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How i became an Engineer!

How i became an Engineer!

Presented at Singapore Polytechnic

Michael Cheng

November 17, 2016
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  1. How i became an Engineer!
    Singapore Polytechnic, 17 Nov 2016

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  2. Michael Cheng
    @coderkungfu

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  3. Digital Technologies Team

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  4. My Origin Story…

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  5. My Journey
    • Got interested in computers & Internet when i was in National
    Service (1996-1998)
    • Studied History and Political Science in NUS (1998-2001)
    • Taught myself web design
    • Worked part time as a web designer (HTML, CSS)

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  6. My Journey
    • Co-workers were IT graduates from Temasek Polytechnic (3 girls)
    • They taught me programming in Cold Fusion
    • Picked up PHP in 2001 on my own
    • Client only had Linux server (not Windows)

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  7. My Journey
    • Ran my own web hosting business after university
    • Joined a digital agency in 2006 (Comwerks Interactive)
    • Started the Singapore PHP User Group in 2006
    • Organised the first PHP Conference Asia in 2015

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  8. My Journey
    • Worked in startups: Foound (2010) and mig33 (2012)

    • Worked as a Software Engineer / Consultant:

    • Neo Innovation Inc. in March 2014

    • Pivotal Labs in Feb 2016

    • Singapore Power (Digital Technologies) in Aug 2016

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  9. My Journey
    • Co-founded iOS Dev Scout in 2012

    • I know PHP, Ruby, Objective-C, JavaScript, Go Lang, Java (little
    bit)

    • Started Engineers.SG in 2013

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  10. About PHP
    • Created in 1994 by Rasmus Lerdorf as a collection of CGI scripts
    written in C

    • In 1997, Andi Gutmans and Zeev Suraski of Tel Aviv, Israel started a
    complete rewrite of the parser - first steps to becoming a real
    language

    • Released PHP 3 in 1998 - Changed meaning to “PHP: Hypertext
    Preprocessor”

    • Currently version PHP 7.1

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  11. Michael Cheng with Rasmus Lerdorf

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  12. With Matt Mullenweg, creator of WordPress

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  13. http://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/

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  14. PHP Job Prospects
    • Full stack / website development
    • Digital agencies - building microsites for brands / marketing
    • CMS - WordPress, Drupal
    • Average salary:
    • Entry level: ~$2000+
    • Intermediate to Senior: $3,500 - $5,000

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  15. What you should focus on?
    • Be curious, ask questions, find out how things work
    • Learn about Web Technologies (PHP is a good starting point)
    • Learn about Mobile App Development (iOS, Android)
    • Learn other programming languages
    • Develop a product mindset

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  16. “Hmm one think I will wish I knew
    is Java is a very important
    language to learn OOP concepts!
    So put effort in it!
    I used to think Java is crap in Poly,
    but then I realised the benefit of
    OOP and how Java does it in Uni/
    work and realised it is important!”
    Lester Chan
    Singapore Polytechnic (2001 - 2004)

    Head of Engineering at Tech In Asia

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  17. “I think attending conferences +
    meetups like PHP ones had
    helped me understand tech a lot
    more. Also, taking interests in
    building useful projects can help
    spur greater interests in what we
    do. When we see projects
    getting used, it reinforces our
    learning.”
    Sam Mauris Yong
    Ngee Ann Poly (2009 - 2011)

    Undergraduate at NUS School of Computing

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  18. Why grow as an engineer?
    • Better understanding of how products are build
    • More experience, can give better advice to business owner
    • Understand limitations & improve your BS detector
    • Be able to recommend better user experiences

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  19. Join the tech community

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  20. Singapore
    Grassroots
    Tech
    Community

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  21. https://data.webuild.sg

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  22. https://data.webuild.sg

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  23. Curated list of FREE
    community events and
    open source projects
    from Singapore
    http://webuild.sg

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  24. http://devfest.asia

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  25. http://2016.devfest.asia/community/

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  26. Tech Ladies Tech Talks

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  27. React JS Meetup

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  28. Talk.JS + Talk.CSS

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  29. Too many tech events!

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  30. Engineers.SG
    Engineers.SG is a 

    not-for-profit community
    initiative created to help
    document the Singapore
    tech and startup scene.

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  32. •1200+ videos
    •19k page views / month
    •19 conferences recorded
    so far
    Engineers.SG

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  33. 33

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  34. 34

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  35. 35

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  36. 36

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  37. 37

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  38. We need volunteers!
    Training on 19 Nov 2016 at HackerspaceSG

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  39. How about *real* tech conferences?

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  40. http://phpconf.asia

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  41. http://geekcamp.sg

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  42. http://reddotrubyconf.com

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  43. http://iosconf.sg

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  44. http://jsconf.asia

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  45. http://cssconf.asia

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  46. So what if i just want to be social?

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  47. GeekBrunchSG

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  48. http://kopijs.org

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  51. PHPConf.Asia After Party

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  52. WordCamp Singapore After Party

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  53. How about women groups?
    $

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  54. PHPWomen.Asia

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  55. • Singapore Geek Girls is a local
    initiative for females to connect,
    share, contribute, mentor and
    learn from each other.
    • We want to empower the next
    generation of women in
    technology through fun, informal
    and interactive activities.

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  56. CodingGirls is a Singapore
    registered non-profit
    organization to empower
    more girls to code and
    achieve their ambitions in
    the technology world.

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  58. Tech Ladies Tech Talks

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  59. Team Engineers.SG Tech Ladies

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  60. Go be an engineer

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  62. Michael Cheng
    @coderkungfu

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