Spotlight on Fred Campos , Board Member
Spotlight on Fred Campos , Board Member
Tim Fitzgerald . He was one of the designers of the conveyor systems you see in most dry-cleaners . He was the first small businessman I knew personally . He taught me about running and operating a small business and encouraged me during my teenage years . His mentorship influenced me to consider going to college . It is in his memory that I consistently volunteer for Trojan Talk at Trinity High School .
8
What schools did you attend ? Elementary : Peters Colony Elementary , The Colony , TX
Junior High : Delay Middle School , Lewisville , TX High School : Grapevine High School , Grapevine , TX
To my surprise , my high school teachers selected me for the ABC Scholarship from the Horatio Alger Association . They had to call my name twice , as I sat in disbelief . The scholarship was a nudge from my teachers to get me to go to college , which worked because I went on to study Computer Science at the University of North Texas .
What is one quote or saying that you love , that keeps you going in life ?
“ You never ( truly ) fail until you stop trying .” Albert Einstein
What would be a perfect afternoon for you ?
Hanging out with my laptop in the back corner of a Subway ( love their food ), vlogging , blogging , and reading . I have a re-occurring dream , where I stop time for 10,000 years to just hang out and read in the library . I absolutely love books and reading !
Who was your role model that you looked up to as a kid ?
I looked up to my youth pastors , Spencer and Cyndy Nordyke . I loved their unending passion for God and how they would do ANYTHING to change the lives of kids . Another strong role model for me was
What is your favorite city that you have ever visited and why ?
Seattle . In my early 20s , I went on a 9-day vacation / job interview with Microsoft . Not only did I love the beautiful green city with all its esthetic buildings and roads built into the landscape , I got to hang out and meet the developers of what we now call “ Microsoft Office .” They truly inspired me to become a serious programmer .
What ’ s something that amazes you ?
The reality of God ’ s work through creation and the universe amazes me . As a software engineer , I have written tens of thousands of lines of code , worked with the smartest teams on the planet trying to create some of the coolest software products of our time . Yet , with all that intelligence and calculations we create errorfilled products that are far from perfect .
However , when I look at the petals of a rose , the center of a sunflower , or the outside of a piece of fruit , I see a perfect mathematical Fibonacci sequence and patterns too complex to be random . God truly doesn ’ t play dice with the Universe and is very much large and in charge . As a developer , that is utterly amazing !
Give us a brief bio of your career .
Upon leaving college I got a nightshift job sorting checks for GTE . As I sat in a room with more than 150 other temporary employees , I told myself there has to be a better way to do this with software . In 1996 , I started a company called Remit Plus Software . I invented a check reading product that is used by more than 1000 cities from coast to coast . If you live in Euless , Grapevine , Coppell , or Colleyville your utility payment still goes through my system today . That company was acquired in 2005 by Audiotel and then again in 2007 by Jack Henry & Associates .