Our Story - About Slingshot, a software and app development company

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Tim Samasiuk

UX Designer

Tim is a UX/UI Designer with more than 7 years of experience. For him, design is also an emotional release. Tim is happiest when every pixel is in its perfect place. He describes himself as a curious daredevil, because he loves to experiment and find new challenges in order to learn something new. In his spare time, Tim enjoys traveling with his family and tuning-up cars.

Loves to collect Lego.

Dreams of living in a house in the forest.

Fond of tuning-up cars.

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Dan Harrigan

Senior Developer

Dan has had a diverse career path, all the while using his programming skills along the way. Ultimately, it was Dan’s passion for problem solving that led him to becoming a full-time software engineer. Dan is a big kid who loves to laugh and learn new things. When he’s not hard at work, Dan enjoys traveling (he once flew on 16 different airplanes in 45 days) and spending time with his family and friends.

Cannot resist a bad pun.

Collects Hawaiian shirts.

Loves fixing and building stuff.

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Jonathan Vanderford

Senior Developer

Jonathan is first and foremost a problem solver. Even before becoming a full time developer, he relied on technology and some basic programming to make life easier in a variety of jobs. He's worked on projects of all types: greenfield to legacy support, and startups to Fortune 100. Jonathan would describe himself as a daredevil because he's not afraid to ask "why" or to challenge the status quo. He stole his life motto from every infomercial ever- "There's got to be a better way!"

Listens to way too many podcasts.

Two time Startup Weekend winner.

Used to live on a sailboat.

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Blaise Liu

Senior Developer

Blaise has developed applications to help the great state of West Virginia government operations. With great curiosity and wide interest, Blaise has learned writing, cooking, and history from people he describes as ‘well qualified as Big Kids.’

5-year expert in waiting tables.

Documenting his cooking progress.

Practicing product photography.

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Jeff Goar

Senior Developer

First learning HTML and JavaScript on his own, his desire to learn more only grew from then. With a litany of different programming languages in his pocket, he uses that broad knowledge to provide a well-informed picture to any project. Jeff describes himself as a Big Kid. Always tinkering with and taking things apart as a kid, he has taken that approach into his adult life

Enjoys hosting podcasts.

Collects bourbon and baseball cards.

Has a knack for tinkering and fixing things.

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Maria Watkins

Director of Operations

Currently serving as the Director of Operations for Slingshot, Maria’s focus is to develop policies and procedures to help with the company’s growth and employee development. Her passion for running a business is rooted in her desire to help companies be successful. When she’s not in the office, she’s spending quality time with her family and friends.

Volunteers at homeless shelters

Enjoys Kickboxing

Loves to travel the world and try new foods

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David Galownia

CEO & President

David excels at propelling Slingshot towards their goals and oversees the strategic direction of the company. He’s been described as ‘intense, driven, caring, and passionate’ both at work and play. At work, he enjoys watching his team explore, imagine, and reinvent to do the best by their clients. At play, he drives Karts at insanely high speeds and scares his wife half to death. It’s all or nothing. Which means he gives it all.

National Champion Kart Racer

Official USA Team Driver in Le Mans, France

Gets pedicures with his daughters

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Chris Howard

CIO, Chief Product Owner

Chris has spent the past 20 years creating innovative technology solutions. He’s built products that generate an average of $25 million annually without breaking a sweat. Chris believes that technology can help drive business, not inhibit it. He views his role as simply making technology work for Slingshot’s customers.

Restoring an Old Jaguar

Loves long walks and bikes rides with family

Has loyal but crazy Standard Schnauzer named Molly

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Rachel Foster

UX Design Lead

As UX Lead, Rachel helps guide the design team through strategy, interviews, creation, and testing. Designing software and apps to be both intuitive & beautifully impactful plays into Rachel's strong desire to connect others. Relying on her Fine Arts background & honed intuition, she gets sudden flashes of ideas and follows them wherever they lead.

Backpacked 14 countries

Reiki Certified

Has 2 mini dachshunds

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Cheyenne Nolan

UX Designer

If we could give an award for best desk decorations, it would go to Cheyenne. As part of our design team, she’s extremely creative. Cheyenne is a problem solver who is extremely adaptable, and this helps her design software that is fascinating and insightful. She always finds ways to add delight and brighten the atmosphere wherever she is.

Pictionary Champ

2019 AIGA Flux Best in Category

In one word: kind of a rebel

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Mike Hurd

Senior Developer, Team Lead

Mike was our first ever employee, and we're happy to say he’s still with us 13 years later. He’s one of the best at understanding our client’s perspective, being able to translate ideas into what needs to be built. As someone who enjoys simplicity, he’s incredibly organized. After hours, you can find him playing basketball or working on his video game website completionator.com

Extensive video game collection: Over 3,000

Out of control at Happy Hour (Kidding! He orders water.)

Can probably beat you at basketball

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Doug Compton

Senior Developer, Team Lead

Born and raised in Louisville, Doug's interest in technology started at 11 when he began writing computer games. What began as a hobby turned into his career. With broad interests that range anywhere from snorkeling, science, WWII history and real estate, Doug uses his "down time" to create new technologies for mobile and web applications.

First job was a paperboy

Favorite cookie is all of them

Allergic to laundry

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Mike Schlegel

Senior Developer, Team Lead

Mike is a .NET developer with a background in project management. At Slingshot, he's a team lead specializing in getting projects done on time and on budget. Whenever he needs a break from work, he enjoys beating Doug and Nathan at Jenga. At home he has two Goldendoodles and is a brand new father. Sometimes he even gets sleep!

Faster swimmer than you.

Played rugby until he turned 40 and fractured a rib. Ouch!

Once ate 65 tater tots in 5 minutes.

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Steve Anderson

Senior Developer, AWS Practice Lead

Steve is one of our AWS certified solutions architects. Whether it's coding, testing, deployment, support, infrastructure, or server set-up, he’s always thinking about the cloud as he builds. Steve is extremely adaptable, and can pick up the project and run with it. He’s flexible and able to fill in where needed. In his spare time, he enjoys family time, the outdoors and reading.

Started programming in 3rd grade

Spelling Bee Champion

Flexible, but not in the splits kind of way

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Chris Staley

Senior Developer, Xamarin Practice Lead

With over two decades of experience, Chris is an expert full-stack developer, although the last few years his focus has been on mobile apps. Chris leads our Xamarin effort, and views himself as a meticulous craftsman. When he leaves the office, he heads home to his family in his blue and white Ford Mustang.

Skyline order: 2 coneys extreme and a Kizito cookie

Loves spending time with wife and kids

Reads news, blogs, and shampoo bottles

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Nathan Thomas

Senior Developer

Understanding what people are trying to say, versus what they are actually saying is one of Nathan’s great strengths and he uses this superpower coupled with technology to create solutions to problems. An early bird, he is usually the first to arrive and works in the dark until Chris arrives and turns on the lights. When the day is over, he goes home to enjoy a few of his favorite things; tv, bourbon, and petting dogs. Preferably all at the same time.

Bourbon Aficionado

Eats food other people bring to the office

Bluntly honest

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Michael Thornberry

Senior Developer

When he first applied, Michael completed our initial programming test faster than anyone else. He has over 15 years of experience, and enjoys using test-driven development to ensure his clients get the best product. Michael is the office jockster, having an amazing sense of humor. We call him a builder of all things: not just software, but decks, bookcases, and more!

Maker of wonders, both digital and physical.

Comfortably situated within two-standard deviations of greatness.

Studied Kung Fu

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Laura Williams

Senior Developer

Laura wasn’t always a developer: she started as an academic researcher in quantitative psychology! After moving to Louisville and looking for a career switch she attended a coding bootcamp as has been a .NET developer ever since. Laura loves making and creating, anything from fixing up old furniture to projects with her kids.

Hockey fan - favorite team Nashville Predators

First website made with Dreamweaver in college

Avid reader - Scifi and non-fiction

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Savannah Thieneman

Marketing Manager

Savannah is our one-woman marketing department. She posts, writes, and creates all things Slingshot. While she may not be making software for you, she does have a minor in Computer Information Systems. We’d call her the opposite of a procrastinator: she can’t rest until all her work is done. She loves playing her switch and meal-prepping.

Dog Mom to a Schnoodle named Otis

National Champion University of Louisville Cheerleader

Excessive collector of mugs: 102 total

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Artem Shynkarenko

Ukraine Delivery Manager

Artem is a department delivery manager in our Ukraine division with a .net development background. He has a deep interest in new technologies and board games. Growing up, he wanted to become an archaeologist. Instead of digging up fossils, he realized he likes thorough code assessments.

Attempted to publish his own board game to android platform.

Always loses to his wife in Dixit.

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Andriy Smetyukh

Senior .NET Developer

Andriy is a Ukraine .NET developer with experience in Android development. At Slingshot, Andriy loves working on our pet insurance client, so he can help take stress away from pet owners. Andriy became a father just a few months ago. He also enjoys playing chess and is interested in learning facts about other cultures.

Translated "Murder on the Orient Express" into Ukrainian.

Has not drank alcohol for the last 10 years.

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Oleksandr Lovas

Senior .NET Developer, Team Lead

Alex is a Ukraine .NET developer with a background in project management. At Slingshot, he's a team lead specializing on our PetFirst project. At home, he considers himself "the boss," but his wife and 2 rebellious children don't think so.

Knows over 6 languages

Dreams of shaking hands with the Terminator

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Yulia Shchyhel

Senior QA Analyst / Project Manager

Yulia is Ukraine QA Engineer with a background in project management. At Slingshot, she's a development team lead and QA engineer. She would describe herself as a wife, mother of two beautiful daughters, and an optimist. After work, she likes to ride her bike with her family.

Love to travel around Europe by car

Never says no to deliciously cooked meat

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Vitalii Luchko

Frontend Developer

Vitalii is a Ukraine Frontend developer. At Slingshot, he's a member of the development team. In childhood, he dreamed of becoming a football player.

Spent one night in the forest alone

Loves traveling around the mountains

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Lyubomyr Krupey

Senior Developer

Lyubomyr is a Ukraine Xamarin/.NET developer. At Slingshot, he works on the New Roots project, helping to develop the mobile application for iOS and Android, as well as supplemental APIs for mobile platforms. He enjoys playing snooker (similar to billiards), tennis, basketball, board games, and computer games.

Collects wines from different countries

Almost always washes his car before heavy rain

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Bohdan Skyba

Senior QA Analyst

Bohdan is a Ukraine QA Engineer. At Slingshot, he's a team member specializing on the PetFirst project. Bogdan graduated from the Veterinary University and loves working with pet insurance.

Graduated from the Veterinary University

Fan of Chelsea football club for more than 15 years

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Andriy Mahera

Senior Developer

Andrii is a Ukraine Xamarin/.NET developer. At Slingshot, he's worked on the PetFirst, UofL, and Dr Dictate projects. He's the owner of picky-eater snowshoe cat named Snowball. He enjoys playing soccer, hiking, and bungee jumping.

Hopes one day to climb on Everest

Amazing singer (when drunk enough)

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Olivia Ryan

Project Manager

Olivia comes from the world of product development and spent the last seven years driving projects from concept to completion. An engineer by training, she gets a kick out of simplifying complex problems with lots of moving parts. Olivia spends her free time rock climbing, hiking, or doing anything outside!

Loves rock climbing and hiking - most recently through the Grand Canyon

Teaches Irish Dance classes in her free time

Mom to a bobtail cat named Tim and his sister Rocket

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David Merk

Senior Developer and Architect

David is a full stack developer with a passion for business. He's active in the development community by mentoring, presenting, and organizing development and entrepreneurship initiatives. David considers himself a daredevil developer because he likes to experiment with new technologies when they solve real problems. When he's not working, he's exercising, learning, or spending time with his wife and step-dog.

Has a fully automatic espresso machine

Can bench-press more than 250 lbs

Proud step dad to a border collie chow mix named Darwin

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Eric Rowan

Lead UX/UI Designer

Eric is driven by curiosity and an eagerness to roll up his sleeves and lend a hand on any project. He is passionate about the human side of technology, bringing an empathetic set of eyes to his work with the goal of making the world — or at least the internet — a better place, one experience at a time. These days the Big Kid in him is probably daydreaming about the next adventure. You might (eventually) run into him on the trails of Cherokee Park or at a crowded music venue.

Completed a 10-day silent meditation retreat in the desert

Has willingly jumped out of perfectly good aircraft

Grew up in a town without a Post Office or a traffic light

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Chris Renzi

Senior Developer

Chris is a full stack developer with over 25 years of experience. He is a creative architect/developer who has the unique ability to quickly review business processes and determine the best approach for software automation. His main goal is to help companies realize their full profit potential. Chris describes himself as a Big Kid. By remaining forever young, you never grow old and bored.

He's been DJing since he was 15

Restores classic cars for fun

Has a Golden Doodle that sheds all over the place

Embrace the Big Kid & Daredevil inside. Release your curiosity. Take the leap.

The Story

Ingenuity

Integrity

Adventure

Childlike Spirit

Say hello to the Slingshot team

David Galownia

Chris Howard

Rachel Foster

Cheyenne Nolan

Mike Hurd

Doug Compton

Steve Anderson

Chris Staley

Nathan Thomas

Michael Thornberry

Savannah Thieneman

Maria Watkins

Chris Renzi

Olivia Ryan

David Merk

Eric Rowan

Jeff Goar

Jonathan Vanderford

Blaise Liu

Dan Harrigan

Tim Samasiuk

Oleksandr Lovas

Artem Shynkarenko

Yulia Shchyhel

Vitalii Luchko

Lyubomyr Krupey

Bohdan Skyba

Andriy Smetyukh

Andriy Mahera

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Tim Samasiuk

Dan Harrigan

Jonathan Vanderford

Blaise Liu

Jeff Goar

Maria Watkins

David Galownia

Chris Howard

Rachel Foster

Cheyenne Nolan

Mike Hurd

Doug Compton

Mike Schlegel

Steve Anderson

Chris Staley

Nathan Thomas

Michael Thornberry

Laura Williams

Savannah Thieneman

Artem Shynkarenko

Andriy Smetyukh

Oleksandr Lovas

Yulia Shchyhel

Vitalii Luchko

Lyubomyr Krupey

Bohdan Skyba

Andriy Mahera

Olivia Ryan

David Merk

Eric Rowan

Chris Renzi

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