Welcome to the new OmniTI series, Getting To Know....
Here at OmniTI, we are passionate about a lot of things - our work, our culture, and our people are among some of our favorite things to talk about. We’re proud of the team of engineers that we surround ourselves with and we thought you’d like to meet them too. Today, we’re featuring Chris Tschanz, Web Engineer.
Tell us about yourself, Chris:
I grew up overseas without much technology. We didn’t have a computer or a television only had a rotary phone. Without TV or electronics, I enjoyed running around outside and playing with friends.
My family got a TV when we moved back to the States. I enjoyed watching Saturday morning cartoons. It seemed like every show I watched had a “Tech Guy” that could solve any problem with any technology. I grew up wanting to be that guy.
In high school my family finally got a computer. I started learning how to use it. I took AP programming classes in high school and got a mentorship. On the first day of my mentorship, they sat me down at the SGI Indigo 2 which served as the web server and handed me “Perl in a Nutshell”. In college, I worked part time in the computer labs. After I was done my shift at midnight, I’d stay up late playing StarCraft or Quake. After a year, I got a programming job with the University.
After college, I got a job at a small training company. When I got there they were passing passwords between every page in plain text in the URL. I spent 6 years there fixing the many problems and developing a great team. Unfortunately, the company went out of business.
I came to OmniTI in 2010. I work as a web engineer, writing code to help improve users’ experiences on customers’ websites. I like the flexibility and small business feel of OmniTI.
I enjoy spending time with my girlfriend and our five cats as well as computer gaming, hiking, camping and shooting.
Where did you learn how to do what you do? And/or what jobs led you to OmniTI?
I learned the basics of programming from high school and college. Most everything else was learned through work experience. OmniTI has given me the opportunity to work with a lot of different technologies.
What is the most interesting project you have ever worked on? And/or what’s been your favorite project you’ve ever worked on?
There have been a lot of interesting projects. Recently, I updated a company’s credit card system to use tokenization. This allowed them to stop storing credit cards and reduce their risk and the complexity of their systems.
What game or movie universe would you most like to live in?
The old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie universe. Yes, the movies with the animatronic man-turtle suits. Don’t judge.
What pets did you have while you were growing up?
I didn’t have any pets growing up.
What takes up too much of your time?
I spend an absurd amount of time staring off into space and thinking about things.
What would be your first question after waking up from being cryogenically frozen for 100 years?
Which way is the restroom?
What is the single biggest person, place or thing that has been influential in your life?
My parents have been the biggest influence in my life. They encouraged my to pursue a career in technology and supported me along the way.
What have you only recently formed an opinion about?
Old fashioned style donuts are the best type of donut.
What could you give a 40-minute presentation on with absolutely no preparation?
Nothing. I need prep time just to brush my teeth in the morning.
In closing, give a statement about why people should want to work with OmniTI.
Before working for OmniTI, I was used to being one of the smartest people in the room. When I started at OmniTI, I quickly realized that pretty much everyone was both intelligent and knowledgeable.