Hey, my name is BillyZ, I am originally from a small town in Western New York called Chautauqua.

I began my journey in software engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) where I learned a ton of useful concepts and gained great experience. I took my first software job at Xerox and worked in the Corporate world for a short time before finding my calling in geospatial software engineering. While developing geospatial solutions for multiple different contracts, one specific NASA and USAID joint initiative called SERVIR began requesting more and more of my time until I became 100% on the project. I have since relocated to Huntsville Alabama, where the SERVIR Science Coordination Office is located and I build open source software that is used by developing nations to help decision-makers address critical challenges in food security, water resources, weather and climate, land use, and disasters.

I enjoy the fact that my work brings satellite data from space all the way to the local villages around the world where it makes huge impacts. I often say that I feel like I'm saving the world one line of code at a time.

I love open source software as well as helping people to use and extend the software that I create. One person can make a start, but the entire community of developers working together can solve so many more problems around the world. This is why sponsorship is so important! Sponsorship gives the community strength and the ability to work on the real problems facing the world today, and as we know, today is always advancing and the problems of the world also continue to evolve.

Please consider a monthly sponsorship to help the community build solutions that will make the world a better place one line of code at a time!