Native Mobile Teams (Android & iOS)
The Native Mobile software engineering teams lead the way for all Native App Development in Enova across all Brands and Countries.We have two teams one Android and one iOS. Our intent is to grow both teams over the coming year and we have a number of open positions for Mobile Engineers and Test Engineers. Our intent is to build two mobile app platform/white label Apps(one iOS and one Android).
iOS Team Name: Voyager – CNU & OnStride Apps
We have one legacy App that we will rebuild ver the next year. We have built two products within our iOS platform one US-based and one UK-based.
The iOS Team works with Swift/Xcode.
Android Team Name: Middlebits – Simplic App
For Android we have built a simple app for Brazil, for which we will build out throughout the year our plan is to build out another App. Over time we will build a number of frameworks to build out our Android platform.
The Android Team works with Java/Android SDK
How do your Apps talk to our backend?
The two teams also work on a Ruby/Rails stack for building out our Mobile endpoints that talk to our 1st generation backend stack and 2nd generation backend stack(Mobilatron). We are also experimenting with GraphQL for one Brand.
Challenges
- Choosing the right technology stack
- Designing a good mobile UX/UI that works across all of our products
- Highly abstracted code base
- Communication across multiple platforms – with different languages, multiple versions and varied architectural approaches
- Interfacing with a large number of different business and product teams
- Working with products in different countries, languages, cultures and financial regulations
- Testing on iOS
Team members
Name: Michael Blatter
Nationality: American
Role: Senior Mobile Engineer (iOS Team)
Who am I: Quiet, shy, a little dry, and try to be decent to people as much as possible. Enjoy learning and trying new things but nothing really holds my attention too long.
Background: Grew up in the Chicago suburbs. Started programming pretty early but gave it up after high school and got a degree in construction management. Graduated at the start of the Great Recession and combined with my laziness in school had to switch career paths. Worked my way up doing web development leading eventually to my current role as a mobile developer.
For Fun: Reading (Top 100 Fiction), watercolor painting, Call of Duty, tv/couch time, hiking, and going to start climbing next spring.
Links: Github
Name: Eric Brooke
Nationality: Dual British/Canadian (and my mother was Argentine)
Role: Software Engineer Manager (Manage Android and iOS Teams)
Who am I: I am open, playful, direct and driven. I love to laugh, I am very curious, and find the best in people. I am less than perfect, but love to learn.
Background: Raised by a computer engineer, first programmed on a ZX81. After a career as a chef, I studied Computer Science (University of Hertfordshire, UK). Then I worked in communication, training, leadership and politics for 15 years getting most of my MBA from the Open University, before moving to Canada. After sometime as VP Marketing, I realized I missed the act of creation. I built a startup, failed and then after two years of evening classes at community college (and working for Apple) I became an engineer in a bunch of startups. I grew through the ranks experimenting with both Dev Ops and Product. I left Canada to work for Enova.
For Fun: Board Games, Roleplaying Games, Cooking, Reading, Writing (Science Fiction), 4X Space computer games, traveling (I have lived in 14 countries)
Links: Linkedin, Goodreads, Blog
Name: Rachel Caileff
Nationality: American (US)
Role: Lead Software Test Engineer (iOS Team)
Who am I: I am a somewhat snarky introvert who gets obsessive about details. I love cooperative games because I am competitive but want to work with, not against, other people; cooperative games let us all win or lose together.
Background: Raised by a perfectionist in the South, I fled to MIT where I got my BS in Computer Science and Engineering (sounds fancy, doesn’t it). After 2 jobs as a software developer I decided I needed a change. I spent a while working in construction (yes, the putting up buildings kind of construction), passed some time as a bakery cashier, had a fabulous time mentoring visitors in their explorations of the math and science behind computers at the Boston Museum of Science, and picked up a Masters in Teaching (specializing in high school math). At that point I tripped over a software job that sounded interesting and spent 4 years as a Test Engineer at Google. My wife got accepted to med school in Illinois so I followed her here and started working at Enova in my current role.
For Fun: Reading (sci-fi, fantasy, fanfic, mystery, …), Board Games, Watching Netflix, Roleplaying Games, World of Warcraft (on an RP server, of course)
Links: Linkedin
Name: Gopi Guntupalli
Nationality: Indian
Role: Senior Software Engineer (Android Team)
Who am I: I am an introvert (shy) who talks less than most people but thinks way more often. I like to explore and am hungry to learn more.
Background: Born and brought up in a South Indian middle-class family where both my grandfathers are farmers. My favorite subject in school was maths and I chose the engineering stream like most Indians. With an Information Systems degree from BITS-Pilani, started my career as Software Engineer building enterprise web applications using Java and XML. Left that job to pursue a Masters in Management Information systems from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Enova found me.
For Fun: Play cricket, racquet ball, running, hangout with friends, traveling and reading
Name: Dan Olsen
Nationality: American
Role: UI Designer
Who am I: I believe every question is worth asking, quick wit is a virtue and I love intelligent comedy. If there is a problem then there is a solution and I want to find it; if there is already a solution then I want to find a better one.
Background: Lifelong Chicago area resident. I have a creative background in film, theatrical scenic design and graphic design. I have a Bachelor’s in Communication and Media from DePaul University and am a current master’s student at the University of Chicago.
For Fun: Avid reader, podcast listener, video game player, theatre-goer, city explorer, seven-and-half-hour sleeper, and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos consumer.
Links: olsen.me
Name: Nick Matelli
Nationality: US
Role: Mobile Engineer (iOS Team)
Name: Bill Best
Nationality: American
Role: Lead Mobile Engineer (Android Team)
Who am I: A technologist at heart, I eat, breathe and sleep new information. I love surrounding myself with diverse groups of people because it means I always have something new to learn.
Background: I grew up in the small town of Marietta in Lancaster County, PA. I started tinkering with electronics, or in actuality, breaking electronics to see how they worked. I soon found that programming provided me the opportunity to break things while having the advantage of being able to undo my changes. After college, a friend hooked me up with my first software gig doing Android app development at a time when there were only a handful Android phones on the market. I packed my car and drove to Chicago having only visited once prior. Today, I’ve spent the better part of a decade doing what I love: learning new technologies and getting to build cool stuff.
For Fun: Video games (Overwatch, Rocket League, TF2), hobby electronics, and learning anything I can about new technologies. Spending time with my wife.
Links: Github