Alex Fan – Blog 1 – Hello World

Bio

My name is Alex Fan, a 24-year-old from Waterford. I’m currently a 4th-year Computer

Science student at South East Technological University (SETU), specialising in the

Cloud and Networks stream. Prior to this, I pursued nursing at Trinity College Dublin but

transitioned to computing after two years to follow my passion for technology.

Outside academics, I am deeply interested in health and fitness. I’ve been working at a leisure center for the past four years and have been actively training in the gym for seven years. Additionally, I have a strong passion for music and have participated in multiple choirs, one in which we performed at Carnegie Hall in New York.

I had the opportunity to intern at Red Hat for eight months on the DevOps team for OpenShift AI. This experience provided me with valuable industry experience as a software engineer and enhanced my problem solving skills. A key piece of advice from my mentor at Red Hat that resonates with me is:

 “If you must do something twice, automate it.”

This mindset has stuck with me going forward in my approach to technology. I’m fortunate that Red Hat has given me the opportunity to return once I am finished my degree.

Ideas

Virtual Queueing for Gym Machines/Equipment

From years of going to the gym, I find there’s nothing worse than having to wait to use a

specific piece of equipment during the busiest times. I would love to be able to create

technology for gyms where people could use NFC on their phone to tap a machine and

join a virtual queue to use it. It is common curtesy in gym’s not to stand around by

someone waiting to use equipment once they are finished, however standing away from

them often leads to someone jumping ahead of you once the person is finished. With a

virtual queueing system, people would have to use the equipment in order of who

tapped on with their phone first.

Fall Detection Device

One of the many things I learned when studying nursing was falls within the elderly

community. There were many stories of a person having a bad fall, not having the

strength to get up and not being found until hours later when a family member visits. A

device which could detect if somebody had a fall and would automatically contact a

carer, family member or friend wouldn’t prevent the fall but would hopefully decrease

the time between a person having a bad fall and them retrieving the care they need after

the fall.

Microbits

I know that microbits are small, pocked sized computers which is often used to teach

people how software and hardware work together. I had the opportunity of helping

Transition Year students who did work experience in Red Hat program microbits to play

games, on them, music and even program remote control cars with them. Microbits can

come with buttons, lights and sensors that can all be programmed. This could

potentially be used in a device I mentioned earlier for fall detection.