or via my LinkedIn profile.
I am the senior architect for Westpac's Consumer Finance division, which includes all of their card issuing, acquiring, transactions & payments, loyalty, and personal lending products.
I was the architect for a number of products in Xero, including having led the closing stages of acquisition due diligence and the integration of US-based LOCATE Inventory, a key proposition for Xero’s expansion into the North American market. I was also the architect for a number of other products in different areas of Xero, including Payroll, our Contacts (user CRM) capability, and the Projects and Xero-owned WorkflowMax work management tools. I most recently worked in our Connected Workplaces division, which consists of our Payroll and Employee or Workforce Management products, primarily focusing my efforts on our Employee domain.
I was a technology leader across multiple globally distributed teams, including in the US, AU, and NZ, successfully working across time zones and different cultural expectations. I was a significant contributor in a number of large scale programs, including orienting Xero to domain driven design and our ongoing modernisation and monolith decomposition programme. Xero uses a large number of technologies, but is primarily implemented in .NET and React, using a number of AWS services and open source tools like Kubernetes.
As a part of the Enterprise Architecture team, I designed and built Paymark's data systems, and data-based consumer facing products. These power the electronic payment systems for over 80% of New Zealand's retail merchants. Upwards of 1.3 billion EFTPOS, credit card, and online payment transactions worth over NZ$70bn pass through these systems each year.
I was also responsible for solution architecture for Paymark’s digital products portfolios and was a key driver in their foray into Business Intelligence. I acted as the data lead for a virtual architecture team of ten, and the de facto technical head of data for the organisation.
I also owned the development and delivery of Paymark’s enterprise data strategy, where I drove a number of ongoing initiatives, including: the migration of our data warehouse from Oracle to a cloud native system in AWS; development of a dedicated Business Intelligence team and data governance board; and the establishment and mentoring of a data science internship programme. My Modern Data initiative directly saved Paymark over $3.5m in ongoing data platform cost on a budget of $600k providing an immediate 5.8:1 ROI, while improving performance and availability. These outcomes were delivered in the context of Paymark’s sale to Ingenico and latterly to Worldline, under three CEOs and three Heads of Architecture.
KEDRI, Auckland University of Technology
My Ph.D. looked at a new generation of large-scale spiking neural network systems, designed specifically for the processing of complex spatio- and spectro-temporal patterns in large streaming data. A secondary research thread looked at neuromorphic hardware implementations of these networks, in systems like the SpiNNaker.
During this research I presented at a number of A/A* tier conferences and won multiple best paper awards, including the Best Paper for the 2016 publishing year of the Neural Networks Journal. I also taught several classes at both postgraduate and undergraduate levels, and co-supervised two Masters students to completion.
See here for more information about my Ph.D.
School of Engineering, Computing, and Mathematical Sciences, Auckland University of Technology
My Honours dissertation research established the behaviour of a novel learning algorithm for spiking neural networks known as Spike Pattern Association Neuron. This resulted in a Convergent Science Network CSN Fellowship, and allowed me to lead an international work group on learning behaviour in neural networks at the Capo Caccia Neuromorphic Workshop. In this degree I attained straight A+ grades, and was awarded the Linton Giles Memorial Cup for the top Honours graduate in the SECMS.
School of Engineering, Computing, and Mathematical Sciences, and
School of Business, Auckland University of Technology
My capstone project, a system for the management and administration of investment assets for a financial services organisation, was awarded the Microsoft Prize for the best final year software development project. I was also awarded the Denys Goldfinch Cup for top BCIS/BBus conjoint graduate.
Physical Computing, 3 Semesters. Physical Computing introduced Creative Technologies students to microcontroller and controls theory, including basic circuit design and interaction with people and objects, in an artistic context. I led labs and tutorial sessions for a cohort of around 60 students, including marking and assessment.
Programming for Creativity, 3 Semesters. Programming for Creativity introduced Creativity Technologies students to software development, human-computer interaction, and graphics development, in an artistic context. I led labs and tutorial sessions for a cohort of around 60 students, including marking and assessment.
Neuroinformatics, 2 Semesters. Neuroinformatics covered advanced topics in data mining and machine learning, particularly with application to neurological data. This was a postgraduate elective course of around 20 students where I prepared and performed the majority of lecturing, assessment, and lab sessions.
Programming 2, 3 Semesters. Programming 2 developed student skills in more advanced topics of programming, including object oriented and functional programming. I had a cohort of around 60 students per semester, where I led labs and performed assessments.
Foundation Programming, 3 Semesters. Foundation Programming introduced staircase (pre-degree) students to fundamentals of programming in order to prepare them for entrance to the BCIS degree. I had a cohort of around 30 students per semester, where I led labs and individual tutorial sessions, and performed assessments.
Kordia IoT Hackathon: At the 2017 Kordia IoT hackathon the team I led won an award for the Best Commercial Application of IoT. We developed a smart donation box which used the SigFox network and sensors to monitor its contents remotely, without need for human intervention.
Art in the Dark: At the 2012 Art in the Dark event in Auckland, my team exhibited an interactive, collaborative projection system that allowed members of the public to 'paint' on a building wall with their cellphones. Over 85,000 people interacted with this system over the three nights, and it was chosen as the "Fan Favourite". As a result of this we were invited to install the system at the George FM Christmas party.