Aries Systems Corporation

Tell us a little about yourself – how long have you been working for Aries? What did you do before joining Aries?

I’ve been working for Aries as a software developer for almost 3 years now. I had previously worked at Travelers Insurance in Hartford, Connecticut for a year. Before that, I was attending Mount Holyoke College and graduated in 2018.

What have your roles at Aries been?

I joined Aries’ Engineering department as a Software Engineer 1 (SW1) position and have since transitioned to Software Engineer 2 (SW2). I am a member of Aries’ Targaryen development squad and took on scrum master responsibilities for my team in 2021.

How do you collaborate with other departments within Aries?

On team Targaryen, we work closely with our Quality Engineers (QEs) and Product Owners (POs) in our daily work as well as our epic and sprint planning. Aries’ new agile squad model has been a great boon for engineers to get more exposure to customer experiences and needs and have the chance to collaborate on projects with people outside of our department.

Tell me about your department and the people you work most closely with.

Within Aries’ Engineering department, I work most often with the other “devs” on my team. I also work closely with our QEs, our POs, and our XML Specialist. Our team is heavily focused on developing functionality for ProduXion Manager® and our innovative XML workflow feature LiXuid Manuscript™.

Describe your typical workday.

A typical workday for me shifts between regular developer tasks and scrum master tasks. In the morning, the developers on our team have a smaller ‘Scrum-lite’ to discuss more technical issues and work through any stuck bugs/stories. Mid-day, we have our full team stand-up meeting and we go through each person’s tickets to check in on their progress and work through any blockers. Outside of meetings, I work on my own tickets for the sprint.  

What do you most enjoy about your job? What do you enjoy most about working for Aries?

I most enjoy getting to work with my teammates who are always supportive, collaborative, and fun to work with! I’ve really appreciated getting to learn from the more experienced engineers on my team and improve my coding skills. For Aries as whole, I enjoy contributing to the progression of scientific research, especially medical research, even if in a small way.

What are you currently reading, listening to, or watching?

Right now, I am watching the current season of Ru Paul’s Drag Race and re-watching Beyoncé’s Oscars performance as often as I can.

Tell me about some of your hobbies/interests outside of work.

Outside of work I play ultimate frisbee and am getting started with the spring/summer season!