Addinsight is pleased to be supporting the next generation of software developers to thrive in the transport industry. Our two newest software developers, Jess Richardson and Luke Waymark, are pushing Addinsight to even greater heights – both bringing experience from a background working with our parent company, SAGE Group.
We sat down with Jess and Luke to learn more about their journey so far and their exciting careers ahead.
What inspired you to join Addinsight?
Jess: I was working with SAGE Automation in the Smart Cities team as part of my professional placement with uni. Working for a few months on some interesting projects, I was keen to explore the programming side within smart cities and transport further.
Towards the end of last year, I learned that a position was open for a software developer role in Addinsight, a SAGE Group company. Software development is where my passion lies, and this was perfect timing really. The Addinsight platform is constantly evolving, bringing exciting new challenges every day.
Jess working with her dual screen setup at Addinsight's headquarters in Tonsley Innovation District, South Australia.
Luke: I was working in SAGE’s Smart Cities team for about two years and completed my honours placement for my Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical and Electronic) at SAGE. My placement involved working with a piece of hardware called the SAGE Edge – which is one of many IoT (Internet of Things) devices that can connect with Addinsight.
Through this relationship, I’d worked on two or three projects with the Addinsight team and learned that they were looking to expand the team. I’m a back-end developer, meaning I deal with data storage, security, and everything else behind the scenes to ensure everything runs smoothly. I really enjoy that side of the work, so I was eager to join the Addinsight team and help the platform continue to grow.
Luke working alongside Jess during a day in the office. The pair have a hybrid work-from-home arrangement.
What’s your favourite Addinsight feature?
Jess: The fact that Addinsight can record incidences and congestion – that sort of data is valuable for road authorities, councils, and organisations that need that visibility. I think that's a pretty important resource for the customers to see that. When I first started working at Addinsight, I was also working on our mobile application which is useful in saving time getting from A to B.
Luke: For me, it's when I'm driving and see the special circumstances signs. If you ever see the Variable Message Signs (VMS) that tell you how long your journey will take – that’s Addinsight! For instance, if there's an incident that's impact traffic flow down the road, you can take an alternate route. I use that all the time. Those travel time signs are super valuable to warn you of upcoming hazards, road works, or other delays.
Variable Message Signs (VMS) display real-time travel time data captured and analysed within Addinsight.
Any exciting new features you’re working on?
Jess: I've been working on upgrading our scheduling system to be more intuitive for users. One major update includes upgrading our calendar selection tool, which will make it easier for people to select date and time ranges to then analyse traffic data at a specific location, making it even easier to gain insights into traffic volumes and congestion trends, assess traffic signal coordination along corridors, and even measure the network cost of an incident.
Luke: I’m currently refining our device protocols so that Addinsight can communicate back and forth with devices in the field, providing our clients with even more control over their assets. When this feature goes live, customers will have more visibility over asset health and be able to reconfigure devices remotely, saving time and money. That is certainly something to look forward to!
Addinsight and SAGE Group's headquarters reside within Tonsley Innovation District.
What aspect of the work do you enjoy the most?
Jess: The work I’m doing now, to be honest! I was always really interested in software development and programming. I've mostly been doing front end programming work (everything users see and interact with on the Addinsight platform), but I've also been given the opportunity to do some back-end work and learn some new programming languages, which is great professional exposure.
Luke: The variety. In my short time with SAGE and Addinsight, I’ve worked on a wide range of transport and smart cities applications that have real-world impact. While working with SAGE, I worked with the Addinsight team to give the public access to COVID testing wait times. This is just one example of the project variety and the impact that technology can have on our communities.
Luke and Jess pictured within the Tonsley Innovation District.
Any hobbies outside of work?
Jess: Since finishing uni, I’ve been getting into some new hobbies. I go to the gym regularly as I enjoy weightlifting. I also love doing jigsaw puzzles online and offline. And I've just started learning how to play the piano… I’m really bad but it's only been a few weeks! I’m looking forward to improving over the course of the year.
Luke: Right now, I’m into 3D printing! My partner just upgraded to a fancy new printer, and he gave me his old one, so I'm just messing around with that. Apart from that, I quite like VR (Virtual Reality), gaming, and audiobooks. I’m also into woodworking – it’s fun to build my own furniture – and custom keyboards as well, which involves designing and building the PCB (printed circuit board), and writing your own firmware.
Want to learn more about Addinsight?
We look forward to seeing all the innovations that Jess and Luke will bring to the Addinsight platform in the future! Addinsight has an exciting technology road map ahead, with new updates in the works, exciting partnership opportunities available, and international expansion on the horizon.
If you would like to learn more about how Addinsight is leading the way in probe data capture and management, ingesting data from a diverse range of field devices and sources to deliver critical real-time insights, we'd love to hear from you – get in touch!
