Michael Walker
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Developer
Los Angeles, CA, United States
Toptal member since November 16, 2021
Michael is a builder who has owned the entire front-end services at AWS. He loves working with go-to-market teams and UX teams collaborating on creative products. Michael is passionate about solving problems for clients and providing robust solutions to delight customers. He specializes in full-stack applications as well as ML and IoT development.
Portfolio
Experience
Availability
Preferred Environment
Slack, WebStorm, Chrome, Safari
The most amazing...
...thing I've done is lead the development of a real-time financial app using complex data visualization tools to 1.5 million users.
Work Experience
Cloud Engineer
Deckers Brands
- Orchestrated the successful migration of Deckers' infrastructure to AWS, enhancing system performance and scalability while ensuring minimal disruption to ongoing operations.
- Handled the optimization of cloud resources. Evaluated cost-saving measures and optimized cloud resource usage, significantly reducing operational costs and improving resource allocation.
- Managed effective communication with stakeholders and vendors to align project goals, address concerns, and ensure timely completion of the migration with high satisfaction rates.
Full-stack React/Node.js Developer
Yahoo!
- Handled front-end code development in React, TypeScript, and various frameworks.
- Helped roll out the whole new Yahoo refresh using best-in-class accessibility patterns.
- Led the seamless migration of Yahoo’s infrastructure to the cloud, optimizing performance and reducing operational costs, resulting in improved scalability and reliability.
Web Scraping Developer (via Toptal)
Coframe Inc.
- Designed and documented the platform's technical approach, utilizing AWS Lambda and Selenium for robust web scraping capabilities, enabling dynamic content analysis across diverse websites.
- Engineered a seamless integration with Amazon EventBridge, automating web scraping tasks to identify and evaluate A/B testing strategies, enhancing operational efficiency and scalability.
- Spearheaded the deployment strategy, incorporating device and regional emulation techniques to simulate various user environments, ensuring comprehensive A/B test detection.
- Devised and documented a systematic deployment process across multiple devices and regions, leveraging AWS infrastructure to optimize the platform's global reach and performance.
- Pioneered the project's current architecture, establishing a scalable framework using AWS Lambda for serverless execution and Selenium for advanced web scraping, setting a new standard in A/B test detection.
Lead Developer (via Toptal)
NDAX CANADA INC.
- Spearheaded the development of a comprehensive Next.js React website for NDAX, enhancing user experience and streamlining content management through integration with a headless CMS (Strapi).
- Implemented Azure Pipelines for continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD), significantly improving development workflow and deployment efficiency.
- Utilized Vercel for analytics and deployments, achieving real-time monitoring and seamless deployment processes that bolstered website performance and reliability.
- Optimized website performance and global accessibility through strategic Cloudflare deployments and advanced image optimization techniques, ensuring fast load times and high-quality visuals.
- Led the localization efforts for the NDAX platform, tailoring content and user interfaces for French and US markets to expand global reach and accommodate diverse user bases.
AWS Architect (via Toptal)
Toptal
- Facilitated knowledge transfer sessions with Toptal's in-house development team, providing in-depth training on AWS best practices and cloud native solutions to foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation within the organization.
- Collaborated with Toptal product and content teams to streamline the content update process, enabling faster publication of new educational videos and resources and enhancing the platform's value to users navigating life-changing illnesses.
- Worked on behalf of Toptal on reviewing a cloud architecture specific to AWS.
AWS Well-architected Review Consultant (via Toptal)
Mediflix, Inc.
- Conducted a comprehensive Well-Architected Review for Mediflix, a digital health video-streaming platform focused on providing crucial education on chronic diseases, ensuring best practices in cloud architecture and operational excellence.
- Evaluated Mediflix's AWS infrastructure against the five pillars of the AWS Well-Architected Framework, identifying key areas for optimization in reliability, performance efficiency, and cost management.
- Recommended strategic improvements to Mediflix's content delivery network configuration, significantly reducing latency and improving video streaming quality for users worldwide, particularly in remote areas with limited internet access.
- Led a cross-functional team in the implementation of robust security measures, including advanced encryption and identity management, to safeguard sensitive health data and ensure compliance with HIPAA regulations.
AWS Textract Developer (via Toptal)
Ricoh Corporation
- Developed an intelligent document processing (IDP) pipeline using AWS Textract and Amazon Comprehend, enhancing data extraction and processing efficiency for over 1.4 million customers globally.
- Implemented an ETL pipeline for training classification models in document processing, significantly improving OCR and image recognition accuracy in document classification.
- Provided technical leadership in an agile environment, ensuring the IDP solution met high standards for performance and security, and successfully delivered a high-quality MVP.
Cloud Engineering Manager
FAQx, Inc.
- Developed a front-end application using React, TypeScript, and Amplify, which greatly improved the performance and user experience of the application.
- Utilized Next.js to build the application, which allowed for server-side rendering of the code. This improved the loading times and overall application performance, leading to a better user experience.
- Proposed the use of server-side rendering that also resulted in improved SEO for the application, as the search engines were able to crawl better and index the content.
- Implemented various features in the application, such as authentication and authorization, real-time data updates, and integrations with third-party APIs, which enhanced the functionality and usability of the application.
- Developed the front end of the application using React, TypeScript, Amplify, and Next.js, resulting in a high-performing and user-friendly application that met the needs of the end users and the business.
Head of Cloud Engineering
Catalyst UX
- Developed an HR interviewing application for CatalystUX that was built on top of AWS. This application streamlines the interview process and improves efficiency for HR departments.
- Used AWS services such as DynamoDB, API Gateway, and Lambda to create a scalable and reliable platform for the application. This helped to ensure a seamless user experience for both HR departments and candidates.
- Integrated Amazon Chime into the application, allowing for real-time video interviews and improving the communication between HR departments and candidates.
- Used the AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK) to automate the deployment and management of the application, reducing the time and effort required to maintain the platform.
- Saved the company thousands of dollars in hosting expenses by leveraging the cost-effective pricing model of Amazon DynamoDB, API Gateway, and Lambda.
- Streamlined the interview process and improved communication through Amazon Chime to reduce the time required for HR departments to conduct interviews and make hiring decisions.
- Managed and deployed updates to the application easily through the use of AWS services. This allowed for quicker turnaround times for new features and improvements, resulting in a more agile development process.
Cloud Engineering Lead
WorkTorch Inc
- Developed a React and TypeScript front-end application for WorkToprch, which was hosted on AWS Amplify. This application provided a seamless user experience and improved the company's online presence.
- Ensured that every merged commit was mirrored and deployed smoothly on AWS Amplify by using Gitlab and CodeCommit. This helped to streamline the development process and reduce the risk of errors.
- Reduced the cost of hosting the application significantly by using AWS Amplify. Saved the company thousands of dollars in hosting expenses by leveraging the cost-effective pricing model of Amazon S3 and Cloudfront.
- Managed and deployed updates to the application easily through the use of AWS Amplify. This allowed for quicker turnaround times for new features and improvements, resulting in a more agile development process.
- Reduced the load time of the application and improve its overall performance. The efficiency of the application was greatly enhanced by using AWS Amplify by leveraging the fast and reliable performance of Amazon S3 and Cloudfront,.
Enterprise Cloud Engineering Lead
Coupang - Main
- Rewrote the seller hub for Coupang, a large Korean eCommerce company, using Vue and TypeScript.
- Worked closely with the rest of the development team to ensure that the seller hub was fully integrated with the Coupang platform and that all necessary data was accurately displayed and handled.
- Improved the user experience for sellers considerably with the new seller hub that included numerous enhancements and new features, such as improved navigation, a modern design, and real-time data updates.
- Contributed to the overall success of Coupang as a leading eCommerce platform in Korea due to the successful rewrite of the seller hub using Vue and TypeScript, which resulted in a significant increase in seller satisfaction.
Principal Developer
Porsche Digital
- Wrote high-quality and testable applications that support rapid delivery via continuous integration, delivery, and automated deployments.
- Found creative and innovative approaches to complex problems while working, learning, and collaborating in a cross-functional agile team.
- Worked closely with product owners and the design team to define feature requirements and deliver the product that supports the business and improves the customer experience.
- Coordinated teams of developers responsible for building new and supporting existing websites.
- Handled the design, architecture, development, code review, and testing of key applications.
- Helped establish the local technical and architectural setup.
Senior Full-stack Engineer
Redwood Consulting
- Worked with clients ranging from portfolio websites for general contractors to WordPress widgets for film compression companies.
- Contributed to solutions-based, outcome-oriented projects with a highly skilled team, fluent in multiplatform software and various programming environments, and passionate about crafting and delivering high-quality products that meet customer needs.
- Used technologies like React, Angular 2, Node.js, Express.js, MySQL, and PostgreSQL.
Senior Full-stack Developer
Walmart Labs
- Built the display ads platform for Walmart.com in React, Redux, and TypeScript.
- Improved the organization's frameworks performance, mWeb, security, SPA, and NPM, to list a couple.
- Converted the Walmart ads-vendor marketplace to a more SPA with Material Design.
Senior Application Developer (Contract)
- Maintained the existing views and upgraded them from AngularJS to TypeScript and Angular.
- Integrated the front-end UI with the Java back end of this legacy application and doubled the number of unit tests for the product.
- Enhanced user experience, increasing user traffic on the application by nine times.
Experience
CrazyRestaurantSearch
https://github.com/MichaelWalker-git/CrazyRestaurantSearchFor each of the top 15 search results returned from the APIs, the app displays the following information:
• The business name and address
• Yelp rating (up to five stars) and overall review
• Google rating (up to five stars) and total rating
• An image of the business from Yelp
• A photo of the company from Google
• The business website URL as a hyperlink
Text Extraction Pipeline and Front-end Application
https://github.com/MichaelWalker-git/TextractFunProjectTo automate this process, Volkswagen brand Porsche developed an intelligent Sign Inspection (iSI) solution on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
This solution is powered by the Digital Production Platform (DPP), a cloud-based industrial platform built by the Volkswagen Group and AWS to develop scalable use cases across the company and transform its manufacturing and logistics processes.
The DPP will also serve as the foundation for the Industrial Cloud—an open platform, community, and marketplace of digital solutions available to the automotive manufacturing industry.
I was actively involved in this AWS project, and the 2021 case study available at https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/volkswagen-group-case-study/ inspired me to develop my own approach.
eCommerce Proof of Concept
https://docusign.d2reekcdlsvo0q.amplifyapp.com/I built the back end using GraphQL and hosted it on AWS.
Investment Web App
http://timebox.fiFor the back end, I employed Rust and AWS to ensure a high-performance and scalable solution. With my in-depth understanding of back-end development, I designed an architecture that allowed the application to handle a high volume of traffic and ensure that all trades were executed with minimal latency.
As an excellent communicator and collaborator, I worked effectively with designers, product managers, and other engineers in a fast-paced environment, juggling multiple priorities to meet all project deadlines. As the project lead, I conducted code reviews and provided constructive feedback to the team members, ensuring the overall application quality was of the highest standard.
Education
Master's Degree in Computer Science
Georgia Tech - Atlanta, GA, USA
Certifications
AWS Certified Database – Specialty
Amazon Web Services
AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty
Amazon Web Services
AWS Certified Security – Specialty
Amazon Web Services
AWS Certified Machine Learning Specialist
Amazon Web Services
AWS Solutions Architect Professional
Amazon Web Services
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator
Amazon Web Services
AWS Certified Developer
Amazon Web Services
AWS Certified Solutions Architect
Amazon Web Services
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
Amazon Web Services
Skills
Libraries/APIs
React, AWS Amplify, Node.js, REST APIs, Vue, D3.js, jQuery, Web Audio, Google Speech API, Pandas, WebGL, Three.js, FFmpeg, API Development, Socket.IO, Mapbox API, AmplifyJS, React Redux, Google API, Backbone.js, Stripe, Web Audio API, Google Speech-to-Text API, Yelp API, Google Calendar API, Handlebars, WebDriver, Puppeteer, Beautiful Soup
Tools
Amazon Textract, Amazon CloudFront CDN, RabbitMQ, Webpack, AWS CloudFormation, GitHub, Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS), Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS), Git, Logging, Kibana, Grafana, Jenkins, Microsoft Power Apps, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Google Sheets, Excel 2016, MQTT, ChatGPT, Amazon SageMaker, AWS Step Functions, Amazon Cognito, GitLab, GitLab CI/CD, Terraform, Zapier, Amazon Connect, Slack, WebStorm, AWS AppSync, Sequelize, AWS IAM
Languages
JavaScript, GraphQL, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, HTML5, Python, Sass, PHP, C#, Less, Python 3, SQL, TypeScript 3, Go, Ruby, GLSL
Frameworks
Angular, Jest, Next.js, Serverless Framework, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Vanilla JS, Material UI, Laravel, NestJS, Flask, Cypress, React Native, Tailwind CSS, .NET, Chrome, Ruby on Rails 4, AngularJS, Django, Redux, Selenium, Express.js
Paradigms
Responsive Web Design (RWD), REST, API Architecture, Microservices Architecture, Microservices, Agile, Unit Testing, Enterprise Application Architecture, Serverless Architecture, Lambda Architecture, UI Design, DevOps, ETL, MEAN Stack, Mobile Development, Agile Project Management, Database Design, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Web UX Design
Platforms
AWS Lambda, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon EC2, Mixpanel, Kubernetes, Safari, iOS, Contentful, Microsoft, Netlify, WordPress, Vercel, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Firebase, Docker, Apache Kafka, Shopify, Azure, Salesforce, AWS IoT
Storage
Amazon S3 (AWS S3), MongoDB, JSON, Graph Databases, Amazon Aurora, Databases, Data Pipelines, PostgreSQL, Amazon DynamoDB, MySQL
Industry Expertise
Web Design, Cybersecurity, Telecommunications, Project Management
Other
Paid Advertising, Front-end, Full-stack, Software Architecture, APIs, Back-end, Front-end Architecture, Architecture, CTO, Back-end Development, Cloud, API Integration, AWS Cloud Architecture, Enterprise Architecture, Vendor Management, System Architecture Design, Serverless, Lambda Functions, Web Development, User Interface (UI), Cloud Architecture, API Gateways, AWS Certified Solution Architect, Platform as a Service (PaaS), Solution Architecture, Front-end Development, Full-stack Development, Amazon Kinesis, Video Streaming, Cloud Platforms, DOM, Data Scraping, Scraping, Web Scraping, Speech Recognition, Speech to Text, WebKit, RESTful Web Services, Project Management & Work Tracking Tools, Web Applications, Cryptography, Data Visualization, Dashboards, Axios, Software Troubleshooting, App Support, GitOps, Widgets, SEO Tools, Excel Add-ins, Business Services, QA Automation, Microsoft Office, Office 365, Headless Commerce, 3D Animation, Leadership, Software Design, 3D, RESTful Services, Integration, Human Capital Management, Artificial Intelligence (AI), MERN Stack, Amazon RDS, Design, WiFi Integration, Augmented Reality (AR), Technical Consulting, Software Implementation, Donations, IT Management, Team Leadership, Storybook, CSS3 Animation, Data Architecture, Internet of Things (IoT), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), DNS, Project Scoping, Mentorship, Visualization, OCR, Amazon Comprehend, Algorithms, Monorepos, Application State Management, Supervised Machine Learning, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Scalability, PDF Scraping, Responsive Design, Amazon API Gateway, CI/CD Pipelines, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Technical Leadership, Styled-components, Web UX, Digital Health, CRM APIs, Live Chat, Webhooks, Azure Service Bus, CornerStone, Workday, Virtual Reality (VR), Content Management Systems (CMS), Retrieval-augmented Generation (RAG), Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), Large Language Models (LLMs), Software, User Interaction, Machine Learning, DocumentDB, Amazon Chime, Localization, Internationalization, Data Analytics, Cloud Security, Cloudflare, Automated UI Testing, Amazon EventBridge, A/B Testing, Documentation, API Documentation, Web Security, Large-scale Projects
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