I’m a creative engineer, working at the intersection of design, business, and engineering. Relishing creating amazing things that wow people and shift industries.
Intuitive and instinctive problem-solving skills. Amazing eye for detail and passion to always build great things that people will love to use, in turn inspiring and leading large international engineering teams to deliver complex cutting edge software. Highly respected by peers and management to solve complex technical problems while focusing on the business and customer experience.
Ingenuity and talent to invent, create and build demos for conferences. Providing the chance to exercise broad expertise from initial concept design through 3D modeling, software design, electronics, hardware design, woodworking, machine learning, motion graphics design, and video production. A highly anticipated presenter within JavaOne keynotes wowing live crowds and showcasing these innovative and fun demos to tens of thousands. Awarded Rock Star presenter for JavaOne technical sessions. These inspired a pair of NASA engineers to start a company that is changing how scientists visualize our universe and navigate spaceships. Also, exciting VW Audi research group to go on and standardize on JavaFX technology for all of their automotive prototypes.
Jasper has been fortunate to work with some amazing people.
History
Jasper grew up in a bohemian household in the county of Dorset in the UK. His parents, both architects and university lecturers, provided an environment of creativity, forward thinking and individuality. Jasper spent his childhood designing and building projects in his home machine shop and teaching himself computing. He also loved to sail in Poole harbour and along the beautiful Dorset coastline.
At the age of 8, thanks to his parents University connections, Jasper got his hands on his first Apple Mac, the latest and greatest technology had to offer in 1985. His parents needed someone quick-to-learn to be able to impart their wisdom to the other faculty and students at the university on the latest in CAD software. So despite his young age, Jasper was tasked with this job and for the next 10 years became University of Portsmouth, Department of Architecture’s go to advisor for CAD software and any other IT problems.
At 14 Jasper wrote his first piece of commercial software in HyperCard, creating an application for a local bakery to optimize their production of bread, believed to still be in use today.
Jasper struggled with dyslexia throughout his school career, but found computing and logical, creative problem solving came naturally. He completed his GCSE in computing when he was 15 and at 16 took his A level in computing, two years early.
He went on to study Computer Engineering at University of Portsmouth and graduated with an MEng with Distinction, achieving the highest mark ever awarded to a final year project.
After graduating Jasper moved to London to pursue his career in software. He went on to work in a variety of roles from Developer to Technical Director in established firms as well as start-ups and venture capital.
Eventually deciding to found his own start-up called Xerto. The primary goal of Xerto was to produce a powerful piece of software called Imagery, created to help professionals manage large digital image collections.
In 2006 his work on Imagery was noticed by Sun Microsystems in California and he was fortunate in earning the respect of the best Java engineers in the world and was hired to join them in Silicon Valley.
After working as an engineer at Sun for a few years he became an architect on the JavaFX platform, the modern scenegraph based UI toolkit for Java. JavaFX has been used for many serious engineering applications from the New York stock exchange, to air traffic control, to the bridge user interface of a navy battleship.
Jasper was then asked to help found a new start-up style group within Oracle to explore the exciting new world of Internet of Things. Going on to establish an IoT PaaS cloud service and a growing suite of IoT SaaS applications.
Jasper has been very fortunate at Oracle to be able to apply his woodwork and metalwork skills, electronics knowledge and artistic flair to his role as Architect and Engineer. Since 2007 Jasper has wowed audiences at JavaOne and OpenWorld conferences with his innovative and creative demos that showcase the latest products being developed by the company. Jasper presented these demos in Keynotes as well as presenting sessions going into greater detail on both the build of the demos and more in-depth technical talks on the products he has helped develop.
Being able to create and make is a big part of what makes Jasper tick. He is well known for his Promethean ability to design, problem solve and engineer, taking each project all the way from creative idea to realized product.
Jasper of course enjoys this in his spare time too, building furniture, creating artwork and optimizing everyday objects at home.
His passion is in creating and innovating, whether it is a leap forward in the tech industry or designing a piece of furniture that hides the cat litter. His brain is always running and as much of a hindrance that this can be to his sleep schedule it is an absolute benefit when it comes to his inventiveness and imagination.
Jasper is currently an IoT and Blockchain Architect at Oracle and lives in San Jose, California with his wife Fiona.
