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By Camilla Gregersen
Mehraliyev. Photo: UVic Photo Services A day in the life of Vugar Mehraliyev, programmer analyst in Enterprise Applications (University Systems) includes developing new and modifying existing applications on the university’s Banner database. His job involves collaboration with network, system and database administrators across campus.
The range of Banner applications used on campus is quite vast, including everything from student registration, to finance, to human resource modules. Vugar enjoys developing applications. “It’s my dream job,” he explains, “because it allows me to be creative.” Creating each new application is like “trying to make a masterpiece.”
Among the many useful applications he has developed is one for the university mail room that records each time a department uses Canada Post, calculates the individual amounts owing, and sends that information to accounting. He has also worked on producing all the staff T4 forms. “Exactly 9,619 employees received them this year,” he recalls off the top of his head. He also modified programming code to customize employee pay stubs with the UVic logo and address, as well as each individual’s personal information. Vugar worked with a team to make it possible for UVic pay stubs to go paperless beginning mid-April for those employees that receive direct deposit. They will be able to log in and view their pay stubs online.
Vugar is originally from Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, which used to be part of the former Soviet Union. Vugar’s background is in mathematics and, coincidently, one of the world’s most noted mathematicians, Lotfi Zadeh, was also from Baku. Zadeh is best known for his development of the “fuzzy logic” theory, an approach to computing based on degrees of truthfulness and falsehood.
In 1991, Vugar won Azerbaijan Republic’s Mathematics Olympiad. After graduating from Baku State University, he moved to Turkey and worked as an information technology professional. He immigrated to Canada in 2004, living in Toronto for four years before moving to Victoria. “I love how beautiful the city is, and enjoy the mild climate and clean air,” he says.
Vugar has many creative interests, one of which is music. He plays the guitar and the tar, an ancient instrument important in Azerbaijani culture and believed to be the root of instruments such as the guitar and sitar.
Vugar also writes poetry, calling himself a “poet by nature,” and enjoys playing chess, a popular past time in Azerbaijan.
Vugar is also a proud father of two sons. One is a teenager, and the other is eight months old and was born here in Victoria.
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