In the Office

As Lead Developer, Jay leads client projects and is a mentor for the engineering team. An Acquia(c)-certified Drupal developer, he has been developing Drupal sites since version 5. Jay is also skilled in many languages and frameworks including PHP, Python, Javascript, Vue, and React. Jay believes that being successful in this field takes work more than anything, saying, “None of it is a flash of inspiration – it’s experience, enjoyment of it, and takes a certain kind of stubbornness.” Jay has put this relentless work ethic into practice throughout many DesignHammer development projects. During his time at DesignHammer, Jay has been able to create numerous close working relationships, overseeing projects through the full development lifecycle He has years of experience tackling specific challenges with measurable improvement, and continues to appreciate seeing DesignHammer’s clients satisfied.

Professional Background

Jay has always been into games, music, tinkering with electronics, and figuring out how things work. As a young adult he kept his mind open to many options, stating, “I realized that having a briefcase wasn't a job. It also wasn't something I really wanted. That led me to explore a bunch of other things that were really important, and I'm glad that I did.”

He began college focused on Mass Communication because of his love of music and media, and then went on to complete a Liberal Arts degree from Clinton Community College. Concurrently, he constantly pursues new technologies and languages. This personal drive helped prepare him to take on the Web Coordinator position at Clinton while completing his degree, in addition to several other consulting jobs. He was delighted to discover he could get paid to do the things he had always just done for fun.

Out of the Ofice

Anyone who has ever met Jay might describe him as passionate and intelligent. No matter what he is talking about, you can tell he has done his research and his excitement is practically tangible. This may include anything from programming or the latest feature in VR all the way to his dachshunds, Guinness and Bailey.

He somehow manages to keep up with the nearly breakneck demands of being lead developer; responsible for helping guide development, building consensus, working with clients, and even writing code. But what keeps him happy is the workplace flexibility that allows him the maximum amount of time to spend with his family.

Fluent In

  • Acquia Cloud Drupal Deployment
  • Drupal 6, 7, 8, 9
  • WordPress
  • Vue.js
  • Django (Python)
  • Angular
  • Typescript
  • JavaScript
  • Docker

Speaking Experience

  • NCTech4Good Conference (Durham, NC)

Jay's Blog Posts

Happy Geek Pride Day!

Here at DesignHammer, everyone has something that they like to "geek out" about. In honor of Geek Pride Day, here are some of the things that really send our staff down the proverbial rabbit hole.

What Do You Think the DesignHammer Block Logo Represents? — Staff Interpretations

In honor of DesignHammer’s 20th Anniversary, we thought it would be neat to ask the DesignHammer team what they thought the DesignHammer logo represented.

What Do You Think the Name "DesignHammer" Means? — Staff Interpretations Part 2

Following up on our previous DesignHammer logo interpretation blog post, Part 2 of this mini-series provides an overview of what the word "DesignHammer" means to each of our staff members.

DesignHammer's Pandemic Recap
Now that we're over a year into the Pandemic, we thought it would be interesting to look back at all the ways the emergence of the coronavirus has changed the professional world, both positively and negatively. So we asked the DesignHammer staff to share their experiences about working through the pandemic throughout the past year. 
See More of Jay's Blog Posts

Jay's Projects

Duke Office of Clinical Research Website

DesignHammer collaborated with the Duke Office of Clinical Research (DOCR) and Duke Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI) to address the challenges in effectively advertising clinical research opportunities on the Duke Health website.

CED North Carolina
CED partnered with DesignHammer to transition their existing CMS from Drupal 7 to WordPress. The new website was equipped with a new theme and Salesforce Integration in order to reinforce their new customer engagement strategy.
Railinc Industry Website
Railinc approached DesignHammer after their initial assessment project to develop a new Drupal website that provided a high-level user experience, which included clear calls to action, and consistent taxonomy for products, resources, and blog content to easily expose related content to users.
Electron/Vue.js High-Def Video Kiosk

A reputable marketing agency with limited available development resources approached DesignHammer for additional assistance with a multi-screen video presentation; intended to be set up as a promotional installation for their Fortune 500 client at a major industry trade show.

See More of Jay's Projects