Bruce Failor
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Developer
Bruce is an experienced developer who has moved from computer science to web applications over the past four years using Ruby on Rails, jQuery, HTML, and CSS. His toolset also includes MiniTest or RSpec and Capybara for BDD and TDD. He prefers coding with Linux OS.
Portfolio
Experience
Availability
Preferred Environment
Emacs, RSpec, minitest, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Linux
The most amazing...
...Rails app I've developed saves college instructors time by scraping online course student progress data into a single, concise table.
Work Experience
Rails Developer
Roomsie
- Added feature specs to the codebase during the first week of the project.
- Used TDD to build a large number of React components and meet specific deadlines.
- Extended legacy code by first covering with tests and then adding additional feature mainly via React.
Full-stack Ruby on Rails Developer
ETSZONE
- Modified both RSpec tests and codebase in the first week so that ~20 tests changed from failing to passing.
- Successfully migrated a Ruby on Rails database from MySQL to PostgreSQL.
- Removed a Solr dependency from a Ruby on Rails app by using either SQL queries or the DataTables jQuery plugin.
- Improved the UX by implementing client-side form validation with Bootstrap Validator.
- Implemented an RSpec feature testing using Capybara, which is now being used across all the Ruby on Rails apps.
Ruby on Rails + Back-end Developer
PhotosynQ
- Modified the Bootstrap carousel approach in order to create a user interface that allows browsing projects, users, and other database table records as "cards" in a tableau.
- Implemented a global project map for the site homepage (http://photosynq.org/ - scroll to the bottom of the page).
- Created an API endpoint for user comments, including the ability to upload Base64 images and Google Cloud Messaging notifications.
- Transitioned Dropzone UI for uploading images from using a dedicated media server to using AWS S3 via CarrierWave.
- Used test-driven development to implement the above features and also debugged existing RSpec tests that passed individually but failed when executed as a group.
Senior Ruby on Rails Developer
A Hundred Years/TEDEd
- Created a service object for pulling available subtitle languages from the YouTube API for a given TEDEd lesson.
- Added the ability to filter TEDEd lessons by the subtitle languages available to the UI (http://ed.ted.com/lessons).
Senior Rails Developer - Web/Mobile
RaceMenu
- Created RSpec and/or Cucumber tests as needed.
- Supported a Rails JSON API.
- Supported Rails JavaScript response rendering.
- Created a method to clone an existing race event into another one, reducing the time required from about an hour to five minutes.
- Created a method for registering for a series of events through a single season pass event without the need to replicate multiple records in the database.
- Replicated, explained, and corrected bugs in a legacy (i.e., code without tests) codebase.
Senior Ruby on Rails Developer
Toptal Engagement
- Supported the capture and parsing of information from a number of commercial API endpoints (including SOAP XML).
- Supported the capture of downloads via automated “human” interactions with an embedded ShockWave object using Curl to build AMF requests.
- Aggregated a table of business process failures by parsing captured commercial API data.
- Created two different site on-boarding processes that branched, depending on the URI, and, if successful, allowed device-specific password selection.
- Created dashboards that had Pundit-policy dependent formatting and content.
Web Developer
Virginia Community College System
- Worked with math instructors to create a UI that provided authentication and a dashboard that displayed critical student progress information.
- Created a data scraping process that captured student progress data from the Pearson MyLabsPlus website.
Staff Physicist
L-3 Pulse Science
- Developed object-oriented software using IDL to analyze high-speed (~1 million frames/sec) x-cinematography data.
- Used Perl scripts to fully utilize a ~100 CPU cluster for MCNP calculations.
- Used MCNP to estimate the performance of an e-beam-driven neutron source with a subcritical neutron multiplier.
- Used MCNP to evaluate the efficacy of different gamma-ray and neutron probes for detecting special nuclear material in support of Homeland Security.
- Led an effort to use electronic cameras to record x-ray image data in lieu of a film.
Experience
Edibles
https://bitbucket.org/bhfailor/edibles/overviewThe goal is to quickly (i.e., inexpensively) reproduce the capabilities of http://nutritiondata.self.com/ with (1) much less latency, (2) much more transparency regarding how the nutrient values are calculated, and (3) more flexibility in the assigment of custom nutritional information.
The spreadsheet (1) allows USDA database foods to be combined into composite foods that can, in turn, be used to construct other composite foods, (2) displays the RDA status for tracked nutrients, and (3) calculates the composite food cost.
Skills
Frameworks
Ruby on Rails (RoR), Capybara, minitest, Bootstrap
Tools
RSpec, Bitbucket, Git, Emacs, Solr, GitHub, Vagrant, Cucumber, Codeship
Paradigms
Behavior-driven Development (BDD), Agile Software Development, Test-driven Development (TDD)
Languages
Ruby, IDL, CoffeeScript, Haml, CSS, JavaScript, HTML
Libraries/APIs
Devise, Ruby on Rails API, Selenium WebDriver, YouTube API, React, Facebook API, Sidekiq, jQuery, Resque, Pundit
Platforms
Linux, Heroku, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Storage
PostgreSQL, Elasticsearch, MySQL
Other
Monte Carlo, Headless Software, eCompliance
Education
Master's Degree and Doctorate in Engineering Applied Science, Plasma Physics
University of California - Davis, California
Bachelor's Degree in Physics, Mathematics, Asian Studies
Brigham Young University - Provo, UT
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