From freeCodeCamp to NASA with Data Engineer Joe Hill [Podcast #178]

On this week's episode of the podcast, freeCodeCamp founder Quincy Larson interviews Joe Hill. He's a software engineer who works on a data platform for NASA.

Joe taught himself programming for 4 years while working as a janitor. As the single father of two Autistic boys, he first used his programming skills to build an iPad app to help them learn how to talk.

We talk about:

• Data Engineering and wrangling Department of Defense data into a central platform

• The role of soft skills in getting things done in big organizations

• The need for patience and practice in self-teaching

• How to stop jumping from one tool to another and to instead go deep

• Tips for parents raising kids with Autism

  You can watch the interview on YouTube:

Or you can listen to the podcast in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow the freeCodeCamp Podcast there so you'll get new episodes each Friday.

Thanks to the 11,384 kind folks who support freeCodeCamp through a monthly donation. You can join these chill human beings and help our charity's mission by going to [https://www.donate.freecodecamp.org

](https://www.donate.freecodecamp.orgLinks)Links we talk about during our conversation:

• The trailer of the 1992 classic hacking heist movie Sneakers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEhgUxQ322A

• Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-hill-4a138123/