Meet the Team: Scott Sawyer, the Cloud Guy and Data Wrangler

Scott Sawyer is Ecovent’s VP of Engineering, joining the company in the Summer of 2014 after departing the defense fortress of MIT Lincoln Laboratory. However, Scott and most of Ecovent’s co-founders have known each other for almost a decade, having gone through the same leadership program for college grads at Lockheed Martin together. Scott worked closely alongside CEO Dip Patel on radar development. He was one of the original staff members of the Lincoln Laboratory’s Computing and Analytics group (doing data science before it was cool) and has been awarded patents for secure memory technology and a novel multi-core processor design.

As VP of Engineering at Ecovent, Scott leads the development of the cloud platform for data analytics and ensures the Ecovent system of vents and sensors is constantly learning and adapting to every unique home for a more comfortable and efficient lifestyle.

In our third “Meet Our Team” interview, Scott tells us how he got involved with Ecovent, what makes him skip up the stairs, and gives us a glimpse into his many side projects.

Q: Describe your job at Ecovent in five words.

A: Deliver quality software on time.

Q: So you deliver quality software on time. What does that look like day to day?

A: Every day is different. Writing code. Making design decisions. Recruiting. Compulsively tracking comfort and energy efficiency performance of our beta homes, so we can quantify the effect of each software update we release.

Q: When did you decide to be a software developer?

A: It’s funny: I’ve never had the title “software engineer,” but I’ve been immersed in code my whole life. My father taught me how to write a program in BASIC when I was in fifth grade, and things just took off from there. I designed websites for businesses in my hometown in high school. I started an online business in college. But I actually studied electrical engineering at Villanova (and UPenn for my master’s) because I was so into music and audio gear.

Q: Speaking of music can you tell us how you got dubbed the Ecovent DJ?

A: Oh yeah, I’ve always loved music. I used to be in garage bands with friends, and I still play the drums (but not nearly as much as I used to). In college, I DJ’ed all the sorority events with a friend of mine – we figured it would be an awesome way to meet girls. Ironically, I met my wife at college, and she has never seen me “perform”. Wonder what that says about my DJ’ing.

Q: How did you get involved with Ecovent?

A: Dip, Nick, Shawn, and myself all worked together at Lockheed Martin. I moved up to the Boston area before them when I got a job at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. I didn’t join Ecovent right away, but once I saw what they were building, it was just too good of an opportunity to resist. That and it was a perfect fit, given my software and data science background.

Q: So you have been to a lot of places and done a lot of stuff. Can you tell us about one of your proudest accomplishments?

A: Recently? I would have to say completing a graduate computer science class on algorithms at MIT for fun. It’s ridiculous how much material MIT professors cram into a semester. MIT students are there for a reason – they’re brilliant and they work hard. I’m proud because even though I had no idea what I was in for, I dug deep and managed to do pretty well. And I learned SO much!

Q: What makes you skip up the stairs in the morning?

A: I love Ecovent! I skip up all 6 flights of stairs to the office everyday because I not only have the opportunity to solve a really challenging problem in home heating/cooling, but I get to do it with a bunch of really smart, motivated, and egoless people. We have a mandatory 12 vacation day policy for a reason. It’s because no one ever wants to miss an Ecovent beat.

Q: With mandatory 12 vacation days a year. Where do you plan on going next and why?

A: HA. I really do need to go to Rome. I am half Italian and I have never been, which makes me a bad Italian. My line of work requires me to live in the future, so going there and being able to see the past would be really nice. I want to see the Colosseum, an engineering marvel that has survived literally thousands of years. And of course eat all the food.

Q: What is your favorite Ecovent story?

A: There are too many! I have been here for about 6 months, but it seems more like 3 years. Definitely, Rob Kim breakdancing at the Halloween Party. Making job offers is really fun, too. For example, Rob Carrington was planning to travel the world after leaving Lincoln Laboratory in November. We convinced him to do a 1-month algorithm project for us and he ended up staying FOREVER!! My next favorite memory will be when our systems ships out to all of our reservations holders throughout the US and Canada.

Lightning round:

Favorite hobby?

Drums, making playlists, analyzing sports. Okay that’s three.

Favorite superpower?

Pause the world to get lots of work done.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done?

Heavy metal mosh pits

If you had a warning label, what would yours say?

Encrypt yo data!

What celebrity would you like to have coffee with?

John Oliver. Dude has an amazing take on so many issues.

Favorite song?