“I did at least one successful lay-up as part of the basketball team,” says Chris Petty, “which is pretty miraculous.”
Chris, who graduated from ACG Sunderland in 2011 is now working as a software developer at Sustainable Solutions, a company that manages pharmaceutical logistics for developing countries. Their software mSupply is used in national drug distribution projects, warehouses and hospitals in more than 20 countries around the world.
Chris has helped the company design and develop an app – mSupply Mobile – which is used to track and facilitate the supply chain of pharmaceuticals, focusing on distribution of stock around a country down to the clinic level. This month mSupply Mobile is going open source, meaning it will be free to install and more accessible for countries with tight health budgets.
“I also get to fly around a bit, helping countries install and utilise our software,” he explained. “Last year I went to East Timor and Solomon Islands to roll out mSupply Mobile. The past couple weeks I was in Nepal checking out Kathmandu and meeting the staff of our Nepal office.”
A self-described computer bug, Chris studied Computer Science at university and was in the winning team for the Summer of Tech Hackfest in his final year. He describes his area of specialty as ‘Software Developer’”.
“I introduce new coding practices and styles that improve our products. To that end I’m pretty versatile and pick things up. In the immediate future I’m looking into software architecture and documentation, which will build my ability to document and manage projects in the future so that my fellow programmers have a nice time.”
So what does the future hold? From making computer games to keeping rockets upright to using his Chemistry papers to brew fancy beer, there’s no shortage of ideas. But he can’t go past doing work that’s beneficial.
“Working at Sustainable Solutions has shown me a lot in terms of doing work that is needed. I’ll be pretty stoked if I get to keep doing that in ten years’ time – work that truly improves people’s lives.”
