Hayk Galstyan: Change through Code
2015-03-12
News
Web developer, content developer and self-professed code monkey Hayk Galstyan has been part of the Tumo team since 2011. Initially he was a mysterious character who wore motorcycle boots to work, but a motorcycle was nowhere to be seen. Now, he is known as the friendly developer that everyone can rely on to fix the problems few others can get their head around.
Hayk discovered his passion for coding when he received his first game console as a young child. Though he loved spending time playing games, he was always fascinated by how they were made. Throughout his teens he often took computers apart and put them back together again to fully understand the functions of the machine. He saw himself as more of an artist when growing up, but decided to pursue a career in computer science when he applied to university.
While studying for a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science with Games Technology from City University London, he worked night shifts as a games tester and senior quality assurance engineer at SEGA. Upon graduating he began working as a Flash developer and production assistant at the Brandwidth Group where he was nicknamed "the magician."
In addition to developing the backend of the Tumo website, automating the creation of students' online portfolios and working on Tumo's online learning platform, Hayk has taught several workshops in web development and programming. "I like inspiring young people to learn to code. So many things are made with code and people don't really realize this. Our future is reliant on this skill, not just in Armenia, but globally. One day it will become a basic skill that everyone should have, much like driving and cooking. I hope to have inspired our students enough that they will want to pursue a career in this field. I would love for them to develop their skills abroad and return to Armenia to provide university level teaching to the next generation. This will make a significant change in our society."