Here’s another installment in our ongoing series Better Know A Developer, in which we go behind the scenes at some of the Midwest’s best tech startups. We met up with Sandi Barr, Software Engineer at Aviture, at her office in Omaha.

Age 36

Hometown Tilden, Nebraska

High School Elkhorn Valley in Tilden

Family? I have a sister in Omaha, a sister in Kansas City, a sister in Tilden, a brother in North Platte, and my mom in Norfolk. I also have a daughter who’s 15.

Best part about being a mom? Watching them grow up and seeing them do things similar to you. It’s got its own rewards.

Job Title Software Engineer

So what do you do?

The application that we work on is written in AngularJS, which is a JavaScript framework. It’s all on the web, so we also use this WebGL mapping library called Cesium.

Basically, it’s helping the US Air Force plot out their various missions and activities that they use Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for. They’re using a previous version, and the team I’m on is developing a whole new version with new features. It’s uncharted territory.

Is it going well?

Yeah! It’s going really well.

What is it like working for the Air Force?

It’s different. I’ve never been on a defense contract before, so I’m one of the few people here who don’t have their clearance yet. The application isn’t classified, but the data the Air Force uses is classified. But we aren’t using their data. Eventually they’ll be plugging their data into it and hosting it themselves.

How did you get this job?

I was contacted by a recruiter from Modis who works with Aviture, and they told me about the opportunity. I thought I would come and see what they have to offer, and when I came here and talked with Mark and Jerry I really, really wanted to join. I got super enthusiastic.

What was it about them?

Their passion is for people. And when I met them they were really interested in what my passions were. It seemed like they were building a company of people they could rely on and relate to, and they would back them (like with The Garage). That’s not something you get everywhere.

What’s the biggest misunderstanding about what you do?

I think the biggest misunderstanding about being a developer in general is this stereotype that we’re really shy and don’t have to interact with people. That’s just completely the opposite. I work on a team where we split things up into very small tasks, so we’re working really closely together. There’s a lot of communication that needs to go on.

I think a lot of people aren’t interested in this as a career because they don’t want to sit at a desk all day. We do sit at our desks, but we also stand and talk to people. (laughs)

What’s your most controversial opinion that only programmers or developers would understand?

There’s a lot of talk about there not being enough female developers. I myself run Omaha Coding Women. But I think diversity for diversity’s sake isn’t the best approach. I’ve heard of people hired just because they are a woman. I think it’s important to have diversity and to encourage people from all walks of life to succeed, but we should still be hiring the best candidates.

What’s the coolest tool you get to use?

I’d say WebStorm is pretty cool. It’s an IDE for front-end developers. It’s a JetBrains product similar to the ones they have for Ruby or Java. It’s a pretty great IDE. This is actually my first front-end development job. When I’ve done Java development or Android development and I’m using Eclipse it’s just so clunky. WebStorm seems to have solved a lot of those issues.

First computer memories?

I had a Tandy back in the day from Radio Shack. I remember playing Space Invaders on it.

When did you start really getting into computers?

When I was in high school I got my first computer and there were some issues with it. Being in a small town, I had to fix it myself with a phone call to tech support. That’s when I started discovering that this stuff isn’t that hard.

What’s your best advice for people wanting to go into software development?

I think the best thing is to do some personal projects and show what you know. Companies, from what I can see, have a hard time hiring entry-level developers. So if you are able to put your stuff up there on GitHub, and they can see what you’re capable of, then they’re more apt to take a chance on you.