Team Member Spotlight: Brette Scott, Senior Engineer

Brette Scott is the Senior Software Engineer for NexPort Solutions and has been working in the learning management field since 2009. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering with Magna Cum Laude distinction and a minor in Computer Science from the University of Oklahoma in 2009. Brette has always wanted to stay in Oklahoma to be near family, so she looked for local internships and applied for one of our internships. She was a little intimidated by the length and depth of the NexPort Solutions interview and was pleasantly surprised to be offered an internship. She began working with the company to refactor the Integrated Knowledge Elements (iKe) from ColdFusion to C#. Brette stated, “I’ve learned so much over the years, and I am so glad I landed here.” 
​
Brette works on all components of the NexPort software suite and enjoys the freedom of developing solutions in her own way, secure in the knowledge that her colleagues and stakeholders can provide feedback and advice when needed. Her favorite project has been NexPort Reporting Services. She was one of the first developers of the framework, and she has every right to be proud of the major advancements she has provided on this invaluable system. 

---

My proudest moments at work are when I am the first to find the source of bugs in the system.

When asked, “What is your proudest moment at work?”, Brette replied, “My proudest moments at work are when I am the first to find the source of bugs in the system.” She also stated that, “I’ve learned that it’s important to constantly be learning. Technology is always changing, so you have to keep up to be able to do good work.” Being part of a team that helps people to learn and improve themselves is inspiring to her. Brette’s expansive knowledge and dedication has earned her more  responsibilities with each passing year; and now she has been “on-call” for certain weeks and even answering the phones on certain days, which is surprising since Brette is not a big fan of phone calls. 

Brette is the seventh of eight children, and they are all very close. Her parents taught them the concept of hard work and determination to make good lives for themselves. Brette applied this concept early. Her very first job was repairing grant-funded laptops during the summer so that her classmates could use them in the following school year. Brette’s favorite thing to do outside of work is spending time with family, especially at Sooner football games. She also enjoys playing poker and playing with her dogs. 

Brette’s favorite quote, by Mr. Magorium, is, “Your life is an occasion. Rise to it.” She likes the quote because it is inspiring and simple. The phrase Brette finds herself saying repeatedly is, “Dan, you’re on mute.” The NexPort team uses Zoom meetings to coordinate their work. She is referring to Dan Pupek, the Chief Systems Architect of NexPort. If someone were to write a book about Brette’s life, she said that the title would be, “Sooner Born and Sooner Bred.” For those of you not in the know, Oklahoma is the Sooner state. 

When asked, “What is the best vacation you have ever taken?”, Brette replied, “My husband and I did a cross-country trip to Las Vegas for our honeymoon, stopping for the Albuquerque Balloon Festival and white-water rafting the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon.” The weirdest thing Brette has ever eaten is escargot when she studied abroad in France. Brette’s bucket list contains “Winning the World Series of Poker.”