I’m not sure what it is about Ugochi that appeals to me so much. Maybe it’s because we both studied courses we were not passionate about in our first degree and somehow found our way back to our first love, Information Technology. Whatever the case, I saved my personal favourite for last with this co-founder of Interactive Shack and Taxipark.
Please give a brief description of yourself
Laid back, creative, fun-loving IT professional who derives pleasure in developing business solutions. I am in my mid 20’s, sadly tilting over to the dark side. I grew up in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. I have a B.Sc in Geology and an M.Sc in Information Technology. I currently live in Glasgow, Scotland but I’d be moving back home (Nigeria) at the end of the year to focus on some ideas that I have worked on.
What are your code proficiencies/languages/superpowers?
Thanks to my university experiences, I have had the opportunity to dabble in a bit: Java, Python, PHP, HTML5, CSS3, Javascript, jQuery, etc. My skills lie mostly in the front-end web languages — HTML5 and CSS3. I have been studying jQuerymobile off and on.
How and why did you start/learn to code?
I started in 2010 when I enrolled for my master’s degree. Why? It is something I always had a passion for — building things, ideas, software, programs etc. If you notice, I made a drastic change from Earth Sciences to Information Technology. I believe in doing what you are passionate about and getting paid for it, that way it never really feels like work.
What have you done (projects/places you’ve worked)?
I’ve worked on TaxiPark (1st online taxi booking service in Nigeria) and two online stores, Dream Blast Apparel and CimaBrawn stores (both online stores). Back in uni, I worked in a team of four and we built a twitter widget using python/django framework. I built a sound based map navigation system for my thesis in Java. I have also worked on some other mini projects in Java and some websites.
What are you working on right now/where are you working?
Right now I have a 9-to-5 job in Glasgow, where I work as a performance analyst. I am a co-founder of Taxipark Nigeria and Interactive Shack Ltd. Other than that, I’m cooking up ways to improve development and operations on Taxipark. As for my other ideas for Interactive Shack, I would very much like to plead the fifth 🙂
What kind of projects would you like to tackle in future?
This is going to sound vague but then again I can’t say too much. I want to tackle projects that meet the needs of our people (Nigerians) and I am not talking about the entertainment side of things.
Random fact about you
I do not eat cake, pastries or ice-cream. Oh, and I prefer graphic novels to text. Why should you read lines when a picture says everything?
Ugochi tweets as @ichogu
Ugochi Nicole Ugbomeh is the final techie in the girls who code series this week.
Previously, in this series –
Bukola Akinfaderin knows Tae Kwon Do, writes code (of course) and created JandusRadio
Uyoyo Edosio, makes shakara. Only it’s an app.
Zainab O.A‘s mind is totally object oriented. Turns out she’s pretty objective too, pun not intended.
Onyeka Aghanenu says she doesn’t exactly code…except that her formidable CV says otherwise
Ofure Ukpebor is a girl, is 20 years old, studied computer science — and made a first class out of Babcock Uni.
Be sure to read their and share their stories too.
