Each quarter, between two and four promising junior developers from the Portland tech community are selected for DevelopmentNow’s Velocity, a five week incubator program designed to help accelerate their careers. Velocity participants design and build their own production-grade product with the help of DevelopmentNow staff. The Velocity program was put into effect with the goal of fostering talent in our community. Our team of designers, developers, and project managers guide participants through all of the phases of product development, and mentor them using the same methodologies we implement for client projects.
Our current pair of inspired developers, Nathaniel Meyer and Janek Brandt, are on their second week of their adventure with the DevelopmentNow team. Nate and Janek are hard at work exploring the possibilities of an application that helps track and encourage participation in household chores for children. In the first weeks of the program, the Velocity developers engage in a mini-discovery of research, brainstorming and proof of concept, then eventually begin building an MVP.
Velocity participants retain the intellectual property rights for what they build. Nate and Janek will be able to continue working on their idea even after the program is over, and have the opportunity to network their idea as a portfolio piece in their career search.
Meet our Velocity team:
NATHANIEL
Nathaniel studied at Tufts University in Massachusetts. He has worked as a QA Software Engineer for Authoria, a Program Manager for Riverside Publishing in San Francisco, and a Senior QA Engineer at Amplify before attending Epicodus, a vocational school for aspiring programmers.
I’m a software veteran making a move from QA to development. I was eager to intern here after hearing DevelopmentNow employees give presentations to the local coding community. I was especially attracted to DevNow’s early adoption of new languages and technologies. Needless to say I was delighted when they chose me. My goal is to continue improving as a developer in either back-end Java or Android.
JANEK
Janek studied at Central Michigan University, where he received his Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology. He has worked as an IT Intern for Brose in Coburg, Germany, and as a Network Support and IT Support Representative for Verifone before joining the Java/Android track at Epicodus.
When I started the Java/Android track at Epicodus I wasn’t sure what kind of programming I wanted to do after completing the program. However, when we started working with Android I fell in love with it and quickly realized that I wanted to have a career in mobile development. I was really excited that I got matched with Development Now for my internship. The internship experience that Development Now offers is a unique opportunity to build an Android app with the guidance and support of professional developers. I’m really excited to be able to learn about the development process and best practices through the mentorship they provide.
Stay tuned to see what our Velocity interns build! For more information about us, visit our About page.
