On the Importance of Wide Range of Knowledge: Meet Paul Bailey, Systems Architect

This story is a part of Hacker Noon's Meet the Writer series of interviews. The series is intended for tech professionals contributing the most insightful Hacker Noon stories to share more about their writing habits, ideas, and professional background (and maybe a hobby or two).

If you too would like to start contributing to Hacker Noon, you can do so here.

So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests.

Paul Bailey

Profession: Aerospace Engineer by training but now I write and architect software for the web and space applications.

Personal Interests: Kayaking, Biking, Triathlons, Running

Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about?

How to configure your Android phone to give up less of your personal data to big tech. I think we have given up of our personal privacy and there will be a wave of new products and ideas to take some of this lost privacy back.

Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about?

I don’t usually write about any particular topic. I usually write about stuff that is particularly interesting to me at the moment or stuff that I have expertise in. And many times when I write about stuff I have knowledge in, the article is more for myself, so I remember how to do something in the future.

Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?)

Whatever inspires me, that’s when I write. So no routine normally.

Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing?

The biggest challenge is finding the time and making it a priority. Oftentimes, I’d rather be coding than writing, even though I know writing is very important too.

What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career?

Continue to grow my space startup, cognitivespace.com and personally I’ve just started a new side project I’ve launched recently, neutronsync.com. I’m hoping to grow that project too.

Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice?

I run a lot mainly so I can eat more pizza. And if I run more than 5 miles, I get a Dr Pepper too.

Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it?

Triathlons. Since, I work remotely, getting outside to run, bike, and swim became very important to my sanity. I then started to compete in triathlon events too.

What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next?

I’ve been meaning to write some articles about blockchains. I’ve recently written some blockchain software for the aerospace industry and think I have some unique takes on the subject. I also have some Kubernetes knowledge I need to make a brain dump on.

Thanks for taking the time to join our “Meet the writer” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words?

In software and generally in technical related fields often people like to dive deep into subjects. This is very good, but I have also acquired a wide amount of knowledge throughout my career. This is often overlooked because deep expertise is valued. We need more people that have a wide range of knowledge and can integrate several layers of a technical stack. So don’t forget to break out of your expertise sometimes and learn something totally different.