Staff Spotlight on Tanishq Mehta

Although his time with the company was brief, Tanishq Mehta certainly left a mark at Two Small Men With Big Hearts. At the fresh age of 20, the fourth-year computer science student at the University of British Columbia was already working towards solving complex challenges faced by the moving industry.

Based in Surrey, B.C., just outside of Vancouver, Tanishq completed a co-op work term as a Junior Python Developer, where he's applied his passion for algorithms and back-end development to tackle real-world logistics problems.

“I think I'm just approaching six weeks,” he says. “It became intriguing to me at first because I always had a passion for Python. I really like coding in Python, and I had recently completed courses on algorithms—so a lot of the work I'm doing now overlaps perfectly with what I've learned.”

It wasn't the first time Tanishq had heard about the iconic moving company.

“I know when we we're moving and when my family friends were also moving, Two Small Men always came up because we would see the trucks,” he recalls. “So when I saw the posting on Indeed, I thought I'd be a good fit. I had experience with a lot of the things the company was looking for in their next intern.”

Tanishq was brought on to work on managing return trips after long-distance moves.

“When a truck completes a move from British Columbia to Ontario, for example, it sometimes returns empty,” he says. “These trips are very costly.”

To this end, Tanishq developed a Python-based algorithm and application.

“The goal is to minimize the distance and time needed to serve customers while also maximizing efficiency,” he explains.

A web application interface he built was of further assistance to the sales and marketing team, as they were able to integrate it into day-to-day operations.

“As the number of active orders increases, it becomes harder for teams to manually track everything—especially when it comes to optimizing truck routes.”

Tanishq was granted a high level of autonomy to execute his vision.

“One of the best parts of joining Two Small Men has been working with my manager, Andrew. He gave me a lot of freedom with this project while still offering the right amount of guidance, especially on the more challenging parts. When it came to the coding and building the web application in Python, I was able to take the lead and work independently.”

That independence has allowed Tanishq to grow both technically and professionally.

“Working with Two Small Men has given me the opportunity to actually apply what I've learned in courses like algorithms and data structures to real-world projects. I'm also starting to explore the scalability aspect of software, which is something I really care about.

“As the company grows, the tool I've built becomes even more valuable. By the end of this term, I can feel confident knowing I created something that will continue to support the business as it scales.”

Set to graduate next spring, the sky is the limit for Tanishq.

“I chose computer science because I wanted to work in a field that could reach as many people as possible,” he says. “Software is incredibly scalable. If you build something useful or collaborate on a project with broad appeal, it can impact countless people.”

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