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VoltSafe Blog Team – December 19, 2023
Tristan Lee, VoltSafe’s Embedded Systems Co-op, first heard about our company through our former co-op, Itai Boss. Itai shared that he gained a lot of experience during his time at VoltSafe, and that he learned a lot while getting his own project – something that co-ops don’t usually get the opportunity to do. He also enjoyed working with the VoltSafe team.
So, Tristan jumped at the opportunity to take on the position. He knew that with embedded systems, he would have the opportunity to work on the coding of the main controller. He wanted to improve his coding by learning in a production environment. It also gave him the opportunity to combine his interest in microcontrollers with working on improving his code writing skills.
Tristan is mostly self taught when it comes to coding, but the development environment offered at VoltSafe gave him the opportunity to figure out how to develop clean code writing habits and documentation procedures at the same time. Adrian Scillato, VoltSafe’s resident Embedded Software Engineer, provided Tristan with the guidance that he was seeking when it came to learning how to write clean code and document his work properly. Both individuals share similar ideologies when it comes to writing clean and understandable code and the importance of prioritizing this over focusing on efficient code writing. As Tristan explains, the reason for this practice is so if you have to go back to the code you have written, you understand where and how to improve it to optimize performance. It matters to take your time examining the problem, understanding what task needs to be accomplished before starting to write the code to solve the problem. So instead of putting Tristan to work writing code in his first week at VoltSafe, Adrian had Tristan go over the problem he was trying to solve first, writing it down meticulously and then eventually moving on to writing the code to solve the issue. Tristan believes that learning this method of working with code from Adrian has helped him gain an advantage over his peers.
Adrian hasn’t been the only staff member that has helped Tristan during his work day. He also enjoys his interactions with Mobile Developaw, Ola Jaffari. When this fluffy Bernese is not overseeing mobile development tasks at VoltSafe, Ola provides his teammates with a healthy mental break.
Tristan is aware that staying mentally sharp is important especially when you are writing code. The best way to stay focused in his eyes is by eating nourishing meals. This can be a challenge when you lead a busy life, which is why he is a big fan of batch cooking or preparing multiple meals during the weekend. The meals are portioned out so he can easily heat them up and enjoy them during the week. He keeps his meals simple to help with optimizing prep. Things like chili, chow mein, yogurt and fruit salads. It does take discipline, but discipline is something that he has had since his training days for skiing competitions, getting up early in the morning to do trail runs on local mountains.
Tristan has been skiing competitively since the age of ten. He loves the company of the skiing community and the fact that he can also train himself for himself. He prefers trying to beat his personal best over competing with other teammates or players at team sports events. He likes the cool training environment that comes with skiing as well, such as skiing in a t-shirt and shorts during the summer on glaciers in Canmore, BC. These days, it’s hiking that he is interested in and while he has hiked the mountains of BC, he is looking forward to hiking in the jungles of Asia in the future.
As for his future after VoltSafe, Tristan will be joining his Capstone team making a “self-balancing, one-wheeled robot using classical control methods and reinforcement learning”. Writing the proper code to operate that robot will be required and Tristan is confident that what he has learned during his time at VoltSafe will make him the most experienced team member. Tristan finishes his co-op with VoltSafe this week, which flew by in the blink of an eye. Our team will miss his hard work, important contributions and just having him around on a daily basis.
If you would like the opportunity to work on your own project while learning valuable skills that will give you an advantage over your peers, check out our career opportunities on LinkedIn, or our careers page.
About VoltSafe Inc.
VoltSafe Inc. is changing the way people connect to power. Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, the Canadian tech startup has reinvented the electrical plug by eliminating prongs, adding magnets and an “electrical fingerprint”. Using patented technology, VoltSafe has created the world’s safest, simplest, and smartest plug design since electricity came into homes more than 140 years ago. The company’s product pipeline includes magnetic plug replacement solutions for household, commercial, industrial, marine, electric and autonomous vehicles, emergency services, data centres and more.