He’s built an impressive CV working both in-house and remotely for tech companies in Germany, Australia and New Zealand.
Fresh out of university he got a job at Logica in London where he wrote the entry, descent and landing system for Beagle 2, which was sent to Mars in 2003. Some of Chilton’s code is still floating around up there on Mars, “so that’s a bit crazy”.
Chilton also helped rewrite the front end of the Stuff website, worked for Mozilla Firefox and has been involved in several tech start-ups. He sold one for a healthy sum. Others failed.
“You just never know in the start-up world where the company is going to go. It’s so difficult. But they were good learning experiences for me.”
Today, Chilton is enjoying living, working and raising a family in Palmerston North.
As head of software at Certified Energy, he spends his days “working in the weeds of code” – basically, he tells the computer what to do. Right now, he’s building software that encourages sustainable energy production and consumption.
Certified Energy has developed the New Zealand Energy Certificate System, which enables organisations such as banks, airports and manufacturers to buy certificates from renewable electricity generators.
The certificates tell the organisations how the power they’re using was generated - hydro, wind or biogas. They also disclose where the plant is and how many carbon emissions are generated to produce the power.
Organisations can then track and reduce their emissions and ultimately work towards zero-carbon electricity use.
Chilton started at Certified Energy last October and sees huge potential for the company.
“It seems like we’re at a turning point in terms of having to do what we can for the planet, and this definitely fits the bill here.”
While Chilton thrives in the fast-moving world of tech, he’s learned not to be lured in by shiny objects. These days, he’ll only adopt a new piece of technology if it fits the needs of his team and the company.
“You can get ahead of yourself sometimes with trying to learn the hottest newest thing. But I’ve been around now. I see the cycles come and go. You get new technology, there’s the hype, and people go flat on it because they realise it doesn’t solve all their problems.”
While he refers to himself as a generalist, he also proudly owns the label “geek”.
“I remember my brother said to me years ago, ‘The geeks will inherit the earth because everything’s going towards technology’. It’s terrible in one way, but it’s good in another. It depends on your viewpoint in life, doesn’t it?”
In 1998, he spent two weeks in New Zealand then came over on a working holiday visa in 2002.
Chilton shifted from Wellington to Palmerston North five years ago for the schools and because it is a great place for children to grow up.
“I’ve really enjoyed it since and am very glad we came here.”
Renee Murphy is the owner of Human Stories. This story first appeared on Manawatū Tech Collective’s website.
