Thomas Harper

Projects

Link	Summary	Technologies used	Status	Deployed
Mission-Ctrl	This is a fun game designed to help developers learn VScode shortcuts, give it a go!	React, Express, Node, MongoDB, Mongoose, Surge, Heroku, Jest, Enzyme, HTML, CSS		Play now!
Bank Tech Test	This is a basic command line banking application.	Ruby, RSpec		Download instructions
Thermostat	My first piece of JQuery - a simple thermostat application.	JavaScript, Jasmine, JQuery, CSS, HTML, Surge		Try it out
Bowling-Challenge	A small project that calculates Bowling scores. (Bowling is surprisingly complex)	JavaScript, Node, Jasmine, HTML		Try it out
Acebook-myspace	This is our team's spin-off from Facebook.	React, Rails API, HTML, CSS, Travis-CI, Heroku
Chitter	My version of twitter.	Ruby, RSpec, Sinatra, PostgreSQL, HTML, Travis-CI, SimpleCov, Rubocop
Rock Paper Scissors	Play rock paper scissors against the computer!	Ruby, RSpec, Sinatra, PostgreSQL, HTML, Travis-CI, SimpleCov, Rubocop		Play now!
Takeaway-Challenge	An application that allows you to place orders on your phone via the twillio API.	Ruby, RSpec, SimpleCov, Rubocop
Airport	A simple command line ruby application for a control center at an airport.	Ruby, RSpec, SimpleCov, Rubocop

Skills

Leadership

When I started my company, I had to bring older, more experienced and knowledgeable people on board to invest money, time and energy into the business. This required vision, initiative and confidence. Running the company, there was no one to tell me what to do, so I had to be self-directed and self-organized. I wanted to further develop these skills, so I have since undertaken further training in Leadership skills at Toastmasters.

Public speaking

I have trained in Public Speaking at Toastmasters, won 3 public speaking competitions at my local club, spoken at over 10 London venues, got 2nd place in a Poetry Slam, have been paid to speak as a Spoken Word Artist, spoken on the radio and a podcast and made two Motivational speeches at my local college.

Fast learning and Problem Solving

I passed the Mensa test which puts me in the top 2% of problem solvers. I demonstrated my capacity to learn at exceptional speed and depth when I completed my A levels in 9 months (they normally take two years). Despite competing against people who had an extra year, I came out top of my college.

Emotional Intelligence

As a monk, I was trained in meditation, self-reflection and awareness. My colleagues at Makers Academy have praised my ability to reflect, communicate my own emotions, seek out negative feedback and adapt accordingly, with enthusiasm and willingness to change. For example, I produced a piece of code for a group project. A member of the team pointed out some false assumptions I made. I defended the code, reflected, admitted I was attached to the code, consciously let go of the emotion and allowed the code to be replaced by a better solution.

Automation

My business involved the exchange of GBP with cryptocurrency assets. This cost 1% per transaction using a third-party service, which was significant with a 5% margin for profit. I built from scratch a website, taught myself CSS, HTML, JavaScript, PHP, PostgreSQL and MongoDB to help automate this process. This increased profits per transaction by 25%.

Teaching

While at Makers Academy I have had two Mentors, and took the time to teach them both individually how to set up their development environment, the principles and process of TDD and OOP, and helped them build a basic project. At my local college, I taught Math, Chemistry, Physics and meditation to the students, and I have also taught meditation to children with special needs, helping to bring more peace and joy into their lives.

Motivate, Inspire and Raise the Team Spirit

In a project at Makers Academy, we hit a low after an arduous two day refactoring process. Spirits were drained and everyone looked like they were about to drop. I brought this up and encouraged everyone to rally themselves, pull together and enjoy the last few days of Makers. I raised a cheer from the team, renewed motivation and enthusiasm, and one team member even thanked me for helping to raise the spirits when she was in a funk. I have an indomitable spirit and unwavering optimism.

Bonus

I can hack my own WiFi.

Education

Makers Academy (2020)

A 16-week intensive development Bootcamp, focusing on:

• Agile methodologies
• Object-oriented design
• Test-driven development and behavior-driven development
• Pair programming
• XP values

Durham Universtiy - Physics (2018-2019)

• Studied Calculus, Statistics, Probability, Mechanics, Waves & Acoustics, Thermodynamics and Relativity.
• Developed strong problem-solving skills.
• Left to travel and discover what I am passionate about - fell in love with programming.

Ealing Independent College (2016-2017)

• 3 A*s in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry
• Completed in 9 months, awarded the Top Academic Award and an Academic Scholarship.

Capita Talent Partnership BBC Make it Digital Course (2016)

• Make it Digital aims to inspire a new generation to get creative with coding, programming and digital technology.
• Worked in teams to develop ideas.
• Create an idea of the Momentum e-reader, a device that takes advantage of rapid visual presentation. This means displaying words one by one, centered on their optimal recognition point. This eliminates saccades (quick sideways eye movements), allowing people to digest information twice as fast with increased comprehension, all on a very small and compact device.

iGCSEs - 8 A*s, A, B, C (2012)

UK Senior Mathematical Challenge

• Silver Certificate, Certificate for Best in Year, Certificate for Best in School

Experience

Spoken Word Artist and Poet (2019-2020)

• Published in "Poems of Hope" raising money for mental health charity Mind UK.
• Performed at a Professional Level in 'The Silence Project'.
• Performed at over 10 London venues including 'The Poetry Cafe', 'BoxedIN Intimate' and 'Transcendence at Harlem Soul'.
• Second place 'Word for Word' Poetry Slam in Stratford.
• Exhibited at ATP Gallery

Dhammadayada European Ordination Program (2019) Buddhist Monk

• Underwent intense training within the Thai Buddhist tradition. This involved rising at 4:30am each day, meditating for 4 or more hours at a time and fasting from midday, doing simple chores and ceremonies, developing single-minded focus.
• Developed mindfulness, humility, respect, discipline, patience, punctuality, orderliness, cleanliness, politeness, a clean, bright, clear mind and powerful concentration.
• Focus on internal transformation, developing positive mental characteristics and traits. The ability to let go, to listen deeply, be fully present and focus on serving others.
• Taught meditation to the public and at schools.

Wingmen Design (4/2016 to 8/2016)
Web Developer and Intern

• Worked as part of a team, communicating with customers, assessing their needs, designing, creating and deploying working solutions.
• Developing websites for clients largely using WordPress but also doing using basic HTML, CSS and javascript.

Quick-coins Bitcoin Brokerage (2012 to 2016)
Business owner, CEO, CTO, Salesman, Broker, Developer

• Started the business aged 16, generated a £1.5 million turnover.
• Formed close professional working relationships with clients, colleagues, and other businesses.
• Logistics and financial risk management.
• Acquired a deeper technical understanding of blockchain technologies, the industry and community.
• Alongside the total operations of running and managing a business, I programmed the front-end and back-end for our Bitcoin Brokerage website using HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, Node.js, and MongoDB

Architects Firm (2012)
Personal Assistant and CAD Designer

• Work around the office.
• Logistics, excel spreadsheets, and day to day assistance.
• CAD computer-aided design for residential builds.

Hobbies

• I love meditation, yoga, and tai chi.
• I am an avid cyclist and runner.
• I am a ravenous reader and consume a book or more each week.
• I love to dance, paint, travel, play the piano and guitar.
• I am a spoken word artist and poet.
• I love people and connecting to people.