Aaron Blondeau, Developer in Salida, CO, United States
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Aaron Blondeau

Verified Expert  in Engineering

Leadership Developer

Location
Salida, CO, United States
Toptal Member Since
June 5, 2014

Aaron is a software developer with a broad skill set. He is a self-starter who is capable of building entire applications on his own. Aaron excels at finding ways to create reliable and straightforward software solutions that exceed client expectations.

Portfolio

TerraQuest
Stellar SDK, Hasura, Node.js, Vue, Nuxt.js, Flutter, Android, Kotlin, Swift
Dose Media
Docker, Node.js, PostgreSQL, Hasura, Vue, Python 3, Cloud Firestore, Firebase...
Salida Software, Inc.
Android, JavaScript

Experience

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Node.js, Pop!_OS, Hasura, Vue, Nuxt.js, Flutter, Docker, Firebase, Cloud Firestore

The most amazing...

...thing I've coded is a plain Java implementation of TCP/IP.

Work Experience

CTO

2021 - PRESENT
TerraQuest
  • Created a system for rewarding clean commuters (bike, e-bike) with blockchain (Stellar) based carbon credits.
  • Leveraged Hasura to rapidly build and deploy a scalable and secure GraphQL API.
  • Designed and helped implement mobile apps with Flutter and web applications using Vue.js and Nuxt.
  • Guided a team of developers and designers through the complex process of rapidly building a high-quality product for a startup.
  • Created a cross-platform GPS recording plugin for Flutter using Kotlin on Android and Swift on iOS.
Technologies: Stellar SDK, Hasura, Node.js, Vue, Nuxt.js, Flutter, Android, Kotlin, Swift

Director of Technology

2014 - PRESENT
Dose Media
  • Managed a team of developers to create Dose Media's market research platform.
  • Developed a custom task processing system using Node.js and MongoDB. This system allows Dose to build ads and collect data at scale. The task processing system is highly fault-tolerant and can automatically throttle itself to manage API rate limits.
  • Managed a Kubernetes cluster on Google Cloud Platform. However, the Kubernetes cluster turned out to be overkill for a small company, so I migrated the technology stack to render.com.
  • Supported the Data Science Team by developing a Flask (Python) application to quickly deploy their trained models.
  • Used Firestore, Vue.js, and Nuxt to develop a sleek user interface for managing ad campaigns across multiple social networks.
  • Designed, implemented, and maintained a data warehouse using PostgreSQL and Google Cloud SQL. I used third-party tools and custom Node.js ETL scripts to gather massive volumes of data.
Technologies: Docker, Node.js, PostgreSQL, Hasura, Vue, Python 3, Cloud Firestore, Firebase, Nuxt.js

Independent Web Developer

2008 - PRESENT
Salida Software, Inc.
  • Developed Drupal and WordPress websites for a wide variety of clients.
  • Built the website and Android application for JuicyTrails.com.
  • Implemented and executed LoadRunner-based performance tests.
  • Provided technology consulting services to small businesses.
Technologies: Android, JavaScript

Software Engineer

2012 - 2014
NAVSYS Corporation
  • Supported a tool for detecting and viewing GPS jammers.
  • Constructed an Android application that interfaces with a military GPS receiver to alert the user of GPS jamming or spoofing.
  • Created an Android application to help facilitate geolocation using non-GPS radio signals.
  • Developed an Android application to provide sensor information for evaluating device capability for inertial navigation.
  • Rebuilt a legacy Oracle-based application using modern open-source software.
Technologies: Android

Web Developer

2011 - 2012
Vermilion, Inc.
  • Conducted the development efforts of cwadventures.com.
  • Led the back-end development for celestialseasonings.com and beforeplay.org.
  • Maintained several legacy Ruby on Rails applications and Drupal websites.
Technologies: JavaScript

Test Automation Engineer

2004 - 2008
Automation Excellence, Inc.
  • Used QuickTest Pro to develop a comprehensive automated testing suite for an online phone book.
  • Utilized LoadRunner to develop large-scale performance tests for an online phone book.
  • Employed QuickTest Pro and open-source terminal emulation software to develop functional tests of a legacy terminal-based medical information application.
  • Implemented and executed performance tests against a ColdFusion-based medical information application using LoadRunner.
  • Utilized LoadRunner and VSTS to implement and execute large-scale performance tests against a suite of custom project management applications used by a national homebuilder.
  • Applied and completed performance tests for a national retailer's customer support software using LoadRunner.
Technologies: HP QuickTest Professional (QTP), Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS), Selenium, LoadRunner

Volunteer

2002 - 2004
United States Peace Corps (St. Vincent and the Grenadines)
  • Managed and maintained a computer lab under harsh economic and environmental conditions.
  • Taught computer classes for people who had never used a computer before.
  • Supplemented the local elementary school's programs with computer classes.
  • Provided small workshops for young people interested in learning how to build websites.
  • Mentored interns who were employed to assist with the computer lab and classes.
Technologies: PHP, Education, Networks, Hardware Repair

JuicyTrails

JuicyTrails is a website and Android app that helps mountain bikers find and share great rides. It was developed with a very small budget, and I was the only developer for both the website and Android app. The website was implemented in Laravel and PostgreSQL/PostGIS. The Android application has advanced features that allow it to work offline.

Country Walkers

http://www.cwadventures.com/
Lead developer for Country Walkers' website redesign implemented in Drupal. The coolest feature is the interactive trip search (implemented with Knockout.js).

Celestial Seasonings

http://www.celestialseasonings.com/
Lead developer for Celestial Seasonings' website rebuild (Drupal).

RO|Innovation

http://www.roinnovation.com/
Rebuild of RO|Innovation's website (WordPress). I implemented 100% of this site based on the customer's designs.

SHRM Store

Implemented a store for SHRM using Magento. Developed several custom extensions to support SHRM's custom checkout process.

GoMaps

GoMaps is an platform that generates iOS and Android (Cordova) applications for business in the recreation industry that wish to provide maps and recommended routes to their customers.

iOS example: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cbgtrails/id1119377630?mt=8

Android example: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=us.gomaps.cbgtrailsmap

Dose.com/Omgfacts.com

http://www.dose.com
I led the team developing the CMS behind the Dose.com and Omgfacts.com websites. The CMS was implemented with Laravel (PHP) and Angular (JavaScript). My team also produced several other tools and services with both Laravel and Node.js.

Libraries/APIs

Vue, Facebook API, Node.js

Languages

JavaScript, Python 3, Kotlin, Swift

Frameworks

Nuxt.js, Express.js, Flutter

Platforms

Docker, Android, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Firebase

Storage

Hasura, SQLite, PostgreSQL, PostGIS, MongoDB, Cloud Firestore

Tools

Git, Stellar SDK

Other

Leadership

1997 - 2002

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science

University of Colorado - Boulder

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