Lead Developer, Team Augmentation, and Indie Contributor
2014 - PRESENTToptal Clients- Led the development of a prototype of a law office management app.
- Consulted for an enterprise company digesting 1,200 legacy applications.
- Oversaw the creation of an MVP of a team personality assessment app.
- Augmented a team that built a data scraping microservice for an auto sales app.
- Created the MVP of a medical information visualization app.
- Handled DevOps and application architecture for an enterprise data warehouse web API and application.
- Led the technical side of a mortgage lending company as both a developer and its interim CTO.
Technologies: DevOps, Meteor, AngularJS, JavaScript, Linux, HTML5, Node.js, NoSQL, MongoDB, Express.js, Docker, Neo4j, REST APIs, CSS, Git, Windows, WebAssembly, Progressive Web Applications (PWA), Shell Scripting, Full-stack, Web Development, APIs, Architecture, Microservices, HTML5 Canvas, Vue, Vuex, SQL, HTML, Scrum, Git Flow, REST, JSON Web Tokens (JWT), OAuth 2, Software Architecture, Docker Compose, Leadership, TypeScript, DigitalOcean, Back-end, SCSS, Cloud, Technical Architecture, Full-stack Development, Minimum Viable Product (MVP)Tech Lead | Architect
2022 - 2022PBS- Worked with PBS IT management and vendors to debug two software purchases that had stalled for almost a year.
- Wrote a "smoothing proxy" to slot requests into time slots so the API was never over-utilized. PBS has separate processes calling a 3rd party API. That API was returning 429 over the usage limit, causing cascading failures.
- Worked with PBS IT management and vendors in selecting a "Data Quality Tool" for PBS to analyze and fix data quality issues with their programming meta-data used by viewers to find quality television programming.
Technologies: Node.js, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, Hapi.js, REST APIs, Software Architecture, Docker Compose, Amazon Web Services (AWS), TypeScript, Leadership, Architecture, CI/CD Pipelines, Nuxt.js, Back-end, Cloud, Technical ArchitectureEntrepreneur, Architect, Developer
2020 - 2021Drama With Friends and Others- Worked on Drama With Friends, a casual multiplayer game designed to cultivate positive relationships.
- Evaluated Hasura, Apollo, Parse, and PostGraphile as GraphQL servers. Configured Hasura and an auth microservice using Docker and Kubernetes.
- Created development, stage, and production environments using Docker, Docker Compose, Docker Desktop for Windows, WSL, Kubernetes, and DigitalOcean.
- Used a TypeScript code generator to create TypeScript types from the Hasura GraphQL schema, having it as a central "type library" for microservices. Converted Node.js microservices to TypeScript.
- Built an external Node.js REST API server for an Unreal Engine game client to detect configuration. Evaluated UE4 plugins for mobile "deep links," allowing the client's game to start from the web page.
- Created an internal Node.js REST API to start game servers as Kubernetes Jobs in the cluster. Packaged a UE4 Linux dedicated server into Docker.
- Brought about a web server in UE4 with C++ to handle health and other Kubernetes cluster events (player presence and more).
- Implemented a TypeScript tool to parse plays (e.g., Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream") into a machine-readable JSON. Implemented a UE4 C++ module to import that data into the game server to start blocking scenes for players.
- Built two Unreal Engine plugins to provide C++ and Blueprint Scripting interface to REST APIs using UE4's "subsystems."
- Built an Electron application for a video editor project.
Technologies: JavaScript, TypeScript, Hasura, Node.js, GraphQL, Kubernetes, Docker, C++, Unreal Engine, Linux, HTML5, NoSQL, MongoDB, Express.js, Quasar, REST APIs, DevOps, CSS, Git, Windows, Progressive Web Applications (PWA), Shell Scripting, Full-stack, Web Development, APIs, Architecture, Microservices, HTML, REST, PostgreSQL, JSON Web Tokens (JWT), OAuth 2, Software Architecture, Docker Compose, Vue, WebSockets, DigitalOcean, Back-end, SCSS, Cloud, Technical Architecture, Electron, Full-stack Development, Minimum Viable Product (MVP)Founder and Lead Engineer
2016 - 2018bigSmall.io- Created a web-based video conferencing solution for experts to monetize their content. It allows experts to add a button to their content and clients to fill out a request, access payment info, and schedule a joint video conference.
- Developed the product as a widget for web and GitHub pages to enable direct connection between experts and developers.
- Deployed the product with a greater emphasis on the technical aspects and learned the importance of adding sales and marketing perspectives for a project's success.
Technologies: Meteor, JavaScript, WebRTC, MVP Design, UX Design, DevOps, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Architecture, Distributed Systems, Tailwind CSS, REST APIs, DigitalOcean, Back-end, SCSS, Cloud, Firefox Extensions, Chrome Extensions, Technical Architecture, Full-stack Development, Minimum Viable Product (MVP)Freelance Web Application Developer
2011 - 2014Michael Cole- Developed custom web applications for a variety of agencies and clients.
- Designed custom PHP web applications using Symfony2, Doctrine, MongoDB, CodeIgniter, LinkedIn, and OAuth.
- Created custom MEAN (MongoDB, Express, Angular, and Node.js) web applications with MEAN.IO.
- Built custom Drupal web applications with Drupal 7, HighCharts, a custom REST API, and Drupal Commerce.
- Contributed to open-source software such as Drupal Quickstart (open source development environment for Drupal), Passport-Freshbooks (a Node.js OAuth Passport strategy), and New Heights (a custom jQuery plugin).
Technologies: HTML5, Drupal, MySQL, Symfony, PHP, Node.js, AngularJS, Express.js, MongoDB, MEAN Stack, JavaScript, Linux, NoSQL, Stripe API, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Quasar, REST APIs, DevOps, CSS, Git, Progressive Web Applications (PWA), Shell Scripting, Full-stack, Web Development, APIs, Architecture, Microservices, QuickBooks API, SQL, CI/CD Pipelines, HTML, REST, Software Architecture, Back-end, Cloud, Technical Architecture, Full-stack DevelopmentLead Developer and Director of Engineering
2006 - 2010Secorix, Inc.- Worked on the Critical Infrastructure Protection Self-Assessment Tool (CIP SAT), a self-assessment platform using CIP for assessing the physical security of US military bases worldwide.
- Acted as a developer to deliver the first phase of the project. Before my involvement, the project was in danger of being incomplete.
- Collaborated on the proposal, estimate, and SOW for the second phase.
- Managed the development team and led and developed the second phase on time and within budget. Added multiple assessments, import/export, themes, database refactoring, and performance refactoring.
- Built a corporate website using a tool and template that is easy for marketing to customize.
Technologies: MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, LAMP, PHP, JavaScript, Linux, HTML5, NoSQL, REST APIs, CSS, Git, Windows, Shell Scripting, Full-stack, Web Development, APIs, Architecture, SQL, HTML, Scrum, Technical Architecture, Full-stack DevelopmentTransportation Captain and Picture Car Coordinator
2003 - 2009Independent Movie Production- Worked on a variety of independent films, including The Darwin Awards, Valley of the Hearts Delight, Unflinching Triumph, and All About Evil.
- Organized a team of eight and planned logistics for production locations and company moves.
- Located antique car enthusiasts to bring their cars to set.
Technologies: LeadershipData Integration Manager
2002 - 2003Edusoft- Transformed Edusoft's data integration process. Previously, the company was selling more than production could fulfill.
- Upgraded the manual database integration process for K-12 test data.
- Cut CPU time from over five days to twelve hours and then scaled up the process for larger-sized customers.
- Hired and trained a team of four to triage and improve the process.
Technologies: Java, REST APIs, MySQL, Git, Windows, Shell Scripting, APIs, ScrumProgrammer
2001 - 2002Kenamea, Inc.- Developed automated testing environments for quality assurance.
- Conducted automated testing for continuous integration testing using Java and VB.
- Wrote a JavaScript unit-testing framework using JUnit.
Technologies: VB, Ajax, JUnit, Java, JavaScript, Linux, HTML5, REST APIs, CSS, MySQL, Git, Windows, Shell Scripting, Web Development, APIs, SQL, HTML, ScrumConsultant
1997 - 1999Cap Gemini (now Earnst and Young)- Worked for a variety of clients in the United States and Europe.
- Wrote manufacturing test software used in workstation factories worldwide.
- Recreated a survey tracking system for a medical company.
- Redesigned a distributed database for an insurance company.
Technologies: MCSE | Business Intelligence, Sybase, Java, Git, Windows, Shell Scripting, APIs, HTML