Steven Zhao, Developer in Toronto, ON, Canada
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Steven Zhao

Verified Expert  in Engineering

Software Developer

Location
Toronto, ON, Canada
Toptal Member Since
June 8, 2021

Steven has a strong technical vision and startup background through his experience as the CTO of a startup, Dataraction. He has led a team of 10 to build a live streaming web platform with Clubhouse and Zoom features with over 1,500 signups, 100 views per live event, and $5,000 in revenue per month. He also has experience working at a huge conglomerate through his 8-month experience interning at Google. His strongest skill is full-stack web development.

Portfolio

Dataraction
React, Node.js, Kubernetes, Agora, Loopback, Socket.IO, Java, JavaScript...
Google
Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, RPC
Google
Objective-C, iOS, JavaScript

Experience

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

Java, React, Node.js

The most amazing...

...project I have developed is a SaaS live-streaming, Zoom-like web application with over 1,500 signups, 100 viewers per event, and $5,000 in revenue per month.

Work Experience

Chief Technology Officer

2020 - 2021
Dataraction
  • Hired, coached, and led 10 developers using Agile management to build a SaaS and stand-alone live streaming platform with React (later migrated to Next.js) front end with JEST for testing.
  • Led team to build a fully functional Postgres and MongoDB database on Loopback 4 (Node.js framework with GraphQL) and real-time comments, polls, and reactions with WebSocket.
  • Brought in over 1,500 sign-ups and 100 live viewers per event (still growing) and succeeded in helping the company get in revenue through a client contract worth $5,000 per month.
  • Deployed the back end on Kubernetes cluster containerized with Docker and later migrated to OpenShift to better log user activity for analytics.
Technologies: React, Node.js, Kubernetes, Agora, Loopback, Socket.IO, Java, JavaScript, GraphQL, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), IBM Cloud, OpenShift, Next.js, CSS, HTML, Jest, Redux, Google Cloud, Software Architecture, REST, REST APIs

Software Engineer Intern

2020 - 2020
Google
  • Developed a feature on Google Travel involving complex modeling in considering user behavior, impact on revenue, and creative logging to maximize feature.
  • Utilized a variety of complex web frameworks, RPCs (remote procedural call), and services using Java and JavaScript. The project is under NDA.
  • Completed the entire software engineering development process; wrote a comprehensive design doc, wrote various tests, went through design reviews/discussions.
Technologies: Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, RPC

Software Engineering Intern

2019 - 2020
Google
  • Developed and rolled out a button for Gmail iOS which visible in iOS App.
  • Implemented an entirely new interaction handler for iPad Gmail iOS using native Objective C with JavaScript and set the foundation for future development.
  • Made complex use of object-oriented programming as it needed parallel communication with numerous views and objects.
  • Wrote a comprehensive design doc, wrote unit tests and integration tests, went through design reviews/discussions and QA review.
Technologies: Objective-C, iOS, JavaScript

Digital Mall Platform

Recreated an in-store mall shopping experience through an online platform by combining React, Express.js, and Node.js to create real-time updates and modifications for an interactive “Reddit” style web forum.

It interacts with a complex denormalized NoSQL Firebase database to map store inventory based on location, size, color, brand, and more.

I conducted face-to-face market research with store managers and employees in 11 stores in the downtown Toronto area.

Gaming Community Tool App

I developed an iOS and Android app connected to Firebase to create a social media experience with real-time messaging, group sessions, and a combination of features from Discord and Tinder.

This was a personal project.

eCommerce Shop

A fully integrated eCommerce website that uses React as front end with Commerce.js as back-end management and Stripe API for payment. Products are grouped and displayed in a user-friendly interface and can be added to the cart for checkout. The authentication system is present and has two roles: Admin and User.

Languages

CSS, HTML, Java, JavaScript, Dart, GraphQL, TypeScript, Objective-C, C, C++, PHP

Frameworks

Express.js, Next.js, Bootstrap, Material UI, Redux, Loopback, Flutter, Jest

Libraries/APIs

React, Node.js, Socket.IO, Chai, Stripe API, REST APIs

Tools

Git, Agora, Mocha

Platforms

Firebase, Heroku, Kubernetes, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), OpenShift, Amazon Web Services (AWS), iOS

Storage

MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Google Cloud

Other

Computer Science, Front-end, IBM Cloud, Full-stack, Streaming, WebSockets, RPC, Entrepreneurship, Commerce, Software Architecture

Paradigms

E2E Testing, REST

2017 - 2021

Bachelor's Degree (in Progress) in Computer Engineering

University of Toronto - Toronto, CA

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