Rob Edens, IT Systems Engineer

Last year today, Rob joined the PDX crew as an IT Systems Engineer, and it’s no surprise that he’s made a tremendous mark on our team since. Those who know him personally will say that he is kind, thoughtful, funny, and smart, and we couldn’t agree more. Rob explains that if he were a crayon and had to choose what color he would be, he would choose yellow, as it is warm, vibrant, and can be a light in our can be dark and stormy world.  

Rob’s love for technology started young. He and his best friend grew up hacking a cassette tape-driven computer hooked up to an RGB monitor, where they both learned BASIC (short for ‘Beginners’ All-purpose symbolic Instruction Code’) in order to create text adventure games via a terminal. Each time they got together, they would encourage and push each other to keep writing more efficient code. The more he learned about technology, the more loved it. And, while Rob may not be writing code these days, he credits all the knowledge he picked up in the early days with getting him to where he is today.  

Rob studied economics at the University of Oregon and, shortly after, landed a job in the banking world. At the time, the lending office that he was working for didn’t have much by way of an IT presence. So, Rob tapped into his tech knowledge and stepped in to help manage their IT operations. Eventually, Rob hung up his finance hat and turned his computer hobby into a full-fledged IT career. After years of supporting the infrastructure of architecture and planning firms in-house, Rob now gets to put his passion for technology to work supporting small businesses of all types as IT System Engineer here at Portland Internetworks.  

When he’s not helping roll out top-notch IT solutions for our clients, he has plenty of hobbies to keep him busy in his free time. Outside of the office, you can catch Rob playing a board or tabletop game with his family and friends. To him, it’s less about winning and more about getting to spend time with the people who you love. He also loves whipping up fresh craft cocktails and he even roasts his own coffee, too. He says, “Like wine, there are amazing different flavors in coffee. Even among beans from the same country, each farm has a unique profile. The best part is sharing it with everyone.”  

Having grown up his whole life surfing, Rob loves spending time by the ocean and in nature. Whether it’s kayaking or disc golfing, anything that gets Rob outside fills his cup.  

Rob brings a superb balance of wisdom, technical knowledge, and heart to all that he does, and we’re so happy to have him on our team. Thanks for an amazing first year, Rob! We can’t wait to keep creating more memories with you here. 

Connect with Rob via email or LinkedIn.