About Daniel Watrous
I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, and now live in Boise ID. I have always been interested in technology and home personal computing. Early on I realized that technology would change the landscape of business and especially marketing, so that became my focus.
As the years passed, I grew more and more interested in the highly technical projects which enabled businesses to be more personal and dynamic with their customers. In particular, I have focused on the ability of software and websites to cater to each user in a way that will increase engagement and conversions.
In April of 2000 I shifted my efforts to internet technologies and spent a few years building cutting edge websites and intranets for advertising agencies. The first website that I worked on was www.intel.com, which I eventually took over as lead developer. I’ve built websites for companies in health care, technology, banking and a whole bunch in between.
In January of 2002 I decided to deepen my understanding of the fundamental technology I used and so I began to study electrical engineering at the University of Utah. While at the university I specialized in semiconductor device physics (that’s the stuff that happens at the atomic level of every computer) with an emphasis in optoelectronics (how semiconductors absorb and emit light).
During college I had a software company with a handful of employees. We primarily built software for a select list of clients local to Salt Lake City (with some out of state ad agencies making it on the list). I closed my business in May, 2005 to dedicate myself to research during my last year at the university. My thesis had to do with building a theoretical semiconductor device known as a SpinFET in a clean room environment to enable superconductive computing at high speeds.
After college I went to work as an electrical/software engineer with Aptina Imaging LLC (originally Micron Imaging), one of the world’s leading companies for digital imagers (a near perfect combination of the semiconductor device physics and the optoelectronics I studied in college). During my three years with Aptina, I developed a wide range of software that improved the manufacturing process.
In October, 2009 I returned to internet marketing with a specific focus on selling direct to consumer. The result was a small scale international software company. I now have a half a dozen software products and I employ people in the Philippines and Pakistan (and infrequently in India).
As of February, 2012, I also work days for Hewlett Packard in a senior software role. In my current capacity I design and develop the technology that powers http://support.hp.com, which receives millions of daily page views. Large scale and high concurrency are the name of the game.
Software Engineering
If you’re interested in having a look at the more technical side of what I do, head over to my Software Engineering site. On that site I get much more technical than I do here. You could say that I pull back the curtain and let you peek inside at how I develop software.
As a programmer, Daniel is quick to understand the real problem that needs to be solved. What's even better is that his solutions are clear and easy to use. That's a crucial skill for a good programmer who needs to remember that he's creating something to be used by a non-technical user. I suppose the most valuable aspect to Daniel's software is that it's easy for other programmers to see what he's done and extend it. While that might seem like a small thing, it means that a piece of software will deliver years of value, even if it changes hands in between. I highly recommend Daniel's skills and approach. He's one of my top picks for contributing to the core MemberWing engine.
