Joel Cochran

Current

Director of Operations at Stonewall Technologies, Inc.

Past

Programmer at HTE, Inc. (now part of SunGard)
Staff Sergeant at US Army

Education

University of Pheonix, South Orlando Campus
James Madison University

Recommended

3 people have recommended Joel

Connections

58 connections

Industry

Computer Software

Websites

My Blog

Joel Cochran’s Summary

Software Developer since 1997, specializing in software for local governments. I began as an RPG developer in a large firm, later moving to my current position in a very small firm. I later learned Java and Object Oriented Programming. Today I specialize in C# .NET development. I am fluent in .NET 3.5 and VS2008. My specialty is developing WPF and Silverlight applications using Expression Blend.

I have been using the Internet since 1993 and have been developing for the web since 1997. Currently, I develop web applications using RPG-CGI, Java Servlets/JSP, and PHP. I am very comfortable in a LAMP environment. Recently, I have been developing in ASP.NET MVC, a new ASP.NET model, and am learning AJAX.

Overall, I consider myself a Software Generalist: I am expert in several areas, competent in many, and knowledgeable of many more.

Joel Cochran’s Specialties:

C#.NET, RPGIV w/ILE, PHP, CSS, and other related technologies. I work daily with OS/400, Windows, and Linux operating systems. Business writing and Marketing Copywriting and editing. I am a frequent presenter and teacher in the software field. I have formally taught co-workers, taught many classes at the local Community College, and regularly present at local User Groups, Code Camps, and other events. I also write about .NET developing on my blog.

Joel Cochran’s Experience

Director of Operations

Stonewall Technologies, Inc.

(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Computer Software industry)

September 2000 — Present (9 years 3 months)

Responsible for all day to day operations of a small Independent Software Vendor. Primarily research and development, customer support, and revenue generation.
Programmer

HTE, Inc. (now part of SunGard)

(Public Company; 501-1000 employees; Computer Software industry)

August 1997 — August 2000 (3 years 1 month)

I worked my way up through Level 1 Phone Support, to Level 2 Application Support, to Level 3 Programming Support.

The company was publicly held at the time, but has since been purchased and is private again.
Staff Sergeant

US Army

(Government Agency; 10,001 or more employees; USA; Military industry)

July 1992 — April 1997 (4 years 10 months)

Rocket Artillery. First two and final assignments were at Ft. Sill, OK. Served 1 year in Korea. I worked in Battalion Operations, 3 Line Batteries, and finally as Platoon Sergeant of a Line Battery Headquarters.

I often tell people that the best thing I ever did was join the Army. The second best thing I ever did was leave the Army. It truly is a "Great place to start".

Joel Cochran’s Education

University of Pheonix, South Orlando Campus

MSCIS , Computer Information Systems , 1998 — 2000

UOP gets a bad rap because of its distance learning approach. Fortunately for me, I actually attended classes with other students. Due to my location in Orlando, my classmates were a lot more distinguished than myself. We had IT Directors for Sprint, AT&T, and Lucent. One was the VP of Technology for Tupperware International. Another was the primary software engineer for a super-secret weapons developer. My team mate was the IT Director for the Payload division of NASA, working actively on the Shuttle Program.

No school could ever replace the experiences of interacting with those people on a weekly basis.
James Madison University

BA , Philosophy and English , 1988 — 1991

I began as a Music Performance major, but it only lasted a semester. I learned that 8 hours of hearing myself practice Bass Trombone a day wasn't ideal for me (or anyone else, for that matter).

I switched to English, which I had always intended to be a second major, but realizing that I needed something that was potentially more lucrative I added a major in Philosophy with a concentration in "Critical and Analytic Skills" (logic). Unfortunately, when I graduated I found out that none of the Philosophy companies were hiring, so I enlisted in the US Army.

After my time in the military, I eventually fell into a job with a software company and it was the most natural thing I had ever done. I recognize now that it is because of my studies in Logic and Philosophy that programming is like a second skin for me. The funny thing is, that in a round about way I may be one of the only Philosophy majors actually using his degree!

Activities and Societies:

Kappa Kappa Psi, Tau FL '89
Marching Royal Dukes, 88-91 (Trombone Asst. Section Leader, Section Leader, and Low Brass Asst. Section Leader)
JMU Pep Band, 88-90