Biography
Richard has worked in the fields of software development and educational technology for over two decades. Since 2007, he has worked with the Institute of Educational Technology (IET) at the Open University, where he is a member of the Learning Technologies Team (LTT).
Richard started his time in IET as Lead Developer for the iSpot project, this was a partnership between IET and STEM, and was a National Lottery funded citizen science initiative that allows the public to engage with a social network to identify plants and animals.
Since then, Richard has been part of creating technological solutions for many other research projects within IET. He recently took on the role of Senior Educational Technology Developer in the ADMINS project, a chatbot designed to assist students in disclosing their disability needs. The project featured a complex technology stack, including Azure infrastructure, TypeScript using MS Bot Framework SDK, MS Cognitive Services, and also OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Richard’s skill set spans a range of technologies, including PHP, Laravel, VueJS, JavaScript/TypeScript, HTML, CSS/SASS, Node.js, SQL, Linux, Azure, Apache, and NGINX.
Outside the professional realm, and when Richard is not spending time with his family, he engages in a variety of physical activities. He is a Tae Kwon Do practitioner, a runner, and also enjoys riding his motorbike. These interests reflect Richard's commitment to a balanced lifestyle.