We have some pretty extraordinary people here at Freedom Consulting Group, and we love nothing more than to give them a shout-out whenever possible. This month, we sat down with Technical Lead Matt P. to hear a little more about his role at FCG and what he sees as the future of tech as we move into the new year.

How have you seen your role at Freedom change over the years?

I started with Freedom as an intern. In the office, I learned a bit about Pentaho and a lot about the front office; it was a great time! Once on contract, I was an ETL Developer and Administrator for a few years. I then transitioned into a Web Development role and more recently into a Technical Lead for a Web Development team, which is where I am today.

What’s the most rewarding part of your role at Freedom?

The most rewarding part of my role at Freedom is being able to grow professionally and have so many different challenges while working with the same group of people.

Would you say MEAN Stack is pretty nice to work with? (Pun intended)

The MEAN Stack is great! I really enjoy having access to npm and bower repos full of open source goodies to incorporate into our project. Working with a client side web application is a big shift, but one that I’ve really had a lot of fun with.

What is the future of MEAN Stack? Can you share with us any kinds of sorcery you have planned for the future?

Client side JavaScript applications are a quickly evolving area right now. I highly recommend trying to check out emerging technologies and keep up with where the industry is going. Angular2 was just recently released and Google announced they’re trying to have another major release every six months.

What are some other applications or technologies you hope to experiment with in the future?

I’d like to dive more into Amazon cloud hosting solutions and look at implementing full continuous integration and continuous deployment for the MEAN Stack.

What’s the one technological advancement you hope to see happen in the next five years?

Self-driving cars! I’d love to watch Netflix or play video games on the way to work.

What’s the one app you can’t live without on your smartphone?

By some miracle, I am able to survive forty hours a week without being attached to my smartphone. However, if I do have my phone, my favorite app would be ESPN Fantasy Football. I play in four different fantasy football leagues and absolutely love paying attention to as many games as possible on game day.

Tell us about the last gadget you bought.

I just got a compound miter saw to help with framing and trim work for the addition we are building on our house. I most enjoyed using the saw to make window sills; those felt like the biggest transformation from a flat piece of wood to a completed piece.

We hear you just had a birthday…what’s the best gift you’ve ever received?

The best gift I’ve ever received is the Leatherman pocket knife I got from my parents after getting the Totin’ Chip certification as a Boy Scout in the sixth grade. I’ve used it on countless camping trips and projects, and it’s still going strong!

A quote that motivates the heck out of you:

Do something. Either lead, follow, or get out of the way.