Meet the IF - Dr.Electron
[Interview by Mart]
The Tangleverse Times: The first question is a staple by now. How did you find out about IOTA and how did you find your way to the IOTA Foundation?
Dr. Electron: In the summer of 2017, I worked on an electronics Project for a friend where we wanted to track cows (true story 😉 ). My friend knew someone who went to school with Dom, and we talked about it as we also “knew” Dom from school. But I didn’t believe in the Vision at the start. Over the next 6 Months, I became more interested and finally joined the community in November 2017.
I started to get more involved in the community by learning Rust with the Bee team, leading the GoShimmer X-Team dRNG initiative with Dave[EF], and finally starting the Wiki efforts together with others. The Wiki work began to take so much of my free time at some point that I talked to Navin, who always supported our work on the Wiki, and that’s how my talks to join IF started. While applying for the client team, Dom contacted me indecently, asking if I would like to join the still-to-be-created DX team. So, together with Jeroen, who I worked with on the Wiki, I joined IF.
TvT: Why are you called Dr. Electron? How did you get this name? Is it related to Professor Proton from The Big Bang Theory?
D.E.: Haha, I created the nickname the first time in 2015 when I had too much time in my first year at university (studying EE), where I created a Minecraft server with a friend. As I was already really into electronics (I had it for 3 years in school and built and developed my own drone, concluding everything from software to hardware), I wanted to use Mr.Electron, but that was already used. So, I switched to Dr.Electron.
TvT: Looking back when you first started your crypto journey, is there anything you totally need to laugh about today? Maybe a conviction you had, a mistake you made, a coin you bought, what makes you smile looking back?
D.E.: My Crypto journey actually started with a big scam project (probably no one knows it, so I won’t mention it). I wouldn’t say I liked that I was that stupid. Still, in the end, I’m happy that it happened as it brought me into a great community (IOTA) where I met many friends I wouldn’t like to miss.
TvT: Do you own any other NFTs than your IOTABOT? Any collection you regret missing?
D.E.: I love my IOTABOT, the best bot ever. It's charming that I got a custom one from community member JSto ♥️. I bought the Soonaverse NFT to support my friend Dave and his team. I’m not much into NFTs, but I love the artwork of all the NFTs I got.
TvT: Tell us a story about your hiking trips with Dom. Any funny things that happened? Did you outhike him?
D.E.: I always enjoy hiking with Dom and the south tyrolian community. I think I enjoyed the Hike with Dom and his dad the most. Or the one where we drank and ate the whole afternoon in the Alps. But that was before the “no alcohol before ATH” rule, obviously ;)
In general, I’m not sure if I would be faster than Dom. We never really tried, though. Although we also went on more challenging hikes, we have never tested our limits yet. Maybe we should try 😆
TvT: Do you have any pets? If so, join the official unofficial IF pet club and post a picture and tell us everything about it!
D.E.: I live on a tiny farm. So, I have always had dogs, but currently, I only have two cats. And chicken, ducks, and some geese ;).
TvT: I’m currently re-watching The Walking Dead because my girlfriend hasn't watched it yet (duuh!). What are your favorite TV shows? Any recommendations for a show that’s totally flying under the radar?
D.E.: I also never watched The Walking Dead yet 😆. Tbh, I’m a Movie and Series junky. I grew up with Smallville and the story of Superman, which has shaped me. Currently, I really enjoyed Superman and Lois. Other shows from my watching history: Mr. Robot, The Strain, Supernatural, The Shannara Chronicles, Grimm, Arrowverse, The Boy/GenV, LOTR: The Rings of Power, The Peripheral, Invincible and a lot of movies. I’m not sure if I want to recommend special shows. I love them all 😆
TvT: Let’s say you need to relocate to a certain country, for various, unspecified reasons. Where would you want to live and why?
D.E.: Probably Canada. I would love to get a wooden house in the woods near a lake.
TvT: Since you live close enough to Italy to be relevant for this question, we need to find Antonio’s allies and his opposition: Pineapple on Pizza yay or nay?
D.E.: As an Italian, my answer has to be no. (But just between us: I never tried it and just follow the trend/joke 😆)
TvT: It’s actually crazy (at least for me) but we’re already nearing the end of the year and Christmas is basically just around the corner. Do you have any Christmas habits that you love and like to share? What do you like the most about Advent season?
D.E.: I never really go on vacations, but in December, I take some time to focus on things I don’t have time for in the rest of the year. This year, for example, I want to start working on V2 of my drone and see what I have learned in the nearly 10 years since V1. Other than that, I donate one month's income to different open source projects I use over the year and other organizations every December. I encourage everyone to do something similar if you can. There are a lot of organizations needing help out there, and also, if you use open source software from individuals, help them out there are building something great for the community ♥️