👋 Introductions Thread – Q3 2025

[simon_tomes]

Hello, I’m Simon Tomes, Community Lead at Ministry of Testing.

Thanks for stopping by and reading this thread. Welcome to the MoTaverse.

Every quarter, we start a new introductions thread for folks to introduce or reintroduce themselves.

• What brings you to the Ministry of Testing community?
• What are you excited about right now?
• What do you want to learn?
• Where are you based?
• What else could you share about yourself?

You don’t have to answer all these questions. Reply with text, video, drawings, AI-generated images, memes or whatever.

We appreciate some folks stepping away for a while, so it’ll be great to hear from you again.

Share a link to your MoT profile page. Here’s mine.

1. Visit My MoT
2. Ensure “Make Private” is switched off
3. Select your name or “View Profile”

Follow and be followed for exciting features coming soon.

We also exist beyond The Club? Visit www.ministryoftesting.com every day to see what’s happening in the MoTaverse.

Make the most of it with a professional membership.

And if you need help with anything, feel free to start a new chat with Team MoT via the chat feature on ministryoftesting.com.

[aimantirmizi (Aiman B T Syed)]

I was waiting for this thread for this quarter!

• What brings you to the Ministry of Testing community?
  I have been following it on and off. However I never signed up and I am sad why did I not earlier!? But yes, as we say: “better late than never”. What brings me here is to help community especially new folks in Testing plus in IT in general. Furthermore: Starting new conversations & putting an end to some and also learn new things everyday by real experiences of each one of us here!

• What are you excited about right now?
  So many things, by taking step by step. i-e: How can we keep human-interaction alive + Role of AI in Quality Management, how can we make best out of it.

• What else could you share about yourself?
  I am working mainly in Software Testing for the past 9 years now with diverse teams and cultures. ie: EU, UK & South Asia. I am more than happy to assist anyone if they are unsure of starting point in their software testing journey.

My MoT profile

[preetig (Preeti)]

Hello everyone,

I am Preeti Gupta having 17+ years experience as QA Professional.

• What brings you to the Ministry of Testing community?
  I have been active participant from past few months and I can see the difference in myself about how the community has helped me in enhancing my skills and self development. The awesome community who welcomed me with open arms and gave me opportunity to contribute in many ways like sharing a memory, add definition, voice to podcast, 99secs talk and many more. And the best part is for every contribution we get rewards as community stars

• What are you excited about right now?
  I am excited to contribute more to help grow the community. Also, looking forward to attend Test Bash 2025 (1st and 2nd Oct) and meet more people in person who are part of this lovely community

• What do you want to learn?
  Though I think I don’t have any particular topic to learn. But going through chats or club posts I feel if I am not able to answer that means I need to learn about this topic

• Where are you based?
  I am based in Bristol, UK

• What else could you share about yourself?
  I have 17+ years of experience in QA and have wore many hats throughout my experience ranging from Software QA Engineer up to QA Automation Lead. Have worked on various automation tools and have experience in leading and managing team across the globe. If anyone wants to chat or connect for anything feel free to reach. I am happy to help

My Mot Profile

[kunalashar]

Hey everyone

I’m Kunal, with over a decade of experience in testing, I’m still learning and sharing every day with fellow community members

• What brings you to the Ministry of Testing community?
  I’ve been quietly following MoT for years, but a recent post by @parwalrahul gave me that final nudge to jump in, set up my profile, and start contributing more actively.

• What are you excited about right now?
  Exploring how Agentic AI can be used to design systems that support context-driven testing.

• Where are you based?
  I’ve been living in Singapore since early 2019.

• What else could you share about yourself?
  I’ve been involved in several testing communities over the years, speaking at conferences, running bootcamps, delivering corporate training, and helping teams adopt quality coaching practices.

Looking forward to engaging conversations and learning from all of you!

[vishnuar]

Hi Folks!

I’m not a regular visitor and MOT really helps building knowledge. We can meet new people in testing domain also beneficial for gaining more insights. AI learnings programs are really useful. I’m based in India and around 18 years of experience in software testing

Thanks
Vishnu

[arcigo (Armando Cifuentes González)]

Every quarter? What a good initiative!

[arcigo (Armando Cifuentes González)]

Hello, hello again!

I’m Armando, and I’ve been part of the community since 2019 (I think). I’m from México, but currently I’m living in Estonia.

One of the things I liked about this community is the support given to everybody not only for technical stuff but also personal things. I think this was the first tech community in which I felt warm and empathetic support.

I proposed to myself to study new things during these months.-

• Cybersecurity (already started).
• Automation testing for mobile (Python + Appium or JS + WebDriverIO + Appium, or whatever course I find complete and interesting about the topic).

There are other technical things that I would like to study, but I’ll see if I can make them.

What else could you share about yourself?

• I’m currently looking for a new job (if possible remote, to then move to another country). So, if you know of a role related to automation, please let me know
• I’m studying a master’s degree in «Theology of the Body».
• I can mentor/help you if you have questions about testing .

My MoT profile.

[Rod (Rodolphe HENRY)]

Hi everyone !

Now taking a new step in trying to meet great people in my ‘new’ field.

• What brings you to the Ministry of Testing community?

I was looking for a cool community of testers where I could be both giving and receiving.
In my current position, I’m the only tester in a team of developers and, as I always learnt from my peers, here I am in a “new” role for a year and half, missing the peers to learn from.

• What are you excited about right now?

Oh I’m building e2e test automation across all systems from my company and I have the time of my life everytime I can have a impact in making it better

• What do you want to learn?

Both technical and non-technical skills. I need to improve my JavaScript and TypeScript, and also

• Where are you based?

Amsterdam countryside

• What else could you share about yourself?

I’m from a business background, I went in plenty of fields in my careers and when I was introduced to testing I finally saw myself going for a long(er) run.

Also I love travelling, melodic techno and entrepreneurship.

My MoT profile

[ujjwal.singh (Ujjwal Kumar Singh)]

Seems like I’m bit late this quarter in introducing myself but that’s okay.

Anyways I’m ujjwal having 3+ years of experience in testing. Instead of usinh words like automation tester or functional tester, I prefer to use only tester for myself.

MOT is my first software testing community that i joined and that is enough to be here… as said first one is always special

I’m currently working in Guragon in Fin-Tech company.
In the midst of ai, all I’m learning and trying is to be human and then tester which collectively working on transforming myself to better human tester…

My MOT Profile:

Ujjwal Kumar Singh | ujjwal.singh

Hello World!

[MarkJB (Mark Benson)]

Hi, I’m Mark, I’ve worked in test (or test adjacent) for more years than I’d care to mention. Started in electronics testing, moving into computer test and repair, then did a BEng and moved into software development, but regularly ended up being the “Test guy”, finding and fixing problems, so after a stint as an “IT guy”, I started to lean into testing with a focus on WebUI.

• What brings you to the Ministry of Testing community?

A recent-ish redundancy has led to me searching for Test and QA communities for networking possibilities and keeping up with the latest test trends and best practices.

• What are you excited about right now?

I’m not sure - these are strange times to be job hunting… I’ll get back to you on that one.

• What do you want to learn?

Currently studying the ISTQB AI Tester certificate, but beyond that its always interesting to hear where test and QA is heading.

• Where are you based?

Dorset, UK

• What else could you share about yourself?

Interested in generative art, AI & creative technology. Currently building/modifying/plotting with pen plotters with a local group of creatives.

[ramanan49 (Ramanan Prabakaran)]

Hey everyone! I am Ramanan Prabakaran
Puducherry, India

I am a passionate Software Test Engineer with 2.5 years of experience in Manual and Automation Testing-A strong believer that quality is not about catching bugs but about creating trust and ensuring smooth seamless experiences❤️

I have worked on web, mobile, client-server types of applications and enjoy deep-diving across frontend and backend layers. Whether it’s writing Selenium scripts in Java, writing Gherkin scenarios in Cucumber, or verifying APIs using Postman and SoapUI, I combine logic with curiosity.

On my stack and toolset now:
Java | Selenium | Playwright | TestNG | JMeter | Oracle SQL | Jenkins | Bamboo | Azure | AWS | Jira | GitHub | Agile & DevOps

What brings me here?

The MoT community has given me tremendous growth opportunities technically and personally. Recently, I have been exploring the AI testing space and actively contributing to discussions. I was recognized as a Challenge Winner in ShiftSync and have received many community shoutouts in Tricentis.

What fires me up right at this moment?

• Getting technical testing skills a polish here at Module 16 of MoT Essentials Certificate

• The curious child in me has to test AI tools but with a view of critical thinking

• Interacting with the bright minds plastered around the MoTaverse for learning

What I would want to know more about:

• Building robust automation frameworks

• Accessibility and security testing practices

• Real-world experiences from fellow testers!

Let’s connect, learn, and grow together.
Hunt the bugs | Ensure the hugs | Quality is everything

Thanks,
Ramanan

[krupajnanda (Krupa)]

Hello

First of all thank you for this thread to get the chance to know more about the community members.

I am Krupa Nanda, a QA Engineer with 7 years of experience in testing the WordPress based project and an active contributor of WordPress Opens source eco system. To know more about my contribution, please check out my WordPress Profile.

Now, coming to the questions:

What brings you to the Ministry of Testing community?

I recently got to know about this community and resources it provides to learn from certifications, different courses, new trends in QA world, Community events, workshops and what not! I believe in giving back to the community and I hoping to contribute MoT in whatever capacity I can!

What are you excited about right now?

Lots of things are available here and I am feeling bit overwhelmed at the moment by seeing the vast availability of resources!

What do you want to learn?

I am eager to learn things around AI, AI agent workflow, MCP architecture and automation.

Where are you based?

I am based in Jamngar, small town of Gujarat, India but currently I am located in Pune, Maharashtra, India

What else could you share about yourself?

I am a mom to 7 years old son and homeschooling him. Recently, I switched to part time work to balance out and support our homeschooling journey. I love to write blogs and I do write tech blog as well.

Due to preferences I can not share my link to the blog, but you can certainly found it via my profile!

Thank you!

[Later Edit] I forgot to share my MoT profile Page : Here is mine

[DanielleD (Danielle Downing)]

Hi everyone! I am Danielle. I am currently a Customer Support Analyst 2 and have been for about 5 years. I am based in the United States in Ohio. I am looking to transition in my company to a testing role. I am brand new to testing, but I hope my experience and knowledge of my company’s software will get my foot in the door. This is one of the suggested courses. I am very motivated to move from the customer-facing role to a more software-dedicated role.

I am excited for this journey to see where it leads, but I am also very nervous that I will not be able to make this transition and not understand testing or concepts.

I want to learn enough basics to be considered for a position and a mentorship. I am definitely a sponge and am always trying to expand my knowledge on anything and everything.

I am nervous to begin this journey as a total beginner and hope others will share their knowledge and experience with me!

@DanielleD

[jennrussell (Jennifer Russell)]

I’m Jennifer, a QA professional with about 1.5 years of experience in manual testing. I’ve had an account on MoT for awhile but besides some testing APIs workshops I did back in 2023, I haven’t been very active.

I’m based in Toronto and recently received a scholarship for the MoT Software Testing Essentials Certificate and I’m excited to sharpen my skills over the coming months while I job hunt.

I hope to expand my skills into test automation and I’ve already started a Playwright course.

Outside of tech, I volunteer as an official for local roller derby leagues and work on improving my French.

I’m looking forward to connecting with other testers here

[ramanan49 (Ramanan Prabakaran)]

@jennrussell,

Hi Jennifer! Great to meet you here. I’d love to connect on LinkedIn and share insights as you grow into test automation.

[mitrev (Martin Mitrev)]

‘ello ladies and gents!

• What brings you to the Ministry of Testing community?
  I’ve been lurking around for a little while, but decided to get a bit more active, especially now since I’ve started digging deeper in the whole AI and QA deal

• What are you excited about right now?
  The same thing that has kept me going for years - causing chaos and destruction for the developers I work with be it via AI-assisted or manual means

• Where are you based?
  Lurking around in Sofia / Bulgaria

• What else could you share about yourself?
  Been QA-ing since 2013, starting with mobile games (specifically on iOS), then moving to casino hardware (which also includes the software that runs on it) and for the past 7 years I’ve been working in a WordPress dev agency. Along with QA-ing around I did have the opportunity to also actually be in charge of a few projects.
  One of my favorite things to do is to drop a big list of issues to non-suspecting developers (especially when they are confident that they’ve done their job)

Here’s my MoT Profile

[HHarper (Harry Harper)]

• What brings you to the Ministry of Testing community?

I am Harry Harper and am applying for a software testing apprenticeship, I am excited to start my journey and display my skills as a software tester starting with the introduction course.

I have been bought to the ministry of testing as I was referenced through a software testing apprenticeship and look to learn the fundamentals of software testing in preparation to start my apprenticeship in software testing, developing my skills further.

• What are you excited about right now?

I am excited about learning from experienced software testers gaining experience in the field as well as gaining new skills, meeting members of the community and making a difference.

• Where are you based?

I am based in Birmingham.

• What else could you share about yourself?

I have a strong background in IT and tech studying computer science through both GCSE and A-level gaining an A* in computer science, I also have work experience in both web and IT support and see myself as a valuable asset for developing as a software tester.

[/quote]

[racheljoi (Rachel Kibler)]

Hi! I’m Rachel Kibler, and I’m based in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. I’ve been in testing for almost a decade now, but I’m constantly learning (or wanting to learn) new things!

I’m working on the automation fundamentals certificate and have just decided to start the STEC certificate alongside it. A lot of great people contributed to it, and I’m eager to fill in gaps in my knowledge.

I’m most excited about the new direction my role at work is taking - we’re moving from QA to QE, with that involving shifting left, shifting right, programming, and coaching. It’s a bit daunting but very exciting.

Fun fact: I love knitting, and I just picked up my knitting from the Utah State Fair yesterday, where I won two first-place ribbons and one second-place ribbon for my projects! I run a local knitting group that knits in bars, and I like to say that we’re the “winningest fiber arts group in Utah”, a claim for which I have no justification except gut feeling that my knitters and crocheters are the most competitive and let me convince them to submit their work to the State Fair every year.

Looking forward to learning from y’all and getting to know the community a bit better!

[G_Merrall (Gemma Merrall)]

Hi, I’m Gemma, nice to meet all of you!

• What brings you to the Ministry of Testing community?
  As Lead Test Engineer at Guide Dogs for the Blind I’m here to connect with others who care about quality, accessibility and continuous improvement.
• What are you excited about right now?
  I’m excited about agile ways of working especially asking questions during backlog refinement and embedding quality early. I’m also exploring ways to speed up manual tasks and free up time for deeper testin
• What do you want to learn?
  I want to learn more tools and techniques that help automate repetitive tasks and support teams in delivering inclusive products faster.
• Where are you based?
  UK
• What else could you share about yourself? I’m proud to help deliver products that support people in living the life they choose. I also love testing out new recipes, baking is a passion and I’m super pleased how my sourdough bread turned out yesterday!

Looking forward to connecting with you!

[sonidos63 (Javier Galvan)]

Hello, I’m Javier, and it’s great to be here.

• What brings you to the Ministry of Testing community?
  My employer recently decided that my role no longer suited their future plans. Having focused so many years on the critical items specific to my role, I want to see what is the latest testing buzz and sharpen my skills as I prepare myself for job seeking.
• What are you excited about right now?
  I am looking forward to reading up on what the great testers think about the future of testing and which skills will be valuable, especially with AI becoming widely accepted
• Where are you based?
  Austin, TX (USA) area
• What else could you share about yourself?
  I have over 15 years of experience in IT with almost 30 years in the technology field. I have seen some really great ideas put into action, as well as the fads. My first introduction to quality was in 1986, when my employer, a computer manufacturing company, had disastrous results across the board when it came to quality, as the Quality Control department was just overloaded finding errors everywhere. The company had to do something drastic, so they changed the mindset that everyone owns quality at the company, not just the QA Department. The results went from poor to excellent in a few months. I was sold on the importance of maintaining quality through the entire process, from start to shipping the product.