Tell us about yourself Tony
I am originally from Camlough, a small village in South Armagh, one of 7 kids so our house was crazy growing up. I moved to Belfast when I met my wife Heather and then once we got married, moved to Newtownabbey. We have two kids, Ollie, and Alfie. I enjoy running, reading, and dancing with my wife – dancing is brilliant, it’s great for fitness and I’m learning a new skill with my wife.
Can you tell us more about your professional background and how you got into the field of embedded software?
I’ve always wanted to be an engineer; I was given a talent and it is up to me to make the most of it. It wasn’t until I did my degree, that I realised I could have a career in embedded software.
Writing software that interacts with hardware really interested me and I could see there were endless possibilities. I can write a piece of embedded software and test it out on some hardware, it’s very satisfying to see the software and hardware working together.
Embedded software has its own unique challenges compared to writing software for say a mobile or desktop application, and I feel it makes you a better engineer.
What do you get out of working as an embedded software engineer at B-Secur that you couldn’t get from any other kind of work?
At B-Secur I get the chance to work on innovative tech that will make a real difference to people’s lives, the work is interesting and challenging. I also love the culture we have created, if you get the right people together with the right culture, then great things can happen!
B-Secur has undergone rapid expansion and is pioneering changes in the MedTech sector following the launch of HeartKey® 2.0. How vital is your role of analysing and enhancing the efficiency, stability, and scalability of HeartKey® 2.0?
My role is vital as are all the other roles we have in the team. My job is to analyse the requirements for a system, design the software, write it, and then test it to ensure it is rock solid. When my work is done on a software feature, I want to make sure that it’s of the highest quality possible. I want to work on features that will make us the best at what we do.
What would you consider to be your greatest success in using your skills to date?
I would say my greatest success has been working on our own in-house prototypes, which are now used to further our mission to advance heart health technology. Through this I’m seeing my software in products, making a difference to people’s lives which is extremely rewarding.
As you look ahead in the next several years, what do you see as B-Secur’s priorities?
I see our priorities in the field of 24/7 health monitoring, adding new innovative features to HeartKey and being a leader in our field.