DevCast

How should one traverse and adapt to the current trends in the field of tech accessibility? Arturo Jr. Quinto has years of experience in senior leadership and managerial roles as well as developer roles in the tech industry under A. Magsaysay Inc. He has been teaching Business Analytics and Business Statistics in Far Eastern University since 2019. Currently, he is the Group Technology Officer at A. Magsaysay Inc. and the Chief Technology Officer of Magsaysay People Resources Corporation.

What does accessibility mean for education and the startup scene? 

Maynard Capil is a database analyst with more than 11 years of experience in BPO information technology. He has been teaching university students in programming and project management for more than two years. Currently, he is taking a degree as a Doctor of Information Technology in De La Salle University, Dasmarinas Cavite, while teaching part-time and working in NPAX Systems and Consulting / Beeline as Systems DBA.

How should we make technology more inclusive for persons with disabilities? 

Rhea Guntalilib is a completely blind consultant, writer, educator, and speaker with over nine years of experience in digital accessibility. Despite losing her sight to lupus at 18, she graduated with a Magna Cum Laude in BS Computer Science. She has since then worked as a Java developer in Amdocs and Smart Communications, as well as a speaker in national and international events including The Philippine Youth Congress for Information Technology and International Usability Congress. Her stories of life, wellness, and digital inclusion are published on her Medium and personal blog entitled “Words Unlimited.” Currently, she works as an accessibility consultant and collaborates with ATRIEV to provide computer education for the blind.

How can one practice Googliness in one’s own way?

Shad Roi de la Cruz is the Developer Community Manager for DSC at Google, where oversees 140+ Developer Student Clubs chapters in Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, and the Philippines. Prior to joining the DevRel team, he co-founded YYY Jobs, a startup based in Cebu, and was the former Community Lead for Google Developer Group (GDG) Cebu and Startup Weekend Cebu. For Shad, it has been his passion to work in the tech industry. He started creating his first website at the age of 10 and has developed more than 100+ websites since and worked with different clients around the world. He is interested in growth hacking and techniques that can automate processes. He is currently based in Manila, Philippines where he enjoys the sunny and rainy tropical bliss and the bustling sound of the metropolitan concrete jungle.

Shad joins us on DevCast to talk about his journey from growing up in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental to landing a job at one of the grandest companies in the world, Google. He talks about his experiences in working as the Community Lead of Google Developer Group Cebu and how a shortcoming in organizing DevFest Cebu for the first time led to the achievement of the event’s success through exponential growth in event attendees in a span of just one year. He shares what exactly the Googley culture is and how one can become Googley in one’s personal life. He also shares inspiring advice to students who aspire to work in their dream company someday.

What does it take to build a startup from the ground up?

Francis Bautista is the co-founder and CEO of Indigo Research, an applied AI research company. He graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University and is currently taking up his Master of Science in Computer Science at the University of the Philippines Diliman. He is also an instructor at the Ateneo, teaching Theory of Algorithms and Machine Learning. Francis co-developed and built the Metro Manila traffic analysis and prediction platform alongside his co-founders that worked to pull traffic authority data, clean, normalize, and aggregate them, and create predictive models based on the patterns they detected.

He joins us on DevCast to talk about the humble beginnings of Indigo Research and how it has scaled into the startup company it is today. He shares the reality of the startup environment in the country and how Indigo Research managed to establish its niche in the market. He also shares how he manages risks and decision-making as the CEO in order to lead his startup to success.

How can you efficiently utilize the vast learning resources on the Internet?

Joshua de Guzman is a Google Developer Expert for Flutter and Dart and a Software Engineer for Betterbank, a fintech startup based in Brooklyn, New York. Known for being a software engineer with a passion for learning and teaching, he has held several key responsibilities like Android Engineer, and Mobile Release Manager. He also founded Flutter Philippines in 2019 and continues to learn how to share Flutter and Dart to the people. His contribution has helped bring a better mobile experience to over 1 million users and counting.

Joshua joins us on DevCast to talk about why it is important to get started in coding projects to build a substantial project portfolio when applying for jobs or internships. He shares tips on how to learn new technologies while working without getting burnt out, and how to get ideas when one does not know exactly where to start in building a portfolio. He also talks about his role as a Google Developer Expert, how he became one at such a young age, and how this role has made an impact in his career and personal life.

How does one stay motivated to go deeper in learning programming despite being new to it? 

Anike Nicole Dorgu is a sophomore college student majoring in Software Engineering at Central Philippine University in Iloilo City. She is currently the DSC Lead of Developer Student Clubs - Central Philippine University. As a leader in a tech community, she aspires to create impact through sharing her experiences and learnings in software engineering.

In this episode, we catch up with Anike and talk about her life as a Software Engineering student and how the challenges it brings convinced her to shift to it midway through her freshman year. She shares the ups and downs of being a tech student and how being optimistic can change one's mindset when developing one's technical skills. She imparts her insights on how to conquer the feeling of imposter syndrome and achieving progress by getting started in personal projects.

What does it take to establish and lead a DSC chapter? 

Bruce Alturas is a junior college student majoring in Bachelor of Science in Information Technology at the University of San Carlos. He founded the Developer Student Clubs - University of San Carlos, served as its first DSC Lead, and is now the Design Lead. Apart from student organization work, he interned at Abstract PH, a product design agency based in Cebu City. He was also a participant at the Startup Weekend Cebu Youth Edition in 2018 and at the Impact Hackathon this year. Currently, he does freelance work by making brand identities to his clients.

In this episode, we catch up with Bruce and talk about his humble beginnings in discovering his passion for Design and Information Technology. He shares his journey in founding a DSC Chapter at his university, his strategies to become an effective leader, and how joining DSC made him more passionate in his career path. He imparts insightful tips as well to students who aim to develop their technical skills.