Elmar Zander, Developer in Peine, Lower Saxony, Germany
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Elmar Zander

Verified Expert  in Engineering

Software Developer

Peine, Lower Saxony, Germany

Toptal member since October 8, 2018

Bio

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

Airmeet (via Toptal)
Mocha, Firebase Cloud Functions, Firebase Realtime Database, Firebase, WebRTC...
Bractlet (via Toptal)
Mathematics, Node.js, Three.js, React, JavaScript, Docker, Ruby
Kehl Pricing Research+Consulting (via Toptal)
Mathematics, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) Algorithms, Statistics, MATLAB

Experience

Availability

Part-time

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

Software Engineer

2020 - 2020
Airmeet (via Toptal)
  • 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 management of users and 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.
Technologies: Mocha, Firebase Cloud Functions, Firebase Realtime Database, Firebase, WebRTC, Agora, Three.js, React, JavaScript

Software Developer

2019 - 2019
Bractlet (via Toptal)
  • 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).
  • Created a web app to visualize and modify 3D building models in a web browser (using JavaScript, React, Node.js, and Three.js).
Technologies: Mathematics, Node.js, Three.js, React, JavaScript, Docker, Ruby

Software Developer

2018 - 2019
Kehl Pricing Research+Consulting (via Toptal)
  • Implemented different approaches (Hamiltonian Monte Carlo and Variational Bayes) for generating stochastic models of a discrete choice model of consumer choice.
Technologies: Mathematics, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) Algorithms, Statistics, MATLAB

Scientific Assistant

2002 - 2018
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 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 marks students' progress and achievements.
  • Developed and implemented (C++) an efficient numerical method for the validation of measured data in power plants including fault detection.
Technologies: Numerical Optimization, Mathematics, Travis CI, Git, PHP, Julia, CMake, Make, C++, Python, Mathematica, MATLAB

Software Developer

1999 - 2002
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 order for capital gains (Sybase SQL stored procedures).
Technologies: Subversion (SVN), CVS, SQL, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, Enterprise Java Beans (EJB), Oracle, Sybase, Java, C++

Web Developer

1998 - 1999
Messeland GmbH
  • Extended and improved a website for virtual trade fairs with a focus on the educational sector.
Technologies: HTML, Microsoft SQL Server, Active Server Pages (ASP)

C++ Developer (Part-time)

1995 - 1998
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).
Technologies: VSS, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Foundation Class (MFC) Library, Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC), Windows, C++

Programmer (Part-time)

1988 - 1996
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).
Technologies: ISAM, BASIC

Data Validation and Reconciliation

https://bitbucket.org/ezander/dvrlib/src/master/
I developed a method that can validate measured values from power plants and efficiently compute reconciled values.
The method has been incorporated into large simulation codes for power plants. (e.g., ENBIPRO).

Algorithm for Parameter Estimation

I co-developed and implemented an algorithm, for the estimation of simulation parameters, that has been used in several scientific and engineering projects.

• 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

I implemented a database system for financial security information that can gather the daily stream of changes to these data and retrieve data for any moment in the past.

Scripting Language for a Multimedia Authoring Tool

Implemented a very performant C-like scripting language for a multimedia authoring tool (CAME) in C++. This made the software much more flexible by adding programmability to the graphical editing features.

Solver for Problems in Stochastic Diffusion and Elasticity

I implemented a solver for linear PDE problems (diffusion and linear elasticity) and attained maximum efficiency by working disjoint meshes for the various stochastic modes.

• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045782513003204
2005 - 2012

PhD Degree in Math/Computer Science

Braunschweig University of Technology - Braunschweig, Germany

1993 - 1998

Diploma in Physics

University Münster - Münster, Germany

AUGUST 2020 - PRESENT

Improving Deep Neural Networks: Hyperparameter Tuning, Regularization and Optimization

Coursera

JULY 2020 - PRESENT

Neural Networks and Deep Learning

Coursera

JULY 2020 - PRESENT

Machine Learning with Python

IBM

JUNE 2020 - PRESENT

Machine Learning

Coursera

APRIL 2014 - PRESENT

Artificial Intelligence for Robotics

Udacity

APRIL 2014 - PRESENT

Software Debugging

Udacity

SEPTEMBER 2013 - PRESENT

Intro to Theoretical Computer Science

Udacity

Libraries/APIs

React, Node.js, Microsoft Foundation Class (MFC) Library, WebRTC, TensorFlow, Pandas, FEniCS, NumPy, SciPy, Three.js, Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC)

Tools

MATLAB, Mathematica, Git, Subversion (SVN), LaTeX, Travis CI, CMake, Make, Microsoft Access, VSS, Agora, Mocha, CVS, Emacs, Microsoft Visual C++

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

Paradigms

Unit Testing, Refactoring

Platforms

Linux, Firebase, Oracle, Windows, Docker

Frameworks

React Native, Redux, Flask

Storage

Cloud Firestore, Microsoft SQL Server, Firebase Realtime Database, Oracle SQL, SQLite, Sybase

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

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