Summary

Problem solver, not just a coder.

Works successfully with teams and customers due to good communication skills. Delivers practical and secure solutions that meet customer requests. Develops web applications in a Linux environment. Develops numerical applications and designs / implements databases. Strong programming skills with a thorough understanding of OO design. Familiar with front-end web technologies and network protocols. Builds large applications in multiple languages.

Technical and Specialized Skills

Databases: MySQL, Sybase
Languages: bash, C, Javascript, Perl, and Python
Operating Systems: Linux, OS X, Solaris
Web Platforms: Apache, Zope
Version Control: CVS, Subversion, git

Experience

Space Telescope Science Institute / IT Division
Senior Software Developer 2001-2014

Supported Space Telescope Institute and astronomical community through web application development, new products implementation in Zope, the Python based content management system, and adding user-requested enhancements to Institute web site.

  • Supported Institute website by debugging and patching problems with Zope Python internals, a complex and poorly documented code base.
  • Handled user requested changes to website content by writing HTML, CSS, and Javascript, meeting user needs.
  • Developed application that collected conflict of interest reports and stored them in MySQL database for administrative review, delivering application bug free, with no users reporting problems after delivery.
  • Wrote performance appraisal reporting application in Java with team members, requiring encoding complex business logic about who could view and edit appraisals and appraisal state transitions as Java classes.
  • Reduced migration time from Zope to Confluence by transferring content of one Wiki to another by writing a parser that converted data format.
  • Added telescope performance metrics and associated metadata to website through Perl program, allowing astronomers to view telescope behavior over time.
  • Solved problem caused by reduction in Institute IP address range by modifying Zope address handling to support subnet masking.
  • Generated photo gallery of Institute employees organized by department on a nightly basis, produced by a Perl program from information stored in LDAP and Active Directory.
  • Developed web-based phone directory application that searched Active Directory for employees, becoming one of the most widely used pages on site.
  • Kept astronomers informed of current research by writing web-scraping script that reported when Institute astronomers had uploaded preprints to Arxiv.
  • Maintained status of website links by writing link-checking application, which parsed Apache log files and curatorsÂ’ webpage. Double-checked errors, emailing curators about them.
  • Supported and enhanced conference registration tool, resolving problems during Institute conferences.
  • Performed code reviews, assessing other employees' software for security vulnerabilities.

Space Telescope Science Institute / Scientific Software Group
Software Developer

Wrote applications and libraries supporting data files and formats used by astronomical community to store and process observation data.

  • Added calibration files to database by assisting with designing and writing Calibration Database system, including C code.
  • Initialized user environment for using astronomical software by writing bash scripts and installing new software versions.
  • Wrote statistics package for astronomers, converting a statistician's code into production quality code. Package allowed astronomers to analyze data that was incomplete because of telescope performance limits.
  • Designed and wrote synthetic photometry (synphot) package, a large software package widely used by astronomers to plan proposed telescope observations.

Education

University of Maryland, College Park
Bachelor of Science in Physics and Astronomy

Other Formats

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