Nathan Doraty finds inspiration in achievements and goals. After helping create a welcoming community by running Hackathons, the computer engineering co-op graduate is now joining Microsoft.
(Edmonton) It might seem easy to find inspiration in the global tech industry with the likes of Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos behind disruptive technologies and business models, but Nathan Doraty doesn't look to individuals for inspiration. He finds inspiration in something else: achievement.
"Experiences inspire me more than people," said Doraty, who's graduating with a degree in computer engineering.
"I look at things that have been done. For me, it's more of a goal approach. I want to make this achievement, and that's what inspires me, reaching certain milestones and achievements, not necessarily a person."
To that point, Doraty spent a lot of his time volunteering to give other students exceptional out-of-classroom experiences.
Doraty gained experience through the Computer Engineering Club. After joining during his second year, he became a junior executive, then he became VP Finance and in his fourth year, APV Hackathon, a position created to run all of the hackathons.
Hackathons are competitions running up to 36 hours in which teams design and build tech projects, including software, such as apps, and in some cases, the accompanying hardware.
This year, Doraty led the club in hosting two 24-hour events: HackED Beta and HackED. HackED Beta focused on students who wanted to get hackathon experiences without competing against more advanced students. This event helped first-year university students and high school students come in and see what a hackathon is like and test their interest, Doraty says.
The club's sixth annual HackED was on a much larger scale than previous years. It was the largest student-run hackathon in the city and was recognized as an official Major League Hacking event. The event brought in more than 300 participants and sponsorship from industry organizations including Intuit, Telus, and Servus Credit Union.
Hackathons and engineering as a whole have reinforced value for Doraty, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and community.
"A lot of people think computer engineers sit by themselves in the closet and just type away. It's actually a lot more collaborative than a lot of people think. You work with project managers, managers, other engineers. You have to build this whole solution that works for everyone, not just yourself," he said.
Doraty uses computer engineering to make people's lives better and to help people.
"I do want to help people, make people's lives better and I want to do that in the most impactful way, whether it be someone having fun with their video games or being the best part of someone's day there, or helping a truck driver make it past the weigh station so they can make a delivery and make more money and bring that back to their family. I want to build software that helps people."
Doraty's motivation in computer engineering comes from its ability to revolutionize anything.
"It's definitely changing the world and providing more access to more information and speeding everything up-and making everyone's lives better."
Following graduation, Doraty is set to move to Redmond, Wash., to start a full-time job with Microsoft at its main campus. While his duties are not 100-per-cent certain at this time, he knows he will be working under Xbox endpoints.
His job opportunity stems from two of his previous engineering co-op placements with Microsoft-one at The Coalition in Vancouver where he worked on the game Gears of War 5 and the other in Redmond, where he worked on the Xbox rewards program, which is when he was offered his full-time position.
Doraty's excited to start his career with Microsoft in Redmond.
"I love the city. It was a lot of fun hanging out there. I met a lot of people I like. Everyone was super nice there," he said.
And the opportunity fulfils one of his main goals-working somewhere he can receive mentorship.
"It's a great environment to learn, so for me it was the best pick."