作者:大卫·辛普森
When Apple released its iPhone 14 and iOS 16 this month to wide acclaim, 亚伯·韦尔达盖伊可以坐下来微笑. The 2020 bet8体育娱乐入口 graduate played a key role in developing prominent features of the phone and operating system.
Weldaregay is a Core OS software engineer on 的力量 team at Apple. 对于iOS 16项目, he led a group that worked to reduce 的力量 consumption of the redesigned, 可定制的锁定屏幕.
"It was definitely scary and intimidating having to work on a project of that scale,韦尔达盖伊说, 的力量 feature DRI (directly responsible individual) for 的力量 team.
我们的目标, 他说, was to find the sweet spot between power and user interface "so that users are making it through the entire day without having to plug in their phone, 同时拥有出色的用户体验."
The lock screen was the top-listed update in Apple's promotions for the new operating system. "Make iPhone your own with all-new ways to personalize your 锁定屏幕预览页面上写道. 展示最喜欢的照片, 自定义字体样式, and display a set of widgets to get information at a glance."
CNET called it "the most substantial update to the iPhone's lock screen yet."
The overall iOS 16 project took a year, starting from the idea stage, Weldaregay said. Months later came the "seed" releases to app developers, followed by the developers' feedback. In June 2022, Apple previewed the system at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), held online.
“一整年, 这是保密的，我们真的很努力, 真的很难,韦尔达盖伊说. 最终在全球开发者大会上，它公开了, and we saw how the public received it and the excitement around it and how they were consuming the new updates and the lock screen."
His impact on Apple's new releases didn't stop there. He was also 的力量 feature DRI for the Dynamic Island element of the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models.
The Dynamic Island replaces the heretofore blank pill-shaped cutout at the top center of the screen. The company's iPhone 14 Pro page calls the Dynamic Island "a truly Apple innovation that's hardware and software and something in between. 它会冒出音乐, 体育成绩, FaceTime, and so much more — all without taking you away from what you're doing."
有趣的? 肯定. 但是对于Weldaregay来说，也有很多的劳动.
His team worked on reducing 的力量 impact of scenarios that populate the Dynamic Island - music, 语音备忘录等等.
"It was one of the most challenging projects I have worked on, 但也是最令人兴奋和最有回报的工作之一,他说.
他通往硅谷的道路经过诺福克. He majored in computer science at ODU, where his studies helped prepare him for his role at Apple. Most beneficial were CS410 and CS411, the senior design courses. They gave him a chance to realize a project from a high-level idea to a fully designed prototype, 他说.
"They also gave me the opportunity to work on a software team tackling a real-world problem, 提高我的团队合作能力和技术能力."
在CS410, he impressed instructor James Brunelle by proposing a mobile app project, SeizSmart, 并领导团队进行研究. Designed to detect the onset of epileptic seizures, the app used a smartwatch running a trained neural network. It captured information about a seizure and could alert caregivers and first responders. Brunelle called the project "very successful and innovative."
His wife, Master Lecturer Janet Brunelle, was Weldaregay's advisor. She recalls that he "always rose to the challenges, excelled and set the example for how to be a leader for future CS majors."
Weldaregay was a research assistant in Ajay 古普塔's applied research lab. 古普塔, 电脑资源部门的主管, hired the student because of his positive attitude in solving complex research problems.
“他证明了我是对的,古普塔说, "by demonstrating that he had a knack to critically evaluate a problem and solve it by applying a unique but simple solution."
Weldaregay住在旧金山, 他业余时间去哪里远足, 打篮球, 尝试新餐厅, 读取, 并从事业余项目.
He commutes by company shuttle to Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California - an hourlong ride - and makes use of that time by tapping into Wi-Fi and working all the way there.
这是一份要求很高的工作，但他很喜欢.
"I have a really strong passion for the products,他说. "So it always comes so easy to go the extra mile, because the work is so exciting that it doesn't necessarily feel like work."
