Elmar Zander
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Developer
Peine, Lower Saxony, Germany
Toptal member since October 8, 2018
Elmar is a scientific software developer and numerical analyst. He loves analyzing a customer's requirements and designing and implementing software frameworks that fulfill those in a smooth, efficient, and maintainable fashion—adapting to whatever technology best suits it.
Portfolio
Experience
- Java - 15 years
- SQL - 12 years
- C++ - 12 years
- Git - 8 years
- Python - 5 years
- JavaScript - 2 years
- Three.js - 1 year
- React Native - 1 year
Preferred Environment
Bash, TeX, Ruby, Python, C++, CMake, Git, Linux
The most amazing...
...thing I've coded was an algorithm that could adaptively solve the stochastic diffusion equation with guaranteed error bounds and optimal space complexity.
Work Experience
C++ Developer
MSAID GmbH
- Implemented an efficient sparse regression algorithm for peptide selection (C++, Fortran).
- Implemented and analyzed different model selection schemes based on cross-validation and information criteria like AIC, AICc, and BIC.
- Designed and implemented a novel and efficient algorithm for merging peptide spectra.
- Implemented efficient and highly accurate binomial distribution evaluations using caching techniques and extended floating point types (C++).
- Devised and implemented novel streamable statistics algorithms for q-value and posterior error probability calculations in the mokapot package (Python).
- Devised and implemented a data framework for transparent data input and output in a variety of formats for mokapot (Python).
- Implemented an R package to make the regression algorithm and model selection schemes accessible from R.
Full-stack Developer
Römerturm Feinstpapier GmbH & Co. KG
- Implemented functions in the back end to read CSV data necessary for user registration and authentication, and store it in WP tables.
- Implemented user registration and authentication based on data in the tables.
- Implemented an article editor, simplifying the creation of user-created articles in a predefined customer-specific format.
Software Engineer
Airmeet
- Created a React component that can compose multiple video streams into a 3D scene in the form of a video wall.
- Designed a database back end in Firebase Realtime Database for the management of users and the distribution of video streams.
- Wrote Firebase cloud functions for communication between different parts of the system and communication with the database.
- Implemented front-end components for the system management as well as end-user components for viewing composed 3D scenes.
Software Developer
Bractlet
- Developed a program for creating 3D models from 2D architectural floor plans, correcting problems in the geometries, and performing correct floor matching and boundary condition analysis (using Ruby, Docker).
- Built and implemented a system to inform the modellers about the exact locations of problems or errors in the input geometries.
- Created a web app to visualize and modify 3D building models in a web browser (using JavaScript, React, Node.js, and Three.js).
Software Developer
Kehl Pricing Research+Consulting
- Developed mathematical methods that transformed a Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach into a more efficient Hamiltonian Monte Carlo algorithm for a consumer choice model.
- Implemented stochastic consumer choice model generation using the Hamiltonian Monte Carlo framework.
- Derived and implemented Variational Bayes methods as an alternative inference approach.
Scientific Assistant
TU Braunschweig
- Held several lecture series on numerical computational methods (e.g., differential equations, uncertainty quantification, parameter, and state estimation) with a focus on implementation.
- Developed a MATLAB framework for uncertainty quantification, including a numerical testing framework.
- Implemented a Python framework for solving stochastic partial differential equations on non-matching grids with FEniCS as a FEM back-end.
- Developed and implemented methods for parameter estimation in MATLAB (similar to the Kalman Filter, but based on deterministic, spectral methods).
- Developed and implemented fast and efficient methods for the representation and synthesis of random fields (using Fourier methods for the Karhunen-Loeve expansion).
- Implemented a PHP framework for students to register for programming courses and for TAs to mark students' progress and achievements.
- Developed and implemented (C++) an efficient numerical method for the validation of measured data in power plants, including fault detection.
Software Developer
XCOM AG
- Implemented a database system for storing time-dependent data on financial securities in C++ and Sybase SQL.
- Implemented client-side components in Java for online trading of stocks and options.
- Developed parts of a banking system for the management of exemption orders for capital gains (Sybase SQL stored procedures).
Web Developer
Messeland GmbH
- Extended and improved a website for virtual trade fairs with a focus on the educational sector.
C++ Developer (Part-time)
Ad Hoc LLC
- Developed a language interpreter for a built-in C-like language for a multimedia authoring system in C++.
- Completely restructured and streamlined the user interface of a multimedia authoring system (MFC, C++).
- Developed parts, i.e. visual effects, for a small game for a marketing campaign (for a large, undisclosed customer).
- Built parts of a warehousing system with specially adapted features for goldsmiths (C++, MFC, MS Access).
Programmer (Part-time)
Deutscher Pädagogik und Hochschulverlag (dphv)
- Developed a module for management of students subjects and grades in senior classes.
- Built a module for checking the eligibility of students for taking final exams and computing the final marks according to flexible rule sets.
- Created in-house software for managing customers of the publishing house and high-throughput printing services.
- Maintained other types of in-house software and performed system administration (DOS, Windows, Novell).
Experience
Data Validation and Reconciliation
The method has been incorporated into large simulation codes for power plants. (e.g., ENBIPRO).
Algorithm for Parameter Estimation
• https://amses-journal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40323-016-0075-7
• https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-64519-3_43
Time-dependent Database for Financial Security Information
Scripting Language for a Multimedia Authoring Tool
Solver for Problems in Stochastic Diffusion and Elasticity
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045782513003204
Education
PhD Degree in Math/Computer Science
Braunschweig University of Technology - Braunschweig, Germany
Diploma in Physics
University Münster - Münster, Germany
Certifications
Improving Deep Neural Networks: Hyperparameter Tuning, Regularization and Optimization
Coursera
Neural Networks and Deep Learning
Coursera
Machine Learning with Python
IBM
Machine Learning
Coursera
Artificial Intelligence for Robotics
Udacity
Software Debugging
Udacity
Intro to Theoretical Computer Science
Udacity
Skills
Libraries/APIs
React, Node.js, Microsoft Foundation Class (MFC) Library, WebRTC, TensorFlow, Pandas, FEniCS, NumPy, SciPy, Three.js, Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC), GNU Scientific Library (GSL), WebGL
Tools
MATLAB, Mathematica, Git, Subversion (SVN), LaTeX, Travis CI, CMake, Make (formerly Integromat), Microsoft Access, VSS, Agora, Mocha, CVS, Emacs, Microsoft Visual C++, GitHub, Pytest, GitLab, GitLab CI/CD, Makefile, Algorithm Design
Languages
Bash, C++, TeX, Java, Python, TypeScript, Python 3, Ruby, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, PHP, Active Server Pages (ASP), BASIC, Julia, Bash Script, SQL, Pascal, PHP 7, Fortran, Markdown, Python 2
Paradigms
Unit Testing, Refactoring
Platforms
Linux, Firebase, Docker, Oracle, Windows, Dropbox, MacOS, WordPress
Storage
PostgreSQL, Cloud Firestore, Microsoft SQL Server, Firebase Realtime Database, Oracle SQL, SQLite, Sybase
Frameworks
React Native, Redux, Flask, Catch2, Jest
Other
Debugging, Bayesian Inference & Modeling, Algorithms, Mathematics, Linear Algebra, Simulations, Scientific Computing, Debugging Tools, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Complexity Theory, Numerical Optimization, Finite Element Method (FEM), Lecturing, Stochastic Modeling, Fintech, Education, Engineering, Machine Learning, Neural Networks, Classification, Regression, ISAM, Statistics, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) Algorithms, Firebase Cloud Functions, Deep Learning, Robotics, NP-complete Problems, Optimization, Enterprise Java Beans (EJB), Physics, Numerical Analysis, Stochastic Differential Equations, Numerical Methods, Bayesian Statistics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Time Series Analysis, Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), Variational Bayes, Geometry, Analytical Geometry, Computational Geometry, CSV, CSV Import, Big Data, Templates, CI/CD Pipelines, Numerical Modeling, Hypothesis Testing, Patent Applications, Minitest, Differential Equations, Kalman Filtering, Compiler Construction, Source Code Parsing
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