Who Am I? / About Me
I've been programming since around 2002. I've done a lot of things in that time, including teaching 200+ people how to program, and running my own software business for several years. When I'm not working, I'm usually hanging out with my kiddos (vintage '16 and '19), sewing, or working on home-tech projects that are interesting to me.
Below, I've prepared a oh-so-serious list of professional skills, as well as a whimsical list of my life skills, because the little tidbits are what make up a whole person!
Looking for an official bio? Scroll way, way down!
Informal Bio
I'm a software engineer, with experience in many areas. I've worked with all sorts of companies and technologies, but my professional focus in recent years has been on Ruby on Rails, startups and education.
I play well with others (see image) and I love meeting and working with new people. Nothing gives me more pleasure than learning something new from someone new.
I've prepared a oh-so-serious list of professional skills, and a whimsical list of my life skills below, because the little tidbits are what make up a whole person!
Professional Skills:
- Ruby on Rails is my specialty
- I'm a big fan of Lisp, Scheme and Haskell, but haven't had a chance to use them in ages
- I use vim but I'm not unyielding about it
- I love to negotiate (see image for evidence).
- I've programmed professionally in a lot of languages.
Some of My Skills:
- Ruby
- Bash
- Latex
- CSS
- HTML
- HAML
- JavaScript
- SASS
- XML
- XSLT
- Rails
- Jekyll
- Airtable
- PostgreSQL
- Redis
- SQLite
- CI
- Pair Programming
- Responsive Design
- TDD (Test-Driven Development)
- Accessibility
- Customer Service
- People Management
- Project Management
- Public Speaking
- Teaching
- User Experience
- Balsamiq
- Canva
- Figma
- Photoshop
- Git
I've even got some antiqued skills:
- CSharp
- Cplusplus
- Java
- LispScheme
- Perl
- PHP
- Python
- Angular
- React
- Flask
- Wordpress
- MongoDB
- MS SQL
- MySQL
- Manual QA Testing
(Un?)related Skills:
- Quilting
- Repair of Everyday Objects
- Book Editing
- Sales
- Teaching
- Parenting
- First Aid
- Cooking
(I will cook you a kick-ass dinner for time & materials) - Baking
(especially with my kids!)
Books I've Helped With:
-
Cadenza -
The Rails 3 Way.
Fun fact: a lot of my typesetting (accidentally?) made it into the finished book.
Top 5 Fears:
- Falling off of ladders
- Stingrays
- Micromanagement
- Cave Crickets
- Suddenly having my power cord jerked out
Formal / Official Bio:
Eliza Brock is a software engineer and entrepreneur based in Lake Oswego, OR.
She has a background in software engineering with a focus on web applications and engineering management. She holds a bachelors degree in Software Engineering and Computer Science with a domain track in Engineering Management from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
Eliza has been, amongst other things: the sole developer of a mobile device service infrastructure and payment system, lead developer for a fashion eCommerce startup, and the sole technologist for several Tennessee startups.
She ran a software consultancy, Eliza Brock Software from 2010 until 2014, growing it to 6 full-time developers, all specializing in web application development.
In 2014, Eliza scaled back her consultancy to focus on her teaching at Nashville Software School, where between 2012 and 2016 she helped train over 200 new software developers in Nashville. Her students have gone on to a thrillingly wide array of software careers!
From 2016 to 2020, Eliza returned to working in the software industry, managing teams and refining processes to improve the experiences of customers and developers alike.
Most recently, Eliza was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, teaching remotely for four years during and after the pandemic.