I'm Matt, I'm 24 years old and I live near Stockton-on-Tees in England, UK. I was born in Basildon, Essex, and after a few years, we moved to a tiny, idyllic village called Eydon near Daventry in Northamptonshire, before moving back to Great Dunmow, Essex in 1993.
Having been interested in computers since an early age (we got an RM Nimbus 286 when I was about 4), I became involved with the Dunmow Town Strategy Group aged just 10. Despite my young age and lack of specific experience, they supported me in creating a town website, which I maintained on their behalf over the next 7 years. Through the DTSG I have attended Chamber of Trade & Commerce meetings, worked closely with the Town Council, supported a new local museum project, and learned a lot along the way.
On the back of the endorsement from the Town Council, and having worked with many local businesses to create an online directory, I set myself up as a sole trader, offering web design services. These were still relatively early days of the Internet, and it is amazing to see how much has changed since then.
After studying for my GCSEs and A-Levels at King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford, I went onto to read Theoretical & Computational Physics at the University of York, graduating in 2008 with a 2:1 BSc.
My philosophy about University is that your degree is only half the reason you're there - the other half is all the other things to experience, learn and enjoy. I've played badminton since the age of 9, and at University I became heavily involved in sport. As well as playing Badminton for the University and Squash for the college team, I also played a bit of Lacrosse, 5-a-side football and possibly the world's greatest sport, Dodgeball.
On the back of all this playing sport, I ended up on the University of York Athletic Union Executive Committee; an umbrella committee that governs all the sports clubs and events at the University. Part of this involved organising the fantastic Roses Tournament in 2008 - a 3-day event covering over 40 sports.
Whilst at University, I set up Exelat Ltd, an IT consultancy company, specialising in the SME market. I had amazing support from the Enterprise team at the University, and Exelat Ltd a finalist in the Regional Enterprise Awards in 2008.
After I graduated, I stayed near York and opened an office at the brand new York Eco Business Centre, at Clifton Moor, York in September 2008. Exelat thrived, even during the recession, and I thoroughly enjoyed the work I did, especially working with clients such as Raw Design Studio.
In May 2009 however, I was offered a fantastic opportunity to work for Orange in Darlington, and have been working there since June 2009 as an Analyst Programmer in the Tactical CS team. As part of that team, I have worked on some fantastic projects, spanning a wide range of technologies.
If you want to find out more, check out my profile on LinkedIn.
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