About

I design and build webapps, and the infrastructure to operate them.

I got my start building traditional Java webapps and I’ve worked my way down and back up the stack from there (from datacenters to pixel pushing).

These days, I’m usually found working on JAMstacks, REST APIs, React, or cloud orchestration.

Personal Background

I was raised in a family of entertainers: my childhood was filled with puppetry, robots, magic, and performing. I’ve been on-stage for as long as I can remember, and was doing my own magic and ventriloquism shows before I could drive.

I graduated from high school when I was 13, and turned my attention towards other creative endeavors. I taught myself programming and started working full-time in the tech industry when I was 17, just in time for the dot-com bubble collapse. After that, I turned to another lifelong passion: movie making. I spent a few years working on movie productions before returning to college to finish a degree in Computer Science. Along the way, I earned my Eagle Scout, hiked across the Grand Canyon (and to the top of Mount Shasta), and married my Jr. Highschool sweetheart.

My interests are broad and my experiences are diverse, but through it all the common factor has always been a passion for creating things that impress. Whether it’s performing in front of an audience, or writing beautiful and efficient software, I strive to create work that I can be proud of.

Work Experience

Software Engineer, Trust & Safety

2022 - 2023
YouTube • Mountain View, CA

React Java JavaScript AWS SES/SNS/SQS GitLab RabbitMQ MongoDB InfluxDB Kubernetes Docker

Staff Software Engineer

2020 - 2022
Synopsys, Inc. • Mountain View, CA

React Java JavaScript AWS SES/SNS/SQS GitLab RabbitMQ MongoDB InfluxDB Kubernetes Docker

Senior Frontend Engineer

2019 - 2020
Tinfoil Security • Mountain View, CA

React Java JavaScript AWS SES/SNS/SQS GitLab RabbitMQ MongoDB InfluxDB Kubernetes Docker

Senior Full-Stack Web Developer

2017 - 2019

Designed and implemented email microservice to facilitate delivery of outgoing email from all other internal services, including APIs (Java), admin web interface (JavaScript/React), message tracking, and delivery statistics. Built on AWS, and handled hundreds of thousands of messages per day.

React Java JavaScript AWS SES/SNS/SQS GitLab RabbitMQ MongoDB InfluxDB Kubernetes Docker

Principal Web Developer/System Administrator

2015 - 2018

Retrouvaille is a non-profit organization. When I became involved, the organization was depending on a large custom PHP app running on a single LAMP server with no one to maintain it. I’ve implemented source control, scheduled backups, staging & development environments, deployment automation, issue tracking, support ticketing, and other developer tools.

PHP Linux MySQL ColdFusion Bitbucket Ansible OpenStack

Smart TV Web Engineer

2016 - 2017
Plex, Inc. • Remote/Los Gatos, CA

Responsible for coordination and device support related to “10-foot UI” client web app. Managed relationships between developers, partners, and internal/external QA. Developed and debugged on many different TVs and set-top boxes. Oversaw release planning, coordination, and execution.

JavaScript (ES6) Babel WebPack React Marionette ESLint Jest Jenkins

Full-time Hobby Project

2015 - 2016

Designed, built, deployed, and operated a user identity management web service. Java REST API backend. Client SDK for Java, JavaScript, and PHP. Management interface built as a static site using the service for identity/authentication and allowed customizable JWT management. Data stored in Firebase; also used Iron.io (cache/queue/workers), MailGun, Twilio.

Java JavaScript Knockout RequireJS Rollup JWT Firebase Iron.io Twilio MailGun DigitalOcean PHP

Lead Web Engineer

2013 - 2015
VSee Lab, Inc. • Remote

Provided the technical direction to design and implement HIPAA compliant multitenant telemedicine portal. Mentored 5 junior developers, coordinated with Project Manager, Sys Admin, and design team.

JavaScript Bootstrap Knockout RequireJS Mocha MongoDB PostgreSQL Firebase PubNub MDToolbox AWS git

Director of IT

2010 - 2013
VSee Lab, Inc. • Remote

Oversaw growth from a single dedicated server to 2 racks, including purchasing, setup, installation, and maintenance of servers, network, storage, software, and VMs.

Dell Cisco Fortigate Drobo xen ESXi JIRA Crucible Python Fabric Tomcat

Principal Web Engineer

2008 - 2010
VSee Lab, Inc. • Remote

Responsible for primary webapp including account management and administration interface.

Java Groovy Grails Python PHP HTML CSS Bootstrap MySQL

Webmaster/Administrator

2005 - 2007
Graphics Research Lab, University of California, Santa Cruz

Installed and maintained internal and external webapps for the group including wiki, blogs, and WebDAV servers. Oversaw group finances including purchasing, reimbursements, and account reconciliations.

Developer/Founder

2006 - 2008
Sharade, LLC. • Santa Cruz, CA

  • Designed and implemented large scale, public facing web application using Java, JavaScript, Freemarker, XSLT, Amazon Web Services.
  • Designed and implemented Facebook Application built on the same controllers as main website.
  • Built various other interfaces to backend including RSS, iCal, and REST API.

Java JavaScript jQuery ExtJS AJAX AWS S3 RSS iCal REST

Internet Architect

2000 - 2002
Sun Microsystems • Palo Alto, CA

Designed and implemented various custom web applications using Java Servlets to replace antiquated paper-based business processes and support internal operations. Interviewed and hired additional staff.

Java EJB MySQL HTML CSS JavaScript

Speaking Engagements

Lead Presenter

2013 - Present
Retrouvaille International

Lead seminars teaching communication skills and conflict management techniques to couples.

Stop Abusing Bootstrap

Oct 2014
HTML5 Developer Conference • Moscone Center, San Francisco

Advanced Firebase: Querying, Indexing, and Security Rules

Oct 2014
HTML5 Developer Conference • Moscone Center, San Francisco

Education

University of California, Santa Cruz

2006
Bachelor of Arts

Computer Science: Graphics, Vision, and Computational Photography