Hello there! My name is Josh MacDonald and I am in my 7th year as an undergrad at UBC. I have a B.Sc in Geographical Biogeosciences which I completed in 2015. Since September of 2015, I have been in the BCS program. The BCS program is a fast-tracked computer science degree that is only available to students who already have a degree. Many students in the program try to bridge the subject they studied in their first degree with computer science.

For my first degree, I focused on Geographical Information Systems (GIS). GIS is the use of software to capture, store, analyze, and present spatial or geographic data. An example of GIS in action might be using census data and crime data in a city to see how population density correlates with certain crimes. While GIS software is useful on its own, having a deeper understanding of software and programming can make it much more powerful. Writing scripts to automate how the software functions is standard practice in industry.

I felt that my knowledge of software, programming, and technology was lacking when I finished my first degree. Which is the reason why I decided to go into the BCS program. Since I have started BCS, my understanding of technology has increased dramatically, as has my appreciation and interest in technology. My goal as a software developer is to work for a large GIS firm such as ESRI. Currently, I am applying to software development co-op positions so that I can learn more about programming in a professional setting.