Meet the Team

So now you know where we're headed, each of the team would like to introduce themselves...

Hello, my name's Ian and my involvement in the Hills Are Evil project is largely to take credit for the great work that Cath, Tom and Mike do! Aside from this I'll be working with Mike on the 'magic' (read as boring to non-technical folks) bit that will power the web and mobile applications. I'll be looking at ways of integrating data obtained from sensors in mobile phones into route planning tools that allow you to choose the most appropriate way to get between two places, not just the shortest. As a wheelchair user I'm here to spread the word relating to the evilness of hills and cobbles.

Outside of work I drink Guinness and play computer games, pretty mature eh!

Hello! My name is Mike McCarthy, Overlay's resident Canadian. My role within the company, apart from pointing out that, yes, Canada is a country, and no, it is not a state within the USA, is to help create the context-aware widgets that underpin the Hills Are Evil project.

When I don't have my geek hat on, I practice kung fu, breakdancing, and parkour. Parkour is all about being at one with the environment, including hills. Don't tell Ian, Cath or Tom but I actually like hills. They make for good training!

Hi! I'm Tom. I'll keep it simple;

Things I love: Glastonbury festival, marmite, howies, graze boxes, margherita pizza (none of that 'toppings' rubbish), Gourmet Burger Kitchen, making lists. (Is it bad that four of these are food?)

Things I dislike: Olives, nuts, Justin Beiber, walking in the rain without an umbrella, boredom.

Things I want to do: Cycle around the UK coast line, bungee jump, sky dive, own an island.

I think Hills are Evil when I'm cycling around the city. Taking the flattest route will make my life a whole lot easier, and get me cycling around Bristol (and the rest of the UK!) more.

And finally, I'm Cath and I work primarily on understanding and improving the user experience. Other frequent activities include developing content for our blogs and generally bringing some girl power to the office! One of my (fairly stereotypical) weaknesses is for skyscraper heels, so I'm looking forward to being able to use a service that helps me avoid potentially ankle-breaking cobbles.

I love: hearing good stories, using Twitter and dancing, but I'm not so keen on: bananas, the phrase 'give it 110%,' people who walk really slow, and happy hardcore.