Luke Meir

As Co-founder and CEO of the start-up Appatree my role encompasses almost every aspect of the business, from project planning and software development to recruiting, interviewing and mentoring.
 
We are currently focused on our next major product: an unique app, website and scalable infrastructure solution set to revolutionise the hospitality industry. Alongside this we deliver bespoke software solutions for clients, including the Rotary Club and the community interest company SafetyTree.
 
As part of my role I also mentor our placement interns and train them in software development best practices through our "Software Bootcamp". This initiative has been highly successful, with completers securing roles at companies including Google, Accenture and Wise.

During my time as the project lead for SafelyHome, I worked on all aspects of the project, from interviewing and sourcing the voice actors, editing the audio, working on the app designs and implementing the code alongside the team of volunteers. Since the apps release we have maintained ongoing improvements and updates to ensure our user's safety.
 
My role also included marketing and social media management, where I successfully grew our online follwerbase by over 500% in one month through targeted and engaging content. I also attended many relevant events, such as the night-time economy summit, to promote the app and network with key stakeholders in the personal safety space.
 
Before stepping down as project lead, I also implemented an updated CMS backed website, with blog functionality to keep our users informed on the latest safety tips and app updates.

Entrusted by the CEO to develop and produce an MVP social media app for gardeners. After recognising the project's potential I expanded the development team by personally interviewing, hiring and onboarding new developers. I fully designed an mvp app using figma, to create over 15 app screens and led the development of the MVP. Which was built in flutter hosted on AWS supported by a spring boot + kotlin backend. I provided mentorship and training to the team and managed the development through an agile kanban approach.

In a 20-hour part-time role alongside my studies, I served as a full-stack developer, delivering new features for clients using Java, React.js, and Node.js. I primarily contributed to the maintenance and stability of the system while working within a fast-paced, small team. Notably, I identified and successfully resolved a critical security vulnerability, strengthening my understanding of cyber security.

As part of my degree, I completed a year in industry at Capital One, I spent 6 months developing high traffic Java service backends. This strengthened my test-driven development skills and my Java ability to a professional level. I was also responsible for monitoring the service and ensuring any spikes of concern were investigated and remediated using a collection of monitoring software.
 
I spent the next 6 months in a Kotlin android team, maintaining the application, adding functionality and working to make the app more accessibility friendly. I gained real-world experience in software engineering, delivering, developing and deploying software following coding standards and SOLID design patterns. This helped me solidify a very strong foundation in programming.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, I designed and delivered a comprehensive 'Introduction to Python Programming' course for a large online audience (over 400 students per live session) on the Perks at Work Community Online Academy platform. The course consisted of 12 main modules.
 
The lessons proved very popular, becoming the most viewed 'kids lesson' on the platform with over 20,000 views to date.

For two and a half years, I led mentoring sessions for first and second-year Computer Science students, where I designed and delivered engaging workshops on key technical topics like Test-Driven Development, Introduction to AWS, and Java Programming. My goal was to directly boost the students' understanding beyond what they were covering in their core curriculum.
 
Proactively connected with lecturers and professors to ensure the workshop content directly aligned with their current teachings and modules.
 
I also conducted mini-lectures on a range of Computer Science topics, including AI Models, Linked Lists (explaining both the theory and the practical implementation), Study and Exam Skills, Project Planning, TCP Windowing, and an Introduction to AWS. I regularly delivered these to groups of around 150 students in lecture halls. It was really rewarding to see these optional sessions grow in attendance throughout the year, which I took as a big measure of success.
 
Through this mentoring, I aimed to deepen the students' learning by providing extra information and alternative explanations of the trickier concepts. I was also made aware by students that certain teaching approaches by lecturers weren't always clear. Because of this, I really focused on explaining ideas in a way that made sense to them.