Kat Crichton-Seager

Creativity in code, images, sound and motion

Full-stack Agile Developer with +14 years of experience writing Ruby and Java using TDD. Customer focused and detail-oriented, I coach teams to utilise software craftsmanship and domain driven design to iteratively deliver products to a budget.

Kat Crichton-Seager in profile

The ideal engineer is a composite... he is not a scientist, he is not a mathematician, he is not a sociologist, or a writer; but he may use the knowledge and techniques of any or all of these disciplines in solving engineering problems. - N. W. Dougherty

3* Years coding

  • Continuous Intgration
  • Microservices
  • Test Driven Development
  • Behaviour Driven
  • Open Source
  • Machine Learning
  • Domain Driven Design
  • Refactoring

1* years of agile

  • Extreme Programming
  • Kanban
  • Pair Programming
  • Scrum
  • Lean
  • DevOps
  • Continuous Delivery

multiple Domains

  • Education
  • Sales & Marketing
  • Mobile
  • Automotive
  • CRM
  • Kiosks
  • Museums
  • Gaming

Most Used Languages

Ruby
Ruby
JavaScript
JavaScript
Java
Java
R-Lang
R-Lang
Cucumber
Cucumber
Bash
Bash
CSS
CSS
Sass
Sass

Most Used Technologies

React
React
Docker
Docker
Chef
Chef
git
git
Redis
Redis
MongoDB
MongoDB
MySQL
MySQL
Ubuntu Linux
Ubuntu
Arch Linux
Arch
Android
Android
Vim
Vim
tmux
tmux
nginx
nginx
Gitlab
Gitlab
Jenkins
Jenkins
The GIMP
The GIMP
Photoshop
Photoshop

Role History

Head of Engineering

ClickMechanic.com
September 2018 to date

Building and maintaining a fully automated auto-repair service that matches motorists with mechanics and provides instant fixed prices for repairs, services and inspections.

Full Stack Developer

Byhiras
November 2017 to September 2018

Responsible for a large React/Redux JavaScript Web application which serves as a frontend for a big-data financial analysis service.

UK Agile Development Lead

Conduent Next-Generation Customer Care,
formerly WDS, a Xerox Company
October 2001 - June 2017

Accountabilities include agile process coach (Extreme Programming), technical leadership, TDD mentor, code quality review, sales support, dev-ops, line management of team of 27, project management and outsourcing (~50 developers).

  • Virtual Agent an AI chat-bot trained using the call-logs of our best performing call centre agents. Using machine learning to build a diagnostic model of the customer's domain, it can troubleshoot technical problems by asking a series of refining questions. When the bot became certain that it understood the problem, it delivers a solution tailored to the context of the end-user.
  • Advanced Device Management (ADM) combining several protocols into an extensible mobile-device remote management platform.
  • Device Assist: interactive 360 degree mobile phone explorer, simulation and tutorial system with tools to enable technical authors to create content.
  • The Study Room interactive animated e-learning tool with crosswords, quizzes and tutorials explaining mobile telecoms technologies.
  • Agent Framework providing mobile support agents with instant access to a wide variety of support knowledge and tools.

My development skills evolved from programmer to software craftsman during this employment, largely from working closely with very highly skilled agile teams.

New Media Developer

Media Focus (Reading)
2000-2001

Cyberquarium Developed a 3D interactive children's entertainment kiosk cluster at Kowloon Station, Hong Kong

GE and other customers Created 3D marketing animations

Contract Kiosk Developer

Self Employed
1999-2000

Grand Princess and Radar Interactive Kiosks at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

Senior New Media Developer

Black Sun (Fulham, London)
1997-1999

Designed, built and managed corporate loyalty-scheme Web sites for high profile customer oriented UK brands, including British Airways, Sainsbury's, Ernst & Young and Cable & Wireless.

Website Manager

Indie-culture.com
1996-1997

Music magazine and e-commerce Web site.

Graphics Specialist

Animated Marketing Ltd. (Cippenham)
1995-1996

Educational and marketing multimedia kiosks for The Natural History Museum, Royal Marines, Army and TI-Group.

Earthquake Monitor Live updated wall sized map of earthquakes around the world.

Royal Marines Recruitment CDROM Interactive game and career exploration tool.

Screen-savers for 3-Com, Christie Electronics and Thrust SSC successful world land speed record.

Floppy disk based interactive brochures for Guinness, Rockwell Telecommunications, TNT Express and United Biscuits.

Accomplishments

  • Father of 10 year old twins
  • Backpacked around South Africa.
  • Driven and camped throughout Western Europe.
  • 42km, 2 day Kowie River Canoe Trail.
  • Sailed across the English Channel (Solent to Cherbourg and back).
  • Spoke at XPDay 2006 on "Rails 4 Real".
  • Spoke to the Multimedia Association on "Potted Multimedia".
  • Running development dojos, coding workshops and retrospectives.
  • Some French language ability
  • Played the lead role (Algernon) in Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest"
  • Put on gallery exhibitions of my wife's and my artwork.
  • Performed in rock bands and in musical and theatrical productions.

Contact