Alan Colquhoun

Technical Background

I worked for SAP Canada from March 2016 - November 2017

Applied Web Development

I'm currently enrolled at BCIT and am looking for new clients that are in need of a new website or redesign.

Web Design/Development

I have certification in Web Technologies (2013) and ran my own business before joining SAP Canada in 2016.

BCIS Degree (1992-96)

I began programming in 1989 and completed my degree in Computer Information Systems in 1996.

Interests

Some of my biggest interests are music composition, animation, web development and instruction.

Music Composition

I own three instruments: an Gretsch electric hollowbody, alto saxophone and MIDI keyboard. Able to read/write music, I have composed for both concert band and jazz ensemble. At first, I did it incorrectly.

I have a large Beatles collection that includes music transcriptions (USA and Japan). I used to slow the records down, but there is no need to now. I have over 50 LPs.

I own music software called Sibelius. I also use Virtual Musical Instruments. Real instruments, however, are preferred. ;)

Both of my uncles played professionally. One even met the Queen when she was here in 1973.

Animation, Web Development and Instruction

After I graduated from BCIT in 2013 in Web Technologies, I worked for 2 clients. Most of the other projects in my portfolio are related to my interests. This portfolio represents the bulk of my design experience (40 websites). Nine of these sites are devoted to music, but none of my animation is present as they were created with Adobe Flash. My main intent in taking the Applied Web Development program is to update my skills, specifically in Web Development. I intend to expand upon my experience with WordPress, PHP & MySQL, as well as JavaScript and jQuery development (BCIT).

At some point in time, I may to return to instruction, but at this point in time it is not something that I envision. I do, however, have a big interest in multimedia and ways to include it in websites. Use of videos such as those of Rhoyei Kanayama can often teach an individial more than many instructors can deliver. Part of my interest in music includes research into Lennon & McCartney's early composition efforts. It became the foundation upon which many of their later compositions followed, such as All My Loving. Many of the chord changes are within the same fretboard area. Lennon favored use of triplets.

Website Development

Involving Databases and XML File Storage

From 2013-2015, I ran a business called "ARC Web Design." I resumed this business for six months in January 2018, but most of the associated business website content is stored in WordPress. Interested in creating membership sites with database support, I often refer to related sites, like those shown below, that are outsite the bounds of the Applied Web Development program.

After taking a review course in XML Development (there are several overlaps between BCIT's Web Technologies program and Applied Web Development program), I intend to take Comp 2909, Comp 2912 and Comp 2913. I also intend to take the UX/UI Fundamentals course, in association with the work that I did at SAP Canada (refer to my resume).

Database Management

WordPress Development

These sites are of particular interest to me as they relate to my training in Computer Information Systems (1996) and WordPress site creation (2015, 2017-2018). Not all sites are developed from scratch -- and are instead built in association with a CMS. I dealt with domain registration, hosting and site requirements [external source]* when I ran my business and know that these are things that site owners feel are important. Some of them may even be applicable to group projects.

I feel that the site requirements document is quite important, even if it is associated with WordPress. At SAP, I was once a scrum master in February 2016 and any requirements should be broken down into manageable tasks. As well, some projects require team work, as apposed to work being done by one individual. On many projects, group work is important -- as the sites are often far more complex than those in my portfolio. At SAP, I was part of the Partner Relationship Management team under Camelia Cirjoi. As Brenden Kennedy would attest to, automated testing is quite important. This is also true generally as mistakes can easily be made.

Group Projects

Use of Scrum, JIRA and Team-Based Design

I have made use of Scrum and JIRA for Agile-based tasks at SAP Canada. I have done group project work before. The site called Gems Jewelry is one example. This was a group project that I participated in at BCIT. I created a lot of the graphics on it and created the gallery page. I also created many of the advertisements, including the one on the FAQ page. All tasks on a project can be tracked with software such as JIRA. JIRA is a tool developed by Australian Company Atlassian. It is used for bug tracking, issue tracking and project management. Not all websites are simple -- and can involve back-end database access.

Web Technologies Certification

My portfolio contains 40 websites that I created from 2011-2015 (mostly BCIT work). One of my current goals is to find clients who are in need of web design services, and to later expand upon this with further web development, but I am also open to working for an employer. In this regard, working with other people is important, even if it is a team project. I abandoned running ARC Web Design for this reason -- as I wished to work on a team again, like I did at SAP.

A good example of my work is a site devoted to Jazz Composition. Another site in my portfolio involves PHP & MySQL database work, but ACME Widgets is not a business site, and like many BCIT projects, it has "placeholder" pages. The site I created in 2013 called ARC Music required use of jQuery Mobile, but I would just create any new mobile sites as taught in Comp1950 now. Some technologies, such as use of Flash, eventually fade away. I saved the Flash video to AVI, so no use of Flash is actually used. For one, Apple will not support it.