As one of the earliest engineers at Magnet Forensics, Nick Cosentino helped shape much of the engineering culture and software for the 8 years he worked there.
C# Dev Connect Meetup! About a year ago I had thrown around the idea of creating a C#-specific group that would meet at a regular interval with some of my colleagues. I saw that there was interest, but between all of the things we had going on in our personal lives and work lives, we just hadn't been able to co-ordinate something. I'm excited to announce that with some more solid planning over the last couple of months, C# Dev Connect will be able to host their first meetup! The company I work for, Magnet Forensics, has graciously offered our new office to host the event which will help tremendously. We'll have a group of people from Magnet Forensics their to help out, but the only thing "Magnet" about the event is really just that it's hosted at the office. What's…
Hack The North... What The Hack Is That? Hack The North is Canada's largest international hackathon. It's big. It's bad. It's awesome. Okay, but what does that even mean? The idea is that 1000 people get together from all over the world in an event where they're given 36 hours to create amazing technology hacks. There's a lack of sleep but no lack of amazing ideas and hacked together proof of concepts that show incredible innovation. Sponsors are present to hand out prizes for best usage of their product or API to competitors as well as mentor them and provide help with problem solving. This year, Hack The North was hosted at The University of Waterloo. Bro, Do You Even Hack?! This was my first time ever at a hackathon. I've participated in the Ontario Engineering Competition (OEC) which is much…
Continuing With Continuous Improvement I wrote about continuous improvement before and how I've been trying to tie that into my leadership role through changes to my one on one process. To recap, at our organization we try to roll continuous improvement into most things that we do. We're well aware that we're not going to get things perfect the first time, so as long as we have a process in place to learn, reflect, and adapt, then we can make changes to better our situation. It's something that's ongoing and it doesn't really have an end. So long as your organization is growing and changing over time, or the environment in which your organization is changing over time, having continuous improvement baked into your culture is key to success. Previously, I mentioned that at Magnet Forensics I hold regular one…
Continuous improvement involves making small changes over time to adapt your process. See how I've been adapting my one on ones with my team for the better.
Techno Security... What's it all about? Techno Security is a conference that was hosted by NUIX this year in Myrtle Beach. As that first link suggests, this conference has been bringing IT security professionals together for 16 years now. Techno Security doesn't aim to be the biggest conference of it's kind--just the best. At the Myrtle Beach Marriott Resort this year, Techno Security capitalized on a lot of the hotels real estate. There was a large banquet hall style room that was opened up for a great host of exhibitors. There were so many exhibitors that there was even overflow into the hallways surrounding the main exhibit area. On the other sides of those hallways there were rooms and smaller halls for training sessions. Even the halls in the basement of the hotel were packed with IT security and forensic-related sessions. First Conference…
Background At Magnet Forensics, I lead an awesome team of people with the mission of creating forensics software to help investigators around the world solve crimes. We're stacked with incredible people--and not only on the team I'm on, but company-wide. We do a great job of recognizing our achievements as an organization and as a team, but also on an individual level. If someone has gone above and beyond, we don't keep that a secret. I've been trying to make more of a conscious effort to recognize the people I work with, especially in ways that are unique to my own style. I think recognizing people in person is important, but you also need to consider your setting. Sometimes recognition in a public forum isn't actually appreciated or isn't nearly as effective as appreciating in a one-on-one setting. I find…
Deloitte Companies to Watch Another impressive accolade for Magnet Forensics! Deloitte has placed Magnet on their top 10 companies to watch list! To qualify for the list, the companies need to be operating for less than five years, be based out of Canada, and put a large portion of their revenue to generating intellectual property. Our CEO, Adam Belsher, had this to say about the award: “We are honoured to be named one of Deloitte’s Companies-to-Watch. This award recognizes the hard work and dedication of our team. We’re thankful for the success we’ve achieved, and we’re incredibly proud to be contributing to the important work done by our customers who use our solutions to fight crime, enhance public safety, protect companies from fraud and theft, and ensure workplace safety and respect for their employees.” Magnet Forensics Press & Events The event…
Matt "Chang-a-rang" Chang If you saw this post, then the face above is no new face to you. You're familiar with that beautiful 'stache already. Okay, so I'm being a little misleading... Matt Chang doesn't walk around with that glorious caterpillar on his face all year round. We're working on that though. You're likely wondering why I'm putting incredible pictures of Matt Chang on the web and why I'm even writing this. Previously I mentioned that I want to start recognizing the people I work with when I feel that they're going above and beyond. I did this with Cam Sapp not too long ago, and I plan to keep doing it for all of the great people I work with. There are a million ways to recognize someone, whether it be in team meetings, personally, or by doing what I'm…
Quality And Agility Last week, at Magnet Forensics we were fortunate enough to have a very talented quality expert come in and talk to us. Paul Carvalho was able to bring a great deal of information, perspective, and activities to our development team that truly proved to be an eye opener. We were all extremely excited to get to sit down and hear what Paul had to say. There's lots to read about Paul over at his STAQS site, but I'll re-iterate some of it here. Paul has held many roles when it comes to software development. He's been a developer, a manager, a tech support person, and part of quality assurance. He certainly has a full perspective on software development. Coming from a science background, he does a great job of explaining why things are a certain way or why…
PROFIT HOT 50 It's with great honour that I can say the company I'm part of, Magnet Forensics, has achieved the 7th place in the Profit Hot 50 rankings for 2013. Last year Magnet Forensics was also on the list ranked at number 16th, but we've shown ourselves up by moving a full 9 positions! Our ranking in the Profit Hot 50 is even more impressive considering we're the only company from Kitchener-Waterloo region in Ontario--Known for it's incredible startup community and success stories--that made the list. We're excited and tremendously proud of our accomplishments, but it's certainly going to be quite the challenge for us to move up in rank next year. It's a challenge we're all ready to take on though. You can check out the ranking over here or at the official Profit Guide posting. Articles I'll put…
