My name is J.D. Maloney, I’m an HPC Storage Engineer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). I also have (and currently do) run a small photography business locally when the time permits. My biggest hobby is photography, followed closely by traveling, so making money from it helps justify buying fun cameras and lenses I get to take with me when we go on trips, which I am blessed to get to do often. My wife Hilarie and I attend and serve at Windsor Road Christian Church. Both her and I have been practicing Christians since we were young and it has shaped our lives and grown us in ways we couldn’t have imaged when we were younger.
Q: Please tell us a little bit about your family.
I’m married to Hilarie Maloney (for almost 6 years), we have a super cute and cuddly beagle named Max who we adopted from a shelter last year.
Q: Please tell us about your current, past, or future career. What do you love most about what you do?
HPC Storage Engineer at NCSA, I get to help build and operate large scale file systems that house petabytes of research data across dozens of science domains. I love that I get to help enable discoveries that improve the lives of millions of people. I also really enjoy the career field in general, it is a tight-knit field that helps power some of the nations most power scientific discovery tools. Getting to travel to conferences and meetings is always invigorating and pushes me to keep growing in my field of work.
Q: What are a couple of your favorite restaurants in our community?
Jarlings Custard Cup, Dos Reales, Zorbas though there are tons of good ones. Those three I listed all have special memories attached to them…and they of course serve awesome food!
Q: How long have you lived or worked in our community?
11 years, moved here in 2009 to attend college; blinked a couple times and now I’ve graduated (with a masters), am married, and working full time in town.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?
Australia/New Zealand, they’re such beautiful countries and I’ve always wanted to go visit them. After that’d I’d say the arctic, I want to get the chance to photograph penguins and polar bears in their natural habitat.
Q: What is one of your favorite movies? TV shows?
Favorite movie is probably Inception, don’t watch too many TV shows..but there are a lot of YouTube channels I like to keep up with.
Q: What advice would you give to people?
Take the time to do things right and keep a Kingdom perspective. Framing what we do in the context of what will matter for eternity helps distill what is important, what can wait, and where our energy should go.
Q: What is something on your bucket list?
Visit every continent…including Antarctica! I love traveling and seeing (and photographing) all the beauty there is in the world.
Q: What is your go to band when you cant decide what to listen to?
Newsboys (from the 90’s to mid 00’s)
Q: What current or former local business makes you the most nostalgic about our community?
Jarlings Custard Cup, I’ve visited there tons of times with friends during college, when Hilarie and I were dating, and even now. There are many good memories grabbing Jarlings with folks and hanging out.
Q: If you could choose anyone that is alive today and not a relative; with whom would you love to have lunch? Why? And where locally would y’all meet for this lunch?
Pastor Tim Keller, we’d meet at Original House of Pancakes. Tim has such great wisdom and knowledge, I’d love to get the chance to sit down and listen to him.
Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about our community?
The perfect mix of small town and tons of opportunities, we are so close to multiple big cities but don’t have to deal with the downsides that come with living in one.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
Raising a family, and continuing to advance myself in my career, either here or at a DOE national lab.
Q: (Even for friends or family), what is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
I like to collect vintage Apple computers/products.
Q: What is the most beautiful place you have ever been?
Zion National Park in Utah as absolutely breath taking, I vividly remember the view as we were approaching/entering the park. Also the ranger that checked our pass when entering was a U of I grad!
Q: Favorite month? favorite holiday? and best single day on the calendar?
Favorite month is December, so many fun activities happening. Favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, lots of food and a great time to hang out with family. Best day on the calendar is September 13th, my anniversary!
Q: What would you rate a 10 out of 10?
Chocolate..for sure.
Q: Who inspires you to be better?
My Father, he’s always been one who has known me very well and he seems to have a sixth sense on when to push me and how hard. I can always go to him for advice and encouragement.
Q: What is one or two of your favorite smells?
Cookies in the oven and then coffee beans, I don’t drink coffee
Q: Finally, what 3 words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?
Quiet, Clean, Cozy.
