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Ben Homnick, Software Developer in Taipei, Taiwan
Ben Homnick

Software Developer in Taipei, Taiwan

Member since August 5, 2013
With over fifteen years of experience building and scaling software products for web and mobile, Ben is a well-versed engineer and manager passionate about solving real-world problems through technology. Ben has previously worked with the University of Michigan, Microsoft, and a variety of venture-backed startups across the US and Asia.
Ben is now available for hire
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Portfolio

Experience

Location

Taipei, Taiwan

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

Xcode, BBEdit, Git, Linux, MacOS

The most amazing...

...app I've built is a Twitter-based traffic aggregator that provided real-time updates to users all around the world.

Employment

  • Managing Director

    2006 - PRESENT
    Azure Interactive, LLC
    • Founded a web development, design, and technology consulting company, managing clients in both North America and the Greater China area.
    • Managed staff both in Taiwan and abroad.
    • Provided custom eCommerce, web design, and other development services geared toward small businesses.
    Technologies: Backbone.js, Less, PostgreSQL, JavaScript, iOS, Flask, Django, PHP, Python

  • Senior Software Engineer

    2015 - 2016
    Noodle Education, Inc.
    • Provided recommendations on architecture decisions and engineering best practices.
    • Redesigned Noodle’s search architecture, improving reliability, performance, and scalability.
    • Independently designed and developed command line tools to seamlessly manage developer interactions between environments.
    • Developed and supported a versioned API, making Noodle’s search features more available both internally and to external partners.
    Technologies: PostgreSQL, Python, Django

  • Senior Software Engineer

    2013 - 2015
    Allclasses, Inc.
    • Performed integrations with third-party data providers including Facebook and Yelp.
    • Independently built the Allclasses iOS application, available on the App Store.
    • Transitioned Allclasses to Elasticsearch and designed indexing strategies as well as back-end search code.
    • Developed the API powering both the Allclasses website and iOS application.
    Technologies: Amazon Web Services (AWS), JavaScript, Backbone.js, AWS, Elasticsearch, Python, Flask

  • Lead Developer

    2013 - 2015
    Dressed Salads HK
    • Designed and developed an web-based ordering system for all of Dressed's HK locations.
    • Localized site content and layout to Chinese.
    • Developed HTML5-based mobile applications for tablet/smartphone.
    • Integrated payment processing features, handling almost $1M HKD worth of transactions within first six months after launch.
    Technologies: PostgreSQL, Backbone.js, Less, Django, Python

  • Senior Developer

    2013 - 2014
    Construct Digital
    • Developed core features for the Symplfy UAE car portal.
    • Wrote external vendor integration tools via the SharePoint lists service API.
    Technologies: MySQL, Django, Python

  • Senior Developer

    2012 - 2014
    Bread Retail Software and Systems
    • Analyzed DB performance issues and made query optimization and indexing recommendations, in many cases increasing performance by a factor of 10.
    • Implemented DB replication for in-store POS and web-based ordering systems.
    • Integrated automatic build and deployment processes.
    • Administered several Linux-based servers, managing separate staging and production environments.
    Technologies: PostgreSQL, Django, Python

  • VP of Engineering

    2011 - 2012
    Genie Capital, Ltd.
    • Led a team of eight engineers in the development of Python-based, large-scale social networking software.
    • Defined company-wide engineering best practices including source control, unit testing, build processes, project management, and code style.
    • Worked within a Chinese-speaking team.
    • Represented company at trade events both in Taiwan and abroad.
    • Made key architecture and technology platform decisions.
    Technologies: Django, Redis, MongoDB, JavaScript, Erlang, Python

  • Developer

    2005 - 2006
    University of Michigan
    • Designed, developed, and maintained web-based tools designed to improve accessibility to engineering classroom facilities.
    • Developed web-based software to record lectures and make streaming videos publicly available online.
    • Redesigned the UM technology guide website, a directory of classroom technology facilities published for students and faculty.
    • Troubleshot equipment failures and provided on-site support to university faculty.
    Technologies: CSS, HTML, SQL, PHP

Experience

  • Dressed On-the-go (Development)

    Built an online ordering system for the popular HK salad franchise. Since February 2013, On-the-go has handled over $500,000 HKD worth of transactions and is now being used across all of Dressed's five Hong Kong locations.

  • Allclasses (Development)

    Allclasses is the world's largest search engine for local and online classes. Apart from significant back-end and front-end web development work, I was responsible for the entire iOS app development cycle.

  • Global Leadership Adventures (Development)
    http://www.experiencegla.com

    Designed and built an online application and student registration system, allowing GLA to process thousands of applications and manage trips from one central location.

  • Expat Workforce (Development)

    Founded an expat job marketplace that connects professional expats with local employers in need of high-quality, internationally minded talent. Acquired by Recruu, Inc. in 2014.

Skills

  • Languages

    Python, Sass, Less, HTML5, Objective-C, SQL, JavaScript, PHP, HTML, CSS, Go, Erlang

  • Frameworks

    Flask, Django, Laravel, iOS SDK, CakePHP

  • Libraries/APIs

    Backbone.js, jQuery, React, Yelp API, Facebook iOS SDK, Facebook API

  • Platforms

    Android, MacOS, Linux, Twitter, iOS, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

  • Other

    Freelance Developer, POS, BBEdit, AWS

  • Tools

    Subversion (SVN), Xcode, Git, Adobe Fireworks, Adobe Photoshop

  • Storage

    Elasticsearch, Redis, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB

  • Paradigms

    Functional Programming, Test-driven Development (TDD)

Education

  • Bachelor of Science in Engineering (Summa Cum Laude) degree in Computer Science Engineering
    2004 - 2009
    University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Michigan

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