Meet the Team: Will Newmarch

In this instalment of meet the team we turn the spotlight onto Will Newmarch, JavaScript Developer here at ProdPad. Will is always developing new and interesting ways of doing things from behind his fort-like bank of monitors.

Over to you Will, tell us all about what you do and more about who is the man behind the code.

Explain what you do:

All-round development extraordinaire, specialising in JavaScript.

I am a JavaScript Developer at ProdPad and since joining the team I have worked on various projects spanning our infrastructure, though my best work resides in the architecture of the user-interface.

What did you do before ProdPad?

I worked as a Full-Stack Senior Developer creating digital experiences for various global brands. While I focused on producing the code, my main passion was helping create the concepts and ensuring users really enjoyed and engaged with the experiences we built for them.

What makes you excited to work at ProdPad?

The people and the technology. We have some awesome technology we work with that I won’t discuss now, and the people are also rather lovely. They tolerate me installing miniature trebuchets in the office and rewiring cat night-lights to notify us of successful deployments.

Fav productivity app?

ProdPad, obviously. – I actually use it for organising my own personal projects! It’s rather good, have you tried it yet?

Fav time-wasting app?

I don’t waste time. But I have been building an AI driven mixologist app which I think will help people not waste time making bad drinks 😉

Being a developer I like to find efficiency in everything, and my mixologist app will help people use up those pesky half full bottles of alcohol lying around the house by using machine learning to design them new and exciting (possibly terrible) drinks with what they have available.

Most famous person you’ve ever met?

I was in Underworld a year or so ago and ordered drinks next to Herman Li and Sam Totman (the guitarists from Dragonforce). That was pretty cool. Said hi etc.

Fav thing about working remotely?

Time to concentrate on the more difficult projects. Choice in surroundings. My favourite location for remote working was on a roof terrace close to midnight in Barcelona. I find I am most productive at night, and that ambience was pretty special. (Don’t worry I also enjoyed down time there, it wasn’t all work!)

Puppies or kittens?

Kittens. Less maintenance in the long run.

Any hobbies?

A favourite activity of mine to do out of work is speed skating. Anything that involves speed is fun.
I also like hiking around the south downs and coming up with inventions like an air purifying oxygen vape patent pending. Home automation is also a passion of mine, and a great talking point for dinner parties.

Fun fact about you?

I have got really into home-brewing recently. It’s quite a feeling drinking something you created and not knowing what sort of effect it’s going to have on you. I would highly recommend Tepache as a summer beverage and starting brew for anyone interested in giving it a go. I’ve just started a blog on my journey of home-brewing and recently published an excellent recipe for ‘turbo cider’.