On the Floor

Last week marked the first full week of our new Senior Architect, and human Swiss-Army-knife-man, Chad Ingles.

Born in Toronto, Chad moved to Dundas/Hamilton when he was 10 and has mostly lived in the area, except for a period in Chatham, and a brief stint in Luxembourg (no, seriously, Luxembourg ...but more on that later).  After briefly attending McMaster, Chad decided that passion and drive were better teachers.  A compulsive autodidact, Chad has taken on the role of self-instructor for all his many talents.  In terms of programming and tech, this “self-taught-ness” has driven him ever since getting his first Commodore VIC20 at age seven. 

As far as his career path is concerned, Chad’s experiences paint an adventurous picture of professional exploration and self-direction.  At age 18 he got his first job doing voice-over-IP for a local telecom start-up, before long he found himself writing the software that configured their province-wide network, inclusive of CRM, billing, and basically all other technical aspects.

Following this experience, Chad started with the Hamilton steel making company Dofasco, first as hardware support, and then shortly transitioning into the role of Senior Specialist, managing their 5000 computers and programs.  When Dofasco was acquired by ArcelorMittal in 2008, Chad’s work was recognized as world class, and with his family, he accepted a role at ArcelorMittal headquarters in Luxembourg, to work in the CIO office on global technology strategy and standardization.  Following his experience there, Chad and his family returned to Hamilton, whereupon he began professionally consulting, first for CMS, and then for Microsoft Canada. 

*breath

In summary, from Dofasco to Microsoft, Chad’s focus was on deploying and managing large networks of computers (ArcelorMittal has 100,000+ computers globally), as well as large enterprise technology strategy work (i.e., building a strategy for a technology SVP at one of the big five Canadian banks to secure $5million/year internal funding), however, that is not without a literal TON of interesting experiences and learning along the way.

Looking to shift again, and getting tired of managing and developing infrastructure for Fortune 500 companies (as one does), Chad was interested in focusing on creative industries and opportunities.  He found that he was very excited about potentially engaging with the talent and integrated design and technology capabilities he saw here at factor[e].

With this new career direction, Chad says:

“I'm looking for a reset on my career after being in the infrastructure deployment and management area for 15+ years.  For this next career-phase, I want to be able to build things that regular people can use and enjoy, rather than the plumbing inside giant corporations that nobody ever sees.  I look forward to getting back into hands-on development but also playing a role in plotting the course with factor[e]’s business & technology strategy.  Generally, I would love to help factor[e] accelerate its growth over the next couple of years, enabling us to continue to build amazing things!”

Chad, obviously likes the potential that technology holds in being applied to both creative endeavours, and how it can enhance day-to-day personal experiences.  However, beyond that, he is a well-rounded family man.  Married with two children, he is also into gardening, camping, hiking, biking, and travelling.  An avid runner, Chad is a consistent Around the Bay Race participant, and also heavily into the local music scene – once owning and operating the local record label, Put On Your Drinking Cap (2003-2007), that released over 15 records and even won a Hamilton Music Award.

Chad is an amazingly talented addition to our crew.  Welcome to factor[e] Chad!