Welcome back to another Friday with Envisage! I’m still going around the office pestering my co-workers for random personal information about them to publish on the internet, so today’s test subject is Matt!
Our newest nerd, Matt has been working with us since January this year, and he hasn’t gone running for the hills yet! (Although he will be headed for Hocking Hills this weekend, but so far we’re still expecting his return on Monday.) Matt’s desk is all the way in the back of the office, near the golf balls and golf club, where he’s usually hiding behind his computer or spying on Nick’s screens. (I jest.) His desk is near the windows with the best views of Kent and the Cuyahoga River, so I happily hung out with him back there for a few minutes while I probed his human mind for potentially valuable information. Here’s Matt!
What was the most valuable thing you learned in college?
Probably… Kind of how important it is to have a good work ethic and putting the fullest effort towards what you want to do… In high school, I kind of skated by, but in college I had to learn how to actually develop a work ethic.
When you’re retired, what do you imagine you’ll do?
Go find some cabin in the mountain.
With really good internet connection!
Right! [laughs]
But by then, there will probably be Wi-Fi everywhere.
Yeah, it’ll be 7G, or whatever G they have at that point.
What’s one non-essential thing you always bring when you travel?
Hm, I’m thinking about the last time I traveled far… It was Japan I think--no! It was when I went out west last year for a wedding. I usually don’t bring a lot of non-essential things with me when I travel; I’m pretty minimalist when I pack. And then, anything small that I didn’t bring, that I need, I’ll just make do or buy it.
What’s your favorite part of your job?
This is the first time at a job where I’ve had to be up-to-date with tech. There’s all this stuff I didn’t know was going on before I began working in this field. Especially since Pat and Nick know so much, and just learning from them. There’s so much I didn’t know about the cyber-security field before this job.
And last… What are your predictions for tech?
Um, I’ll definitely say, I expect to see a lot of virtualization—like VR (virtual reality) type stuff, and a lot of tech that can take people out of the field. Like, I have a friend who’s an architecture student at Kent State and they use a VR head set to “stand inside” virtual buildings they design on the computer. So VR has a lot of use for training purposes, like in construction.
Do you think VR could one day have real-life effects? Like what you do in VR affects reality?
Maybe! Yeah, I’m wondering.
It’s like you bang a hammer in your VR and somewhere, at some construction site, there’s just a bunch of phantom tools working!
[laughs] Yeah, that’s what I’m kind of thinking.
Anything else you want to say?
Uh… Thank you for the interview?
Matt’s apprehension to thank me for bothering him is both hilarious and telling. I left him alone after that.
But I guess that’s all, folks! Matt fits into our nerdy social dynamic very well; he is practical, kind, and a fellow Game of Thrones fan, so we certainly have a lot of fun conversations around our office table! Thanks Matt!
See you next time on The Nerd is Right!