Who is Devony Powell?

I started my studies at Collin College in Plano, Texas. There, I had the opportunity to work with amazing people, and discovered many things that I was interested in. One of those things is the love of helping people with coding problems. While I was at Collin College, I volunteered my time at the computer science lab to assist people with their coding assignments. I also participated in numerous groups along the way, including Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, Math Lab, and the Robotics Club.

Upon obtaining my associate degree in Computer Science from Collin College, I transferred to the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) to pursue a degree in Computer Engineering. Changing from Computer Science to Computer Engineering was a strategic move. While I was at Collin College, I was a member of the Robotics Club that program microcontrollers like the Arduino. I was fascinated about this because it was a way to see the code I wrote, interact with the real world through electronics and inspired my deep interest in Artificial Intelligence. When I arrived at UTA, I still wanted to stay in the Computer Science field, but I also wanted to get exposure to applying what I learned from my Computer Science classes to electronics. This was an amazing experience because I got the best from both worlds — that is, Computer Science and Electronics.

In pursuit of my goal to pursue a career in Software Engineering I began working at Fidelity Investments as a Software Engineer upon graduating from UTA. I am currently a Full-Stack Software Engineer that specializes in web application development. I enjoy working with Angular as the front-end framework; Java and Spring Framework as the back-end technology, and Oracle Database. However, my interest does not stop there. Recently, I have been obsessed with learning React, PostgreSQL, and Docker & Kubernetes.

Another aspect of my life I enjoy is spending time with my family and taking my son outside to play. Seeing my son happily playing without a care in the world fills me with joy. Watching him grow and experiencing his determination to learn, especially when he was learning how to walk, and watching him interact with new objects to understand how they work, is a constant reminder to myself to stay curious — never give up, and keep breaking things in order to better understand how they work.