About Me:
First off, my name is Brent W.J. Mackie. People often ask what my middle initials stand for. Brent William John Mackie, or "BWJM" for short. I was born in Ontario, Canada and I have lived here my entire life.

School:
After finishing high school in 2001, I enrolled in Mathematics at the University of Waterloo. I have since graduated with a Bachelor of Mathematics, or B.Math for short.

Co-op:
During my time in university, I was also enrolled in the UW Co-op program. Every second term, I've got a co-op job placement where I work for 4 months. It is essentially a full-time job, with a competitive salary. I have spent 4 terms at Open Text Corporation in the Information Technology Department. The first two terms were spent on the IT helpdesk (ITHelp) team and the final two were on the Infrastructure team. My fifth and final work term was spent with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, the organization that operates Toronto Pearson International Airport, and other smaller airfields in the area. This job was again in the IT field, but their department is called Information Technology and Telecommunications. Coincidentally, my experience with Open Text's Livelink came in handy because with the GTAA, I wound up supporting a LiveLink installation and several LiveLink-based applications.

Employment:
Following my education at the University of Waterloo, I worked for two months at Costco Wholesale during the summer as an Electronics Sales associate. This was an interesting experience, as I had yet to work in a retail environment. That position at Costco was seasonal though, and when Labour Day rolled around, my job came to an end. So, I kept looking, and soon enough I found a position with Execulink Telecom, one of the major Internet service providers in southwestern Ontario, as a Residential Helpdesk Technician. Over my three-year tenure at Execulink, I was promoted to Helpdesk Team Leader managing a small crew of technicians and Technical Support Operations Lead where I was focusing on some of the administrative aspects of the department. I moved to the Marketing department in 2008 to do some website design work. This position was brought to an end because of some corporate restructuring, so I was again looking for work. Almost immediately, I found a technical support position with MKS Inc. in Waterloo. I am back on the phones, but this is a very different position than anything I knew from Execulink. I am assisting MKS customers in using MKS' flagship product, MKS Integrity. The users are IT professionals and software developers, so they know a lot more than some nameless "twelve-o-clock flasher" from some rural town that nobody's heard of before. I really enjoy this job, as it makes use of my experience with Execulink and Open Text and the company itself is amazing. My fellow employees are an awesome bunch of folks and the company really cares about its staff. I can see myself working here for a while.

Interests:
My major hobby and interest right now is collecting Canadian paper money. Check out my currency collection for more info. I find Canadian banknotes to be a very interesting subject. For example, from the serial number of a note, you can determine with great accuracy the signatures on the front, the denomination, the series, the portrait and even approximately when it was printed. Not only that, but our money is arguably some of the most beautiful in the world (especially compared to the American notes). My favourite is the 1954 Devil's Face $5 note. What's yours? As part of my dedication to this hobby, I am a life member of the Canadian Paper Money Society. In addition, I serve as an Executive Director of the CPMS, and I am the Layout Editor for their quarterly newsletter along with serving as their webmaster. In addition to being quite active in the CPMS, I am also an administrator at the Canadian Paper Money Forums, Vice President of the Waterloo Coin Society, and a Regional Director for the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association. My full list of numismatic memberships and affiliations is as follows:

• Canadian Paper Money Society (CPMS): Life Member 99, Executive Director
• Royal Canadian Numismatic Association (RCNA): Life Member 386, Regional Director (SW Ontario)
• Ontario Numismatic Association (ONA): Member 1979
• Canadian Tire Coupon Collectors Club (CTCCC): Member 892
• Waterloo Coin Society (WCS): Member 793, Vice President