We are proud of all our engineers at Codeplay, we have so many talented and dedicated members on our team.

This week we are extra proud to be able to announce that Stuart Adams, who recently joined us following his studies at university, won the "Young Scottish Software Engineer of the Year" presented by Scotland IS at ScotSoft in Glasgow on 3rd October.

You can find out more about the awards ceremony and Stuart's work on the ScotlandIS blog post.

Stuart also took the time to answer a few questions about his journey to this award.

How did it feel to win the award?

"I went to the awards with no expectation of winning anything, so I was shocked. I had no idea I had won until they called my name on stage. My supervisor and moderator for the project were there with me, and they were over the moon. I was really happy for them."

How did your interest in software evolve to these leading levels?

"I just want to be a good programmer. I like being able to look back at code I've written and be utterly horrified, because it means that I'm improving. That kind of constant improvement and learning experience is fun."

What was your path into becoming a software engineer?

"I did VB6 in high school. It was horribly outdated at the time, but I was hooked. I found out what jobs needed these skills, and I eventually went to college for Games Development, and then University for Games Technology. At university I became invested in graphics and GPGPU programming. I was very lucky in that I found many great C++ mentors throughout my education, who gave me internships and encouraged me to apply for a job at Codeplay."

How does your work with Codeplay Software support your development?

"This is a great place to work if you want to get your hands dirty with C++. Codeplay employs a lot of the best software engineers around, and I'm surrounded wall-to-wall with experts in almost every area I care about. If I've ever got a question, I know someone in here has the answer for me, and they're all eager to help."

What advice would you offer to school leavers and students for a career in software?

"Ask lots of questions and be kind to people. Companies invariably value a graduate's curiosity, personality and kindness over their technical ability. Please don't be afraid to reach out to people for help, advice and opportunities. People will respect your efforts and will want to help you out."

Codeplay is hiring Graduate Software Developers for 2020, if you want to find out more or apply go to our careers section.