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The Kendo UI Certification exam is now available to everyone. Meet the first developers to pass the exam in 2015.

Our customers and partners frequently ask us how to find developers who really know Kendo UI. Up until now, that's been a tough question to answer. In the past, we had no way for developers to measure their skills to see how they stack up against our internal definition of "knowing Kendo UI." In other words, a developer could claim to know Kendo UI, but there was no way to prove it.

The Importance of Proving Your Development Skills

When I was a kid, I was incredibly arrogant. I know that you probably find this hard to believe, given how ridiculously humble and likable I am now. See what I mean?

I honestly thought I was the best at everything. I was the best basketball player, the best baseball player, the best Tetris player, the best Pogo Baller and easily the most elegant on a slip and slide. My older sister got so tired of hearing my incessant bragging that she would just start calling me out at every turn: "Prove it." I hated that, because I couldn't prove it. Why? Because she was better than me at just about everything! Including the Pogo Ball.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to prove your skills. At the end of the day, it's those who are willing to put their money where their mouth is that ultimately win our respect, even in failure.

That's why we recently launched the Kendo UI Certification Program.

kendo-ui-certified

What the Kendo UI Certification Program Proves

In early May 2015, we launched the Official Kendo UI Certification Exam. This is a 40-question, timed exam that is carefully designed to test your knowledge of Kendo UI. The exam tests your basic framework knowledge, and then extends into some core widgets (excluding mobile), as well as including the fundamental knowledge that one would only possess if they truly understood Kendo UI.

The Kendo UI Certification test is not easy. In fact, it's quite difficult. We designed it that way intentionally, so that when you've met someone who has passed the exam, you will know for sure that they truly know Kendo UI and have proved it.

That's why it's my pleasure today to introduce you to a few of the first Kendo UI Certified Developers. These folks took the exam and passed it, putting them in a very elite group of folks worldwide.

Without further ado, please join me in congratulating the following individuals. They have truly mastered Kendo UI, and it's our pleasure to bestow on them the highest honor of Kendo UI Certified Developer.

The First-Ever Kendo UI Certified Developers

alex patterson

Alex Patterson

Bio: I am technically an ABAPer (SAP Developer) by trade. However, I love web development and it has been a passion of mine since my second year of attending Grand Valley State University (GVSU). I have worked on projects outside of work since college, but more recently I have finally found the opportunity to take on more web development at work. So now my days are spent in Visual Studio writing C# APIs accessing SAP. Then consuming those APIs to Telerik Kendo UI frontends. We use almost every Kendo UI widget, but our favorite is the Grid.

In the real world I travel with my family to Walt Disney World a few times a year (yes, we do say “have a magical day” to each other). I also love running marathons and when I can find warmer water (we live in Michigan) I also love scuba diving as well.

How Long Have You Been Working With Kendo UI?

2 Years 

josh eastburn

Josh Eastburn

Bio: Josh Eastburn is a Senior Software Architect at Falafel Software and has over 15 years of web and application development experience as a software architect and consultant in various industries, including distribution, logistics, financial services, transportation and education. He enjoys working with the latest technologies and specializes in using C#, ASP.NET MVC, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS, XAML and SQL Server to deliver enterprise-scale applications. He is a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist and a Telerik Kendo UI Certified Developer.

Josh holds a BS in Computer Science and Business Systems from Taylor University and lives in Charlotte, NC. He enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors with his wife and children.

How Long Have You Been Working With Kendo UI? 
I’ve been developing with Kendo UI for three years as a Senior Software Architect. We’ve used Kendo successfully with dozens of clients. Some notable Kendo UI projects I’ve worked on in that time:
  • A public-facing web site for transit authorities where we used Kendo UI to plot real-time bus locations and routes on an interactive map and gave riders the ability to configure notifications based on bus arrival and departure times
  • A massive Student Information System for a charter school network where we used Kendo’s MVVM framework, widgets and charting capabilities to give teachers and administrators insight into attendance, testing, enrollment and more 
jeremy likness

Jeremy Likness

Bio: Jeremy Likness is a principal architect and leads the custom application development practice at Atlanta-based iVision. During Jeremy’s 20 years of experience working on enterprise applications, with 15 of those years focused on web-based apps, he has helped several initially small companies like Manhattan Associates and AirWatch grow and has actively participated in their transition from good to great. Jeremy is five-year Microsoft MVP for Windows Platform Development, has authored and co-authored four technology books and regularly speaks at events around the country. Once upon a time he even dreamt of becoming a game developer and wrote or co-wrote several customizations and one total conversion for Quake. In his free time Jeremy loves to spend time with his daughter supporting her healthy cooking business, hiking and watching indie films. A former certified fitness trainer and specialist in nutrition, he is currently training his wife to hike the 220 miles of the John Muir Trail after undergoing major back surgery. Jeremy’s personal mission is to transform the lives of other developers in appreciation for how the industry has impacted his own life.

How Long Have You Been Working With Kendo UI? 
Jeremy has been working with Kendo UI since it was released in beta several years ago. His team built a large Single Page Application (SPA) and needed quality controls to use. They chose Kendo UI because it was built from the ground up with HTML5, JavaScript and jQuery in mind, and were able to successfully integrate it with Angular which was just coming out of beta at the time. Since then Jeremy has used Kendo UI in numerous enterprise web-based applications. He recently delivered two presentations about Kendo UI at the TelerikNEXT conference in Boston.

matt millican

Matt Millican

Bio: As a Lead Web Developer, Matt Millican is part of the development team of the Marcus Hotels and Resorts full-service digital department. Matt has been a developer as his full-time job and as a consultant for his personal company, InternetMill, for more than ten years. Matt’s leadership and innovative spirit guides his development, resulting in best-in-class digital solutions every day for clients such as ProHealth Care, ProActive Design, Mental Health America of Wisconsin, Grand Geneva Resort and Spa and countless small businesses throughout the Midwest. Matt specializes in Microsoft .NET MVC, full-stack web development, nHibernate, entity framework application architecture, knockoutJS, angular, jQuery, Kendo UI and integrations with third party systems and content management systems. When Matt is not busy coding he can be found around Milwaukee photographing the city from all angles, catching a Brewers game at Miller Park or hitting the links at a local golf course. 

How Long Have You Been Working With Kendo UI? 
I've been using Kendo since 2011, when it was still Telerik MVC. I've used it on many projects, both at work and for side projects such as:

  • Marcus Apps, our content platform for Marcus Hotels & Resorts; it has about 20 applications within it
  • My business management system, for invoicing, etc
  • Ecommerce admin systems
  • A SaaS product I've been working on building that will hopefully be released soon

These are a few of the bigger projects I've used it on, but I use it on pretty much anything I can :).

Each of these developers will be receiving the official Certified Kendo UI t-shirt, and may now prominently display the Kendo UI Certified Developer badge wherever they choose.

Your Turn To Prove It

Do you think you have what it takes to be a Kendo UI Certified Developer? We would love to see your name on this list, but first you have to prove it. Make sure your Kendo UI skills are up to speed and and get signed up for the exam.

Special Note: If you sign up and don't pass, don't lose heart. This exam is hard. You are in good company. Give yourself some time and then take it again. If you would like to get a better feel for what sort of questions might be on the exam, check out my comments on the official announcement blog post.

Good Luck!


Burke Holland is the Director of Developer Relations at Telerik
About the Author

Burke Holland

Burke Holland is a web developer living in Nashville, TN and was the Director of Developer Relations at Progress. He enjoys working with and meeting developers who are building mobile apps with jQuery / HTML5 and loves to hack on social API's. Burke worked for Progress as a Developer Advocate focusing on Kendo UI.

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