I was brought into Happy Grasshopper to assist in migrating their existing code base into a more modern framework.

• Migrated legacy CakePHP 2 code to Laravel
• Optimized code to for sending emails to increase capacity 1000 times, using the same existing infrastructure.
• Created a jobs queue for processes using external API calls so they would no longer fail if the external service was not available. Upon any failure the jobs reschedules itself to process again.
• Secured the production environment and implemented the use of OpenVPN
• Reduced number of config files to maintain for each workflow environment, allowing for easier changes to configs. Previously had 27 sets of configs to maintain.
• Introduced the development team to local development environments using Vagrant and allowing the use of XDebug within their IDEs.
• Assisted remote dev team in optimizing their code by assisting in implementing Traits and View Presenters.

I was hired by Beachfront Media as a Senior Software Engineer to get their Beachfront Reach video syndication project back on schedule as they had a large client waiting for the service. After 3 months of being with Beachfront, I was offered the position of VP of Engineering managing a team of 12 developers.

While at Beachfront I accomplished:

• Single handedly converted existing frontend PHP code over weekend to integrate a modern PHP MVC Framework and then introducing the benefits to the dev team.
• Implemented usage of Composer and Bower for dependency management.
• Introduced Agile Methodology, Scrum and Sprints to project manager.
• Introduced modern IDEs to dev teams using proper debugging tools and procedure.
• Moved existing JS to use unified Kendo UI JS Framework and taught usage of framework to dev team.
• Implemented usage of Unit Testing and Continuous Integration (Jenkins).
• Scaled out AWS infrastructure to handle billions of requests daily.
• Took on Java developer role when unable to acquire local talent.
• Key leader/architect as well as contributor to all projects (PHP, iOS, Android, Java, BrightScript).
• Created deployment tools to facilitate application deployment, history logs and allows easy and immediate rollbacks by any authenticated manager.
• Encouraged continuing education with developers with lunchtime presentations, rewards for highest grades in online classes etc.
• Architected Machine Learning Application using Kafka, Spark, and ElasticSearch to predict highest revenue ads.
• Introduced Ad Targeting data store with less than 1ms response time by introducing Aerospike.
• Created custom Java ELT processes and implementation of Airflow to author workflows as directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) of tasks.
• Automated and standardized server configurations using Puppet.
• Created local development environments using Vagrant to allow developers more insight to the complete solution and facilitate debugging of applications.
• Setup infrastructure monitoring using Nagios including writing custom plugins.

Florida Tech Pros was my company for B2B contract work.

• Created custom PHP CMS using PHP MVC Framework to migrate over 10,000 static documents to CMS with searchable content for the Hillsborough County School Board. Taught current school board employees usage of modern development tools and flows.
• Coded PHP application using MVC Framework to allow court officers to be scheduled as witnesses for court dates with reminders being sent out through SMS, email or site notifications.
  I also worked on the clients other properties slowly migrating them towards more modern structures based on Modernizing Legacy Applications In PHP.
• Created school website in PHP with admin area for publishing lunch menus, student activities, school news as well as a secured system to allow parent to view video feeds of their children in class.
• Created multilingual online retail and marketing website for a skin care line with advanced parallax effects custom coded in JavaScript. Site was mirrored in USA and China. http://www.brand.dermasensa.com/en/home/?scene=products
• Wrote C++ application to allow the tracking of sanitation vehicles using RFID to track containers and report serviced customers for customer service and billing.

Managed the integrations of RedFlagDeals.com and YP.com data after the acquisition of RedFlagDeals by Yellow Pages.

• Developed SSO solution between RedFlagDeals and YP.com users.
• Integrated YP.com business data into RedFlagDeals using RESTFul APIs (business hours, business descriptions etc.)
• Integrated RedFlagDeals coupons and other marketing data into YP.com using RESTful APIs.

Lead Architect and developer for Canada’s largest deal site RedFlagDeals.com. Ranked in the top 100 traffic sites for Canada by Alexa. (LAMP, Sphinx, Memcache, AWS, Perl, C++).

• Single handedly created PriceCanada.com. A price comparison website importing and scraping hundreds of retailer data daily.
• Migrated RedFlagDeals.com from ExpressionEngine to custom PHP MVC framework to remedy constant scaling issues.
• Migrated bare metal infrastructure to an elastic cloud solution using RightScale over AWS to allow for instant scaling from 100 instances to over 1000 instances to handle holiday traffic.
• Created RedFlagDeals iOS App.
• Created DailyDeals, a GroupOn type product for Canada.

Conceptis is the leader in the creation of on-line medical communities as well as medical education through the Internet, specializing in the field of cardiology. I am responsible for all aspects of technology from the network, servers, databases and security, including participating in the design and implementation of our products.

We work in a SUN/NT environment with our applications using Oracle8i/Intermedia as a back end. I currently supervise a staff of 15 and am the applications architect and lead software developer for our Clinical Trial Central project, an on-line clinical trial management tool.

• Migrated first version of TheHeart.Org from Lotus Notes to Oracle and PL/SQL-C.
• Migrated TheHeart.org to Java.
• Created our Clinical Trial Central project, a PHP based on-line clinical trial management tool.

E-Design was a pioneer of the early World Wide Web. I started a web development company with one other associate. We created many on-line tools for a variety of different businesses from on-line dating agencies to the production of on-line newspapers.

We grew the business to a staff of 20 when it was sold to Quebecor Multimedia. At that time it also included an ISP/hosting service under the name Quebec.Net.

My main responsibility at Groupe Quebecor was to create Quebecor’s WAN to offer Internet services. I maintain the Sun Sparc 10s and administer the system in whole. (Postmaster, hostmaster, webmaster, gophermaster etc.)

I was responsible for setting up the TCP/IP network from scratch as well as the services needed to run the network (Sendmail, BIND, httpd, gopherd, qi, etc.). I also develop utilities to aid in the production of WWW pages from our daily newspapers and CGI’s to better access these services.

Other duties include evaluating projects submitted by our affiliates, offering technical support for these sites and teaching the other members of the technological team how to maintain and benefit from Quebecor’s WAN.

I was offered a six-month contract at Le Journal to implement and train the technical staff in the latest systems being used for desktop publishing.

My main duties revolved around the CTEXT classified system. However, I often aided in other environments as well, teaching the production team shortcuts in pagination, developing many utilities in Pascal and C to reduce production time, troubleshooting the servers, imagers, and network.

I evaluated new software and implemented it. I also taught the technical staff how to access resources on the Internet and other on-line services. I aided other consultants by creating scripting additions for their AppleScripts, explaining in detail the Macintosh toolbox.

I produced both advertising and editorial pages for North-Americas largest francophone daily newspaper, Le Journal de Montréal.

Shortly after, I became part of the technical team that managed and maintained the systems used, including Macs, Sun Sparc 10 workstations, Micor 486s running OS/2 and Windows, Autologic’s APS system, and the Novell Network. This included finding and testing out new software packages, writing and developing utilities to aid in the production of the newspaper, installing and optimizing existing software, as well as many other tasks. I also managed the CTEXT classified ad system.

I wrote software for the Mac automating the layout of pages, reducing by 10x the time it would take to layout certain pages. I also wrote software to replace placeholder images with high-resolution images allowing easier manipulation of pages on Desktop workstations and to mirror content between sites.

While I was there I automated the creation of an online web edition of The Journal de Montreal, the first daily French newspaper on the web.

I started off at The Downtowner (weekly newspaper) as a part-time photographer. Shortly after, I took over the position of Art Director.

My duties included the preparation and creation of all advertising material and editorial layout, on a Macintosh computer system as well as manual paste-up and repro on a stat-cam. I oversaw and trained the position of Assistant Art Director and controlled the consumption of all materials required by the art department.

I also managed the local network, as well as, a CRM database that I created, keeping track of customer histories and sales performances.

Maintaining both the Mac and PC computers were also part of my duties.