Mike Ree, Developer in Seattle, WA, United States
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Mike Ree

Verified Expert  in Engineering

Distributed Systems Developer

Seattle, WA, United States

Toptal member since October 26, 2018

Bio

For over 15 years, Mike has offered search, analytics, real-time distributed big data processing, and custom natural language processing (NLP) solutions for over fifty Fortune 500 companies. His clients have included government agencies, airlines, banks, law firms, pharmaceutical companies, medical insurance agencies, as well as some of the biggest names in technology.

Portfolio

Allium Health, Inc
Amazon Machine Learning, Docker, AWS Glue, Amazon SageMaker, AWS CloudFormation...
MRS Enterprise Solutions LLC
Finite-state Transducers (FST), Apache Solr, Elasticsearch...
Delta Dental of Michigan
Docker, Helm, Kubernetes, OpenStack, Go, Java, Enterprise Architecture

Experience

  • Java - 17 years
  • MySQL - 17 years
  • Elasticsearch - 8 years
  • Distributed Systems - 8 years
  • Service-oriented Architecture (SOA) - 8 years
  • Parallel Computing - 8 years
  • Apache Solr - 8 years
  • Hadoop - 6 years

Availability

Full-time

Preferred Environment

Subversion (SVN), Go, Java, Git, IntelliJ IDEA, Linux, Windows, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

The most amazing...

...thing I've designed and patented was an algorithm for a conceptual search which increased sales by 25% compared to the previous experience.

Work Experience

Enterprise Architect

2023 - PRESENT
Allium Health, Inc
  • Designed infrastructure to meet Allium Health AI compute requirements along with ensuring HIPAA compliance with all decisions.
  • Utilized DevOps best practices and managed infrastructure as code using CloudFormation.
  • Locked down all environments and benchmark security against CIS AWS Foundation Benchmarks v1.4.0.
  • Performed exploratory data analysis, assisted in indicator creation, assisted in model design, implemented AWS Glue ETL pipeline, and assisted with model creation and Docker packaging for deployment.
Technologies: Amazon Machine Learning, Docker, AWS Glue, Amazon SageMaker, AWS CloudFormation, Elasticsearch, Kibana, DevOps

CEO

2015 - 2023
MRS Enterprise Solutions LLC
  • Developed a custom NLP-based query parser and suggester to process natural language queries capable of understanding complex requests with dynamic concepts such as “employees who have worked in San Francisco or LA with 5-to-7 years of tenure”.
  • Created an extensible content analysis pipeline framework with the ability to gather real-time insights and make live modifications to the analysis stream.
  • Built a custom web crawler that is capable of crawling websites, databases, file shares, SharePoint documentation, OpenText, and virtually any other content source with extension; released under PerfectingSearch.com.
  • Helped shape a company that is currently leased by two Fortune 500 companies and currently has a reseller agreement with other companies to resell MRS Software.
Technologies: Finite-state Transducers (FST), Apache Solr, Elasticsearch, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), Python, Architecture, Software Architecture, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Leadership, Distributed Systems, AWS Lambda, Docker

CTO Direct Report

2018 - 2020
Delta Dental of Michigan
  • Hired to take over the DevOps team as their new lead and oversee the migration of VMWare to Kubernetes on OpenStack on MAAS with acting authority of the CTO.
  • Configured Kubernetes as a service on top of OpenStack to ensure easy updates and versioning of our Kubernetes stack.
  • Built a B/G deployment process on Kubernetes to allow full functionality tests of deployment before going live with the ability to roll back failures. Saved DDMI multiple times from failed settings to accidental code releases causing system outages.
  • Worked with hosting, security, networking, and all software teams to create new practices around new infrastructure.
  • Assisted in the design of a new framework for rapid development of DDMI applications.
  • Built a large collection of custom dashboards in Kibana to view all of our infrastructure and applications and gain a better understanding of our performance.
  • Integrated all data from our SQL Servers, MAAS system, OpenStack, Kubernetes, and application logs, along with custom applications to add inline correlation data to power dashboards.
Technologies: Docker, Helm, Kubernetes, OpenStack, Go, Java, Enterprise Architecture

Director of Enterprise Architecture

2016 - 2018
SQAD, Inc.
  • Inherited an application that took approximately five minutes to compile a page of information and optimized the process so that it could compile over 100,000 pages in less than a minute; it also now support requests of over 100 million pages.
  • Developed a custom framework in Elastic (custom plugins), S3, EFS, custom binary files, custom-managed caching layers, and custom binary files to achieve the above results. (Note: The results took about two years with four major releases to achieve).
  • Designed all of the initial business requirements, architectural overview, and data strategy to create the first release of SQAD’s new flagship SaaS application.
  • Worked directly with the CEO, CTO, CFO, product director, and marketing director to review business ideas and strategy for release to help build a cohesive strategy for the product.
  • Focused efforts on processing analytics of over 32 terabytes of current data in real-time with plans to expand to over 150 terabytes.
  • Led a team in redesigning the core architecture to reduce network overhead and decrease the time to market—allowing for a more agile process.
  • Captured the metrics on the performance of all aspects of our infrastructure to better prioritize the optimization efforts.
Technologies: Hadoop, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Amazon EFS, Logstash, Kibana, Apache Solr, Elasticsearch, Go, Java, Architecture, Software Architecture, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Leadership, Distributed Systems, AWS Lambda, Docker

Senior Technical Architect

2014 - 2016
Perficient
  • Deployed 40+ Google Search Appliances for multiple Fortune 50 to 500 companies.
  • Designed custom analytic engines using Elastic and Solr for multiple enterprise companies.
  • Provided week-long training sessions in Solr, Elasticsearch, Nutch, Kafka, and ZooKeeper.
  • Traveled alongside Google sales representatives as a technical expert—teaching others how to configure searches for large corporate deployments.
  • Designed a custom knowledge base search experience by creating NLP-based questions and answers using Solr, GSA, and MRS Enterprise Solutions NLP solutions.
Technologies: Apache ZooKeeper, Apache Kafka, Nutch, Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Google Search Appliance, Hadoop, Elasticsearch, Java, Apache Solr, Architecture, Software Architecture, Leadership, Distributed Systems, Docker

Senior Search Architect

2013 - 2013
Quintiles
  • Designed a search system to handle multibillion rows of data.
  • Created a custom forked version of Solr to handle new complex requirements not capable in Solr, such as performing a relational analysis of data at query time.
  • Developed a solution that outperforms all of the existing in-house solutions.
  • Led a team of three Solr developers in an effort to create solutions.
  • Founded Lucid Works, the company behind Solr, which used my source code to demonstrate the capabilities of extending Solr for time-series data.
Technologies: MySQL, Hadoop, Apache Solr, Java, Architecture, Software Architecture, Leadership, Distributed Systems

Senior Search Expert

2012 - 2013
OpenSource Connections
  • Designed and prototyped Solr solutions that were capable of performing 300 updates per second with 400 queries per second on a quickly evolving data set for Cisco.
  • Performed a batch text analysis of patents for the US Patent Trademark Office in the design of a custom engine/syntax parser/full patent highlighter; used Hadoop.
  • Assisted in the design of the infrastructure to support a Chinese patent search for the US Patent Trademark Office.
  • Worked for Eric Pugh (co-author of Apache Solr 3 Enterprise Search Server).
Technologies: MySQL, Cassandra, Hadoop, Apache Solr, Java, Architecture, Software Architecture, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Leadership, Distributed Systems, AWS Lambda, Docker

Solutions Architect

2012 - 2012
Capital One Financial
  • Led the architectural design of new projects and initiatives.
  • Designed ShareBuilder.com’s first project utilizing SOA concepts.
  • Led the architecture in the efforts to improve the UI performance—decreased the page load times by 50%.
  • Worked with the enterprise architecture team to maximize reuse and reduce developer expenses.
  • Independently oversaw multiple development teams.
Technologies: Stored Procedure, MySQL, Java, C#, JavaScript, Angular, .NET, Architecture, Software Architecture, Leadership, Distributed Systems

Lead Senior Search Developer

2010 - 2012
Corbis
  • Developed a patent with Corbis as the designer of their “More Like This” search algorithm: “A Proximity-Based Method For Determining Concept Relevance” - COR.P035.
  • Led teams of up to five developers in the successful release of multiple products in C# and Java.
  • Received my “Apache Solr/Lucene Certified Developer” certification.
  • Attended Lucene Revolution 2011 along with Lucene Training and in 2012 along with Hadoop Training.
  • Committed a patch to Solr for a span query highlighter.
Technologies: Amazon Elastic MapReduce (EMR), Hadoop, Service-oriented Architecture (SOA), MySQL, Nutch, Apache Solr, Java, .NET, Python, Architecture, Software Architecture, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Leadership, Distributed Systems, AWS Lambda, Docker

Architect

2009 - 2010
Health Global Connect
  • Led a startup of seven developers in the release of a social networking site aimed at assisting people with terminal illnesses, a place where they could contact each other and seek moral support.
  • Designed a multi-hierarchical taxonomy that organized the content according to its users; it was sourced by scraping multiple medical feeds.
  • Successfully deployed multiple releases to production.
Technologies: JavaScript, Zend Framework, PHP, MySQL, Apache, Linux, Architecture, Software Architecture, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Leadership, Distributed Systems, AWS Lambda

Developer

2008 - 2009
T-Mobile
  • Led a contract project for the business analysis team to analyze outage information for the T-Mobile network.
  • Recreated existing Crystal reports on demand through an internal portal.
  • Created real-time generated graphs and dashboards for use by the BA team to analyze uptime information for all systems in T-Mobile's network.
Technologies: JavaScript, Apache, PDF, MySQL, PHP, Architecture, Software Architecture, Leadership, Distributed Systems

Consultant

2004 - 2008
OlyTech Design
  • Designed eCommerce websites for multiple local clients from start to finish.
  • Developed a large CMS with custom architecture for a business that cared for more than 20 autistic children located in more than six locations.
  • Managed and maintained compliance, internal messaging for employees, company notices, timesheets, and documentation repository for the above project.
Technologies: JavaScript, Linux, Perl, Apache, Java, MySQL, PHP, Leadership, Distributed Systems, AWS Lambda

Creator

2001 - 2004
OlyGamer
  • Ran the largest counter-strike gaming network in existence at the time.
  • Hosted multiple gaming servers using the University of Washington's and OGI School of Science and Engineering network to achieve the lowest ping of any server at the time.
  • Designed websites, forums, and game statistics sites for users to review the in-game statistics; receiving traffic of over 1 million visitors a month.
  • Submitted a patch to an in-game AMX-MOD for counter-strike admin tools.
Technologies: Python, CSS, HTML, MySQL, PHP, Java, Leadership, AWS Lambda

Experience

A Proximity-based Method for Determining Concept Relevance

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20140089324?oq=A+Proximity-Based+Method+For+Determining+Concept+Relevance
While at Corbis, I designed and fully implemented a conceptual search algorithm that utilized our existing taxonomy, along with clickstream data, to create a weighted model to find conceptually similar images. Our new implementation was over 3x as successful of converting customers to purchase than our previous and the company patented the technology.

US Patent Trademark Office | BRS Syntax Parser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXiRYfFGHJE
After being hired to rescue a failing project, I designed a new BRS syntax parser for Solr that required a custom forked version of Solr to implement. I then submitted a patch back to Solr for the Posting's Highlighter to allow the highlighting of the complex search requirements of BRS.

The original developer presented on the work I was contracted to do. When he makes a reference to "we," he is actually referring to the work and solutions that I created.

Attended "Advanced Ultimate Go" at GopherCon 2018

https://www.gophercon.com/
I attended Bill Kenedy's class on "Advanced Ultimate Go" at the 2018 GopherCon conference, which focused on memory management, CPU caches, compiler optimizations, and microservice optimization. I learned new skills to optimize SQAD's Serverless Go code to increase the performance of custom analytics.

Provisioning Online Games: A Traffic Analysis of a Busy Counter-Strike Server

https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1064&context=compsci_fac
I ran the largest Counter-Strike gaming network, which was comprised of three physical servers running more than 10 gaming servers of 32 players each, hosting up to 320 players at a time and having over 1 million players a month.

Francis Chang was a player on one of my earlier servers and asked to use my network to analyze the performance of network traffic. I worked with Francis to deploy a server in his environment and provided a heavy user base to analyze.

Certifications

FEBRUARY 2025 - FEBRUARY 2028

AWS Certified Machine Learning – Specialty

Amazon Web Services

DECEMBER 2023 - DECEMBER 2026

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner

AWS

SEPTEMBER 2012 - PRESENT

Apache Solr/Lucene Certified Developer

CompTIA

JANUARY 2008 - PRESENT

ZCE Zend Certified Engineer in PHP 5

Zend

JANUARY 2006 - PRESENT

Microsoft Certified Professional 70-290

Microsoft

MAY 2005 - PRESENT

Security+

CompTIA

JANUARY 2004 - PRESENT

Network+

CompTIA

JANUARY 2003 - PRESENT

A+

CompTIA

Skills

Libraries/APIs

Apache Lucene, AngularUI, jQuery, Facebook API, Android API, Node.js

Tools

Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS), IntelliJ IDEA, Apache Solr, Amazon Elastic MapReduce (EMR), Apache Nutch, Angular CLI, Subversion (SVN), Git, Apache ZooKeeper, Kibana, Apache, Logstash, AWS IAM, Helm, AWS Glue, Amazon SageMaker, AWS CloudFormation

Languages

Java, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, C#, Go, Stored Procedure, PHP, Perl, Python

Frameworks

Hadoop, Angular, Spring Boot, Spring, .NET, Zend Framework, Apache Spark, Javalin

Paradigms

Concurrent Programming, Microservices Architecture, Distributed Computing, Parallel Computing, Service-oriented Architecture (SOA), Microservices, DevOps

Platforms

Amazon EC2, Amazon Web Services (AWS), AWS Lambda, Docker, Linux, Windows, Android, Apache Kafka, Apache Pig, Kubernetes, OpenStack

Storage

NoSQL, AWS Elastic File System, Elasticsearch, Relational Databases, MySQL, Cassandra, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Amazon EFS, Apache Hive

Other

Cloud, Distributed Systems, Big Data Architecture, Data Architecture, Architecture, Software Architecture, Leadership, GraphDB, Security, RESTful Microservices, Finite-state Transducers (FST), Google Search Appliance, Nutch, PDF, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Apache Cassandra, Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), Machine Learning, Amazon Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Analysis, Data Analytics, Enterprise Architecture, Memory Management, IP Networks

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