Q&A with Ben Mathews, Software Engineer, Audere

Tell me a little bit about your background and what led you to work at Audere.?

• I’ve loved programming since I was young — I still have fond memories of learning Logo in elementary school. I majored in Physics in college, but I returned to programming after I graduated. I started out in embedded software, then moved to Facebook where I worked on a number of different teams across infrastructure, security, and product development.
• I moved to London to help start the Facebook London engineering office, alongside Philip Su (Audere’s Founder). I was only planning to stay for a couple of years — but then I met my girlfriend and decided to stay permanently. Now we have two sons.
• In March 2020, Philip called and asked if I would be interested in joining Audere to help with their COVID-19 response. I started at Audere three days later, right at the start of lockdown.

In your own words, what are your core responsibilities at Audere?

• I’m part of the infrastructure team. We build and maintain the AWS backend for our services. This includes the APIs that we expose, but also our ETL and reporting system.

What does your typical workday look like??

• Since I’m in a different time zone, I usually don’t have any meetings until 4pm. That gives me a huge block of time early in the day to get things done: to write code, review PRs, plan future work, etc.

What is your Why??

• I’m really excited about our mission to improve global health. My goal is to be doing something positive for the world, and I think Audere is a great place to use my talents to do that.

What is the most exciting project you’ve worked on at Audere?

• It’s hard to pick something! I suppose I’ve enjoyed the process of migrating our infrastructure from Firebase to AWS. It’s given us a chance to design the system from the ground up with security and privacy in mind.

What is your favorite thing about working at Audere?

• It’s definitely the team — I love working with people who are similarly passionate, motivated, and proactive. Everyone is excited to pitch in and get things done.

What new hobbies have you taken up during the pandemic?

• I wouldn’t say I have any new hobbies — but I have spent a lot more time running and cycling since the pandemic started. I even set a half marathon personal record in 2020!

What are a few facts that your colleagues would be surprised to learn about you?

• One summer, I cycled the West Coast from Vancouver, B.C. to San Diego, CA with a friend, camping along the way.
• I studied Japanese when I was in elementary school. Unfortunately I forgot most of it, though!

Best team event?

• The virtual escape room that we did in July 2020. Because of the time difference, I had to stay up until 1 am, but it was really fun, and a good way to meet other people at Audere.

??Keurig or drip coffee?

• Aeropress!