Renovatio Team Member Spotlight: Cristina Rojas
Cristina Rojas: Senior iOS Developer
Renovatio Cloud Solutions' team member spotlight this month is on Cristina Rojas, a senior iOS developer. Cristina is passionate about mobile technologies and works with other team members and clients to design and build next generation, cutting-edge mobile applications.
Cristina's passion for what she does is evident in her work. She is detail-focused and strives to exceed client's expectations for every project. She brings much more than exceptional talent to the Renovatio team. She is lively, energetic, goofy and fun.
Meet Cristina Rojas:
Can you describe a typical work day?
"I'm usually at my desk around 8am, and start organizing my day and catching up on my emails. Once I'm set, my dev day begins! To get in a good programming mood I fire up my music (varies each day, I like to keep it fresh). Around midday my hubby comes home for lunch. After lunch I make myself some green tea, as an after lunch pick-me-up, turn my music back up and get back to it."
How did you get involved in mobile/iOS development?
"When I was in my second year of college I wanted to get into mobile development, smart phones were "new" in Costa Rica and I loved the idea of bringing valuable information, stress relieving fun and a powerful and easier way of getting things done to people's fingertips. Soon after, Nokia held a hackathon in Costa Rica and I immediately enlisted. They taught us how to program in qml and we were off to make apps for Nokia. I was hooked!! I bought a Nokia 5800 and spent most of my free time coding away making apps for myself. Sometime after this, the iPhone 4 hit the shelves in Costa Rica and so I saved up, bought a plan and got my very first iPhone. My university did not offer a course in Objective-C, so I started watching Stanford University courses by Professor Paul Hegarty offered for free on iTunes University, and reading everything I could get my hands on. I spent the next year saving as much money as I could and finally bought myself a MacBook Pro. A few months after that I got my first official job as an iOS developer."
What are some important traits that developers should have?
- "Thirst for knowledge. No matter how much experience a developer has, our career is one of constant changes, and therefore requires constant growth. We must have a thirst for knowledge and push ourselves to stay on top of honing our skills.
- An open mind. Clients change requirements and features all the time, it's crucial that as developers,we're open to hear their desires, needs and concerns to find the best possible solution.
- Humility. Even the most experienced of developers make mistakes, but the best developers are the ones who can quickly go in and fix them, instead of wasting time with excuses.
- Communication. Having the ability to explain what you are doing to a non-technical person is by far one of the best traits a developer should have. We must be able to explain to our teammates, project managers, bosses and clients in a clear and respectful manner what we are doing and how it affects the end results.
- Ownership. To understand that every task, bug or change are a part of the product, and when you and your team assume ownership of the product we all work together to get things done. Instead of playing the blame game we can all focus on what really matters, the end result."
"An amazing group of people!! I am truly blessed to be working with such a diverse gathering of talented, hardworking, friendly and kind geniuses! I found in Renovatio, and our clients, a sense of family."
What things have you learned so far at Renovatio that you would tell a new team member?
"With great 'company' comes great responsibility! Working in such an amazing organization, where you're surrounded by great friends, we're constantly encouraging each other to grow! The company has an amazing professional growth policy where we're not only keeping performance KPI's but also professional growth KPI's. So brace yourself for a working environment that promotes success and achievement."
"It's a rush! Being a developer allows me to bring designs, features and requirements to life. Every app has challenging moments when you're faced with a problem, and with every solution comes a great sense of accomplishment. In the end you get to see and interact with what you just created, you get to see the satisfaction others feel when they interact with the app, and in that moment you can proudly say you were a part of making that idea a reality."
Hobbies and interesting facts about Cristina:
- I try to keep a healthy variety of activities in my life.
- I'm a foodie, so naturally I love going out to try new restaurants, and returning to favorites ;) I LOVE cooking!! I'm addicted to FoodNetwork and have been since I was 13 years old.
- I grew up playing video games, first game I ever played was Super Mario Brothers on my dad's NES which instantly became mine, of course. I still love playing video games and do so as often as possible.
- I also love being outdoors, I love going biking and kayaking. In Costa Rica, I love going out to spend a day at the beach as much as possible!
Favorite Apps:
- Waze (my #1)
- Inbox (google) BEST MAIL APP EVER!!
- Wunderlist makes my life so much easier.
- Pintrest: They're addictive and the app is beautifully made, simple and to the point.
- Read Me! Great app for people that want to train themselves to read faster.
- MyFitnessPal: I love everything about this app!!
- BodySpace from BodyBuilding.com: I love tracking my workouts on this app.
- Duolingo: Really well made, usability is an A+. Keeps things fun and light while teaching someone a new language.
- Wunderground: Best weather app ever!