing in landscaping and sculpture. I’ve always been interested in technology, so after about 8 years working in the family business selling plants and koi fish, I decided to pursue my career in software engineering at a boot camp called App Academy. They have two locations, one in New York and one in California. One of the App Academy alums who worked here was moving to the west coast, so he posted the position on our alumni job Slack channel. I applied, and the rest is history. I’ve been here for about 3 years now and am very happy.
What do you like most about your job at Datacubed Health?
I love the problem-solving part of my job. We, as engineers, are ultimately problem solvers, whether that’s implementing new features, bug fixes, etc. We break down the problem into bite-sized pieces and achieve a solution for our clients. So, from an intellectual standpoint, it’s cool because it’s like solving a puzzle every day. I also really like my interactions with my teammates every day. They are a group of individuals, each with unique and insightful perspectives, and when we overcome any obstacles or challenges, it’s rewarding for the whole team.
After asking work-related questions with Joey, we asked him more personal-related questions.
What motivates you to wake up and work every day?
What motivates me to wake up every day is my making the morning cup of coffee. I like making it. I make pour-over coffee daily, and it’s quite simple but not easy. Many variables go into it, such as the type of coffee beans, the level of coarseness, and temperature control that can lead to making a great-tasting or trash cup of coffee – it’s like solving a puzzle in the morning. Come to think of it, it’s like software, the development of it can be quite simple, but the process is essential.
What is something that most people don’t know about you?
My parents own two peacocks, two literal peacocks. I will not be taking follow-up questions.
Could you please share a quote or motto you live by that could inspire others?
There are two quotes – one being the motto “Carpe Diem.” Whether it’s during work or outside of work, just making meaningful use of your day and time is very important to me. The other one is, “Be who you needed when you were younger.” Having been on such a varied career path, one thing I’ve realized is that for an individual or organization to be successful, we must share our knowledge and empower others.
We simply can’t thank Joey enough for his outstanding contributions to our company over the past 3 years, and we’re so lucky to have him as part of our Datacubed Health family. Be on the lookout for more Employee Spotlight features soon to learn more about the incredible people who work here.