Matthew Osborn

. . . I design and build the software for the people who design and build software.

When did you graduate?

September, 2007

Where are you working? 

Microsoft as a Software Development Engineer, Seattle, Washington

What ARE you up to? 

I work on the Web Platform & Tools team (We are responsible for things like IIS, WebMatrix, Visual Studio Web Designer, and ASP.NET, basically anything to do with the web). For more detail I work on the ASP.NET side of things with a focus on WebPage, MVC, and NuGet.

WHAT'S IT LIKE TO WORK ON THE .NET TEAM AT MICROSOFT?

Working on the ASP.NET team is both one of the most exciting and challenging experiences I have encountered.  From day one you begin “drinking from the fire hose” this definitely describes the amount of information and knowledge that is thrown at you. The team is fast paced and filled with some of the smartest people I know. Every day is an opportunity to learn something new. The work that we do here isn’t all that public facing, for instance your family is going to know what Microsoft Office is but probably won’t know what ASP.NET is. However, for me it is more of an exciting challenge to design and build software for the people that design and built software so this is the perfect fit. Another thing I would like to take the time to point out is the work atmosphere. Microsoft really pushes for a good work life balance for its employees. We have time that can be really stressful and where we are working a lot but we also have time where it’s laid back and we get to have fun. I wouldn’t trade this job for any other job in the world, it’s challenging and rewarding what more can you ask for?

ARE YOU WORKING ON ANYTHING EXCITING?

I've had the opportunity to work on several projects throughout my career at Microsoft. The most notable and exciting to me are ASP.NET WebPage, ASP.NET MVC, and NuGet. I've had the chance to work on many iterations of each, seeing some for concept on a whiteboard to a signed and delivered product.

Feel free to head off to my blog to read about some of the cool stuff I have done for each of projects. 

WHAT IS ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE NEUMONT PROJECTS?

I have two projects that really stand out in my mind from when I was at Neumont. The first was the “Fix-A-Wreck” project we did in our first quarter. This once stands out simply because it was a wakeup call to how the real world worked. This was my first time making something that wasn’t just a simple homework assignment. It needed to have a work flow and had to be designed and coded by several people. The second was my time at Digital Draw Network. We worked on a document processing system that would be used by all their employees to process incoming requests. The reason it stands out is because this is something they actually used for many years after the project. Trust me I know. I was hired there and worked there for two years and had to support it.

ANYTHING YOU'D TELL CURRENT STUDENTS?

Neumont is a great place to get an awesome education. However, you get what you put in. I cannot stress enough how important it is to push yourself and make the best out of your time at Neumont. Never stop asking questions, never stop wanting to learn and your time and Neumont will fly by and you’ll come out a rock star!