Employee Spotlight
Duane Djie
Duane Djie Takes a Spin
Everyone at Catapult’s Headquarters knows systems administrator Duane Djie, but he’s still full of surprises.
Like the fact that he won a customer appreciation award in his first year at Catapult. And that he served in the Marines for 14 years and loves spontaneous road trips. And that he breakdances.
Wait. What?
Duane has been breakdancing since he was 11, something he says comes naturally. He grew up on musicals, and his love of dancing earned him the nickname the “Fred Astaire of House Music,” which is a style of uptempo electronic dance music.
He almost had his big break some years ago with an appearance on the MTV dance show “The Grind,” but ill-timed knee surgery kept him off the show. His two friends and dance partners made it to the semi-finals without him.
Duane credits the reemergence of breakdancing to the popularity of television dance shows, most notably “America’s Best Dance Crew.” He says the DC scene is small but hearty.
A self-described ‘people person,’ Duane entered the Marines in 1990 and spent four years in the infantry. He took off for two years to study accounting, then reentered the service in 1996 to put his new skills to use. In 2000 he switched over to IT, and finally retired in 2004. He was stationed at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, but after eight years was transferred to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
“They rotate you so you don’t get stagnant,” he says of the military transfer. Duane hated leaving California but grew to love North Carolina because of the people he met there.
Duane joined Catapult in April 2010 after several years at a company that was purchased by Tyco. He loved the travel and says he spent about three weeks each month on planes, teaching training classes and giving customer presentations for the division that sold IP-based video surveillance systems (think security checkpoints). But Tyco closed the DC area office and Duane turned down the chance to transfer to Boston.
“DC is really the place for IT,” he says. He landed at Catapult and is the point of contact for software, hardware, and other IT-related duties. For example, if you need a laptop, you have to see Duane.
Duane loves to drive his Honda Civic. Living in Germantown, MD gives him the opportunity to drive to Catapult Headquarters in Bethesda. He’ll readily tell you he gets 33 mpg, and loves those last-minute road trips to Philadelphia or Richmond. Duane’s a regular at a Japanese steakhouse near his house, and is a fan of good food and cocktails. Fortunately, his military training and his weekend dancing ensure all that good food and drink don’t take their toll.
Yes, there are a lot of surprises inside Duane Djie. Next time you see him taking a spin around the office, he might literally be taking a spin around the office!
