Kevin Read, Developer in Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Kevin is available for hire
Hire Kevin

Kevin Read

Verified Expert  in Engineering

TCP/IP Developer

Location
Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Toptal Member Since
May 28, 2018

Kevin has been working on front- and back-end projects since joining an internet startup in 1998. He's been developing with Android since its very early days and had made significant contributions to several large and small projects. Kevin enjoys working in teams of all sizes, digging into legacy code, and communicates exceptionally well.

Portfolio

Om7Sense GmbH
Kotlin, Webpack 4, MySQL Server, HTML5, Git, JavaScript, SQL, REST APIs, Web...
Kurando
Agile, TypeScript 3, Node.js, Flutter, Commercetools, Technical Hiring, Docker
Yinkozi
Android NDK, C, Git, Android SDK, Android, Linux, Bash, Java, C++, Gradle

Experience

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

Firefox, Chrome, MacOS, Linux, Bash, Sublime Text, IntelliJ IDEA

The most amazing...

...thing I’ve done was to embed Google's version 8 JavaScript runtime into a mobile app—combining Java, C++, and JS abstractions to create an awesome product.

Work Experience

CEO | Co-founder

2015 - PRESENT
Om7Sense GmbH
  • Created the architecture, back, and front ends for Om7Sense, an IoT startup focusing on data centers, using React for the front end.
  • Developed back ends consisting of high-availability OSGi containers written in Java running in Eclipse Kura on embedded Linux.
  • Stored data in MySQL in a hierarchical fashion that can support years of high-resolution usage data on a 32 GB device.
  • Implemented real-time communication using MQTT between the front end and back end.
  • Built a mesh of nodes with distributed permissions according to the IoT gateway and concentrator concept.
Technologies: Kotlin, Webpack 4, MySQL Server, HTML5, Git, JavaScript, SQL, REST APIs, Web, Java, Linux, Embedded Linux, MySQL, Node.js, OSGi, React, Docker, OpenShift

Head of Technology

2021 - 2022
Kurando
  • Acted as head of technology and aimed to build up all tech departments and kickstart the back-end and mobile app development.
  • Implemented high-performance product importer reading 700 thousand of medical product metadata and imagery from custom format into commerce tools.
  • Implemented fulfillment pipeline using low code tools.
  • Set up a tech hiring pipeline by training tech recruiters and interviewing candidates.
  • Implemented architectural best practices and made tech stack choices in alignment with the founders' vision.
Technologies: Agile, TypeScript 3, Node.js, Flutter, Commercetools, Technical Hiring, Docker

Android Security Engineer

2019 - 2020
Yinkozi
  • Maintained and extended a low-level security library for Android, containing encryption, device integrity checks, and anti-tampering.
  • Migrated an Android app from Jetpack/Android X to the Android Support library.
  • Supported the app by creating an installer for the Android library.
  • Wrote a Gradle plugin for SDK/library for Android.
  • Improved documentation and wrote quick-start documentation.
Technologies: Android NDK, C, Git, Android SDK, Android, Linux, Bash, Java, C++, Gradle

Consultant

2018 - 2018
Microsoft
  • Consulted on technical due diligence for the third-party merger.
  • Interviewed developers to judge experience and team workflow.
  • Reviewed code and source code history for quality.
  • Reviewed existing intellectual property and licensing.
  • Analyzed an Android app's architecture, security, and resilience.
Technologies: Git, Android, Continuous Integration (CI), Angular, JavaScript, Java

Freelance Mobile Developer

2014 - 2018
Börse Go AG
  • Created a strong-but-fast library for embedding V8 into Android apps, using web-based libraries without resorting to web views. V8 runtime uses OpenGL ES to expose JavaScript canvas, WebSockets, Ajax, and more to the JavaScript side.
  • Helped develop a rich phone and tablet app that shows real-time financial data in a comprehensive but visually striking way.
  • Integrated a client's powerful finance JavaScript charting library into the app.
  • Migrated a large legacy Java codebase to Gradle, Kotlin, and RxJava.
  • Implemented strong Material UI in cooperation with the design and iOS team.
Technologies: Android NDK, RxJava 2, C, Git, JavaScript, SQL, Android SDK, REST APIs, Linux, OpenGL, V8, C++, RxJava, Kotlin, Java, Android, Jenkins, Docker

Web Developer

2016 - 2016
ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE
  • Developed multiple landing sites for video streaming portals surrounding sports events.
  • Integrated streaming video into web solutions for desktop and set-top boxes.
  • Conducted rapid prototyping and worked with a visual designer.
Technologies: MySQL Server, Git, Web, JavaScript, Sass, HTML5

Android Developer

2016 - 2016
Amphiro AG
  • Created an Android app from scratch that collects and visualizes data from a client's IoT water usage measuring device.
  • Implemented the background and a power-efficient Bluetooth LE data retrieval feature compatible with the maximum number of Android devices.
  • Conducted large-scale matrix testing of devices and operating system versions.
  • Executed real-time synchronization with the back-end, supporting multiple data sources updating together.
  • Created a graphical visualization of water usage.
Technologies: Git, Java, Android, Bluetooth LE

Software Engineer

2015 - 2015
Cliqz GmbH
  • Created a mobile browser based on an open-source framework in Java and JavaScript; also helped with the iOS version (Objective-C).
  • Converted a search engine UI that only ran as a Firefox extension to run as a Chrome extension in the mobile app and stand-alone website, migrating from ES2015 to ES5 JavaScript.
  • Extended the open-source mobile messenger, Telegram, with a search interface and multi-modal photo sharing while working closely with the product designer.
  • Created the Places API's infrastructure, including the document schema, storage, and REST API.
  • Researched search engine data sources for the mobile web.
Technologies: Git, SQL, REST APIs, Web, CSS, HTML, Android, JavaScript, Java

Mobile Developer

2014 - 2014
Purelabs UG
  • Developed an in-car navigation experience that coupled sound and video to the points of interest.
  • Implemented a Google Maps API with geofences downloaded from a REST API to activate the audio/video scenes while driving.
  • Used Android Multimedia APIs to play multiple sounds in parallel and move the stereocenter point.
  • Simulated 2D positional audio by using accelerometer sensor data.
  • Stored and replayed geodata from a live drive so that customers could work on a simulation on the outside of a car.
Technologies: Git, Geofencing, Java, Android, Google Maps

Mobile and Web Developer

2009 - 2014
BörseGo AG
  • Developed the company's Android apps in the financial sector with a focus on real-time data and on-device charting using Java. The app was featured in the Play Store twice.
  • Led a team of three in developing a single-page HTML5/JavaScript app that showcases chart patterns. Worked with clients on customizing the white-label version of this product.
  • Worked in a small team rebuilding the main web franchise that sees multiple million visits per month from static HTML to a mixed statically-rendered version written in JavaScript and a REST API in PHP/MySQL.
  • Developed a custom blogging engine with cascading comments as a REST API in PHP/MySQL, a custom web cache for performance, and a PHP front-end. Also integrated it with the in-house WordPress CMS.
  • Wrote and optimized multiple REST APIs in PHP and their corresponding MySQL queries using KCachegrind and other profilers.
  • Supported and extended a customer webshop written in Django/Python.
  • Maintained multiple customer websites in PHP/MySQL.
Technologies: Android NDK, MySQL Server, C, HTML5, Git, SQL, REST APIs, Web, Linux, CSS, HTML, MySQL, PHP, JavaScript, Java, Android

Student Researcher

2006 - 2009
University of Koblenz and Landau
  • Built a campuswide news broadcast system that sent the news to feature phones via Bluetooth; it was implemented in Java EE on OSGi-embedded devices.
  • Developed a back-end service for the campus news network in C++.
  • Designed the protocol for bidirectional communication through Bluetooth and running over a GPRS connection so minimal data use and resiliency were required.
  • Created a multiscreen ticker-on-TV interface for campus news shown on TV monitors in Python/OpenGL.
  • Worked on multiple research papers and proofs-of-concept in the area of AI.
Technologies: Web, Bluetooth, OSGi, Java EE

Software Engineer

2005 - 2006
wizAI GmbH
  • Extended and maintained a news-clipping service that implemented full-text indexing of news articles running on Java EE.
  • Migrated a news clipper from MySQL to a Lucene full-text search engine for a better performance.
  • Optimized the clipping engine's performance for scaling up to 10x.
  • Worked on the website and database using PHP and MySQL.
  • Maintained and managed the Linux servers.
Technologies: MySQL Server, C, REST APIs, Web, Java, MySQL, Apache Lucene, Java EE

Co-founder | CTO

2002 - 2003
Selador
  • Co-founded and incepted a web-based multiplayer game using PHP and MySQL.
  • Optimized the game for high concurrency, low-latency server-side rendering using a custom event pipeline.
Technologies: CSS, MySQL Server, HTML5, SQL, Web, JavaScript, HTML, MySQL, PHP

DevOps | SysAdmin

1998 - 2002
InnNet GmbH
  • Built and maintained Linux servers for an internet service provider with web servers (Apache), databases (MySQL), and mail services (Sendmail/Courier).
  • Set up an internet infrastructure and routing using Cisco and Bintec routers (OSPF).
  • Installed the dial-in infrastructure (ISDN, GSM).
Technologies: Web, Sendmail, TCP/IP, MySQL, Apache, Linux

Sample Application

This is the sample application (Ejecta-v8-sample-master.zip) for a library I wrote for a client. It embeds the V8 JavaScript interpreter into an Android app and exposes powerful bridges between JavaScript, C++, and Java/Kotlin. The library and sample are open source; I've updated the sample for you.

To run, a simple ./gradlew assembleDebug or opening in Android Studio will be enough.

I added a fragment (ag.boersego.bgjs.sample.NativeSampleFragment) onto the barebones two-pane view that exists. It shows a simple Termin-style log interface and four buttons that interface directly with the JavaScript file residing in assets/js/native_sample.js. In ag.boersego.bgjs.sample, you can find TTSModule.kt, which is a nice way to add new native modules to the V8 instance.

Stock3 Android

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.boersego.gmt.android
Stock3 gives you real-time financial market data, analyses, and access to a community of pro traders. I created this app and its predecessors and have worked on it for many years.

A technical highlight is the use of real-time stock data and the powerful stock chart analysis package the client also uses on the web. It is driven by ejecta-v8, my project that embeds Google's v8 JavaScript engine into Android apps, similar to how Node.js works.

Ejecta-v8 Library

https://github.com/godmodelabs/ejecta-v8
To reuse the existing code that was written in JavaScript, a client commissioned me to write a library similar to Ejecta.js for Android.

With the help of colleagues, I wrapped Google's v8, added Canvas, AJAX, and WebSocket APIs, and created a layer for the easy wrapping of both C++ and Java/Kotlin functions to be used by JavaScript.

Om7Sense Energy Management

I co-founded Om7Sense, a startup focusing on energy management. Using IoT technologies and an intuitive front-end written in React, energy usage can be easily quantified. The back-end was developed in high-availability Java EE using Eclipse Kura and communicates via the MQTT protocol standard.

Languages

CSS3, JavaScript 6, Kotlin, HTML5, Java, C, SQL, JavaScript, ES7, JavaScript 5, Python, Less, Sass, Embedded C, C++, Bash Script, Bash, HTML, CSS, PHP 5, XML/XSLT, PHP, XML, Dart, TypeScript 3

Frameworks

Android SDK, OSGi, Redux, Chrome, Angular, Django, Flutter

Libraries/APIs

OpenGL ES, HTML5 Canvas, React, REST APIs, Jackson, Google Maps SDK, RxJava 2, Redux-Saga, Node.js, Google Maps, Apache Lucene, OpenGL, jQuery, jQuery UI, Facebook API, Facebook Login, RxJava

Tools

Chrome Developer Tools, MQTT, Tcpdump, Crashlytics, Android Studio, Android NDK, Git, Babel, JavaScript Debugging, Webpack 3, NGINX, Webpack 4, IntelliJ IDEA, Sublime Text, V8, Apache, Sendmail, Gradle, Docker Hub, Mercurial, Apache Solr, InVision, Xcode, Jenkins

Paradigms

Class-based OOP, Concurrent Programming, Mobile Development, Functional Programming, Prototype-based OOP, Testing, Continuous Integration (CI), Agile, Pair Programming

Platforms

MacOS, Linux, Android, Web, Docker, Embedded Linux, Apache2, Bluetooth LE, Firefox, Eclipse, Java EE, iOS, Firebase, Commercetools, OpenShift

Storage

MySQL Server, MariaDB, SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL, NoSQL, XML-RPC, Memcached, MongoDB

Other

GitFlow, Reverse Engineering, API Design, Crash Fixing, TCP/IP, Routing, Google Play Store, Embedded Java, Mobile App Development, IT Security, Scraping, Web Scraping, Mobile Security, Interviews, Technical Hiring, WebSockets, Bluetooth, Embedded Systems, Linux Internals, Requirements & Specifications, Android Emulators, OkHttp, API Testing, Google In-app Billing, Geofencing, Obfuscation, Security Analysis, App UI, SVG, Chromecast, Fire TV, Android Wearables, WiFi, Google Ads, Mockups, A/B Testing, UX Testing, Google Sign-in, Machine Learning, Computer Graphics, User Requirements, Networking, IP Routing, Google V8, Artificial Intelligence (AI)

2004 - 2010

Master's Degree (Diploma) in Computational Visualistics

University of Koblenz and Landau - Koblenz, Germany

JULY 2014 - PRESENT

Project Manager Basis

Staufen Akademie

JANUARY 2011 - PRESENT

Introduction to AI (Artificial Intelligence)

Stanford University via Udacity

AUGUST 2008 - PRESENT

LPIC-1: System Administrator

Linux Professional Institute

Collaboration That Works

How to Work with Toptal

Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.

1

Share your needs

Discuss your requirements and refine your scope in a call with a Toptal domain expert.
2

Choose your talent

Get a short list of expertly matched talent within 24 hours to review, interview, and choose from.
3

Start your risk-free talent trial

Work with your chosen talent on a trial basis for up to two weeks. Pay only if you decide to hire them.

Top talent is in high demand.

Start hiring