Meet the Administrative Staff – Mr. Don Cvetkovic
What do you most enjoy about your role in the Department?
As a software developer and a database administrator, I love challenges which often test my ability to solve problems. More importantly the department allows me to be creative, mentally sharp and keep my skills up to date. My character by nature is to help people and I apply my people skills to resolve problems or introduce new technologies in a friendly manner. One thing that I love to achieve each day is to have zero complaints relating to software, and at the same time I always attempt to create software where user can use literally any device to achieve a task. It is a wonderful feeling for a user to pick up an iPhone, an iPad, a MacBook, a Windows laptop or desktop, an Android device and go about using the software without any glitches. Quality of software is judged by how easily it is used and its’ friendliness.
What’s been your most memorable experience while working in the Department?
When I came to the department, I was engaged in updating software which was old, scattered all over and succeeded in stages of updating the software. I was questioning myself whether I would succeed in putting together and updating old software. However, I did it in stages and when I arrived at the updated version; I was extremely satisfied that I can proceed forward with updates, modifications, and adding new functions. I had to throw out some functions and replace with new functions because new libraries and development tools were incompatible with old. I literally had to go year by year until I arrived at the most current.
FUNNY moment:
I've had one kind of funny situation happen to me. More to the point, I had a working laptop and the storage space and memory was getting smaller and smaller and I took it to the Schulich ITS and they tried to find out what is going on but could not. So, I started copying every day the software to another laptop thinking any day the working laptop will stop working and it eventually did. A hidden software on the laptop was downloading tonnes of data but not in a database but rather as temp files. When I discovered the software, I deleted it and low behold the problem stopped.
What’s your greatest accomplishment?
In order to create a stable environment for work it takes all kinds of efforts, but in my opinion the greatest accomplishment can be measured by a stable software environment. When adding new functions to software it is always a challenge, however the results of updated software should be very unnoticeable to users and therefore user friendly.
What do you like to do outside of work, or how you enjoy spending your time, etc.
When I was young, I used to be active in sports, however work did not always permit me to be active in team sports, especially ice hockey. That is why I turned to different activities such as walking, ice skating, swimming and outside activities. I like being in nature, which motivates me to do gardening and produce organic food for personal consumption. A small greenhouse gives me a hobby which is beneficial for me and environment, while producing organic vegetables. Currently I have green and ripe tomatoes as well as chilli peppers. Finally, I love travelling anywhere in the world to check out customs, history, museums, cultures and foods.
