The University of British Columbia

Development Manager at Zillow Group

Continuing to lead the Showcase Agent Experience development team with our latest and greatest product initiatives.

Zillow

Senior Development Manager

Founded a new dev team at Zillow to build out the Listing Showcase Agent Experience as part of the ShowingTime+ brand. Listing Showcase launched in June 2023.

Development Manager

I manage the team responsible for the Bridge API and Bridge Agreement Management (BAM) products.

Member of the data team on the Bridge Interactive brand (formerly known as Retsly):
- built an import & transformation system for county parcel, assessments and transaction data; owned our team's public records import process
- managed team's Elasticsearch clusters
- wrote a geocoding microservice
- implemented ingestion pipelines for internal data to be shared via the Bridge API
- won ZG's Zuperstar award (Q2 2018) for the core value "Own It"
- Spring 2019 Irvine Hack Week winning team: People's Choice Award (Tools) for the Ranger 505 Retro Deployment Console

Main technologies: Node.js, EC2, S3, IAM, Route 53, Elasticsearch, PostgreSQL, Redis, Kibana, PM2, Gitlab

Senior Software Developer

Know where your team is and communicate with them in any situation. CommandWear started with first responders to build a simple and affordable platform that integrates smartphones, wearables and tablets to improve situational awareness.

At CommandWear, I led the development team in its pursuit of building world class mobile and wearable solutions for public safety and security.

- led system development of the CommandWear platform
- worked with Ruby on Rails, Ember.js, Cordova (Android & iOS), C (Pebble), and a bit of Node.js
- actively recruited and grew our development team from a single developer to a half-dozen team members
- collaborated with partners and customers to improve our product
- ensured that deliverables met specifications & delivered $500k enterprise project for a major customer

CommandWear Systems Inc.

Lead Developer

At Seeker, I was part of an amazing team working on a project to provide better data for care providers, boost a patient's engagement in their own health care, and improve health outcomes.  Despite having a compelling product, Seeker closed its doors in April 2014.

- Built out a web application using Scala and the Play Framework, including front-end work with Bootstrap and JQuery
- Helped develop our mobile app using Java on Android KitKat (4.4), using Google's Volley library for networking
- Implemented behavior-driven development (BDD) scenarios with Cucumber
- Created a utility using AngularJS to automate some repetitive development tasks
- Collaborated with team members to help overcome challenges, and engaged in pair programming
- Fostered a positive dialog over technical concerns between remote development teams

Seeker Solutions

StrongLoop is an API Tier for connecting Enterprise data to devices and browsers. It includes an open, mobile backend-as-a-service, API development framework, operational console, and certified distribution of Node.js with supported modules.

In July 2013, StrongLoop acquired the assets of NodeFly.  Work continued on with the NodeFly team, which was rebranded as StrongOps - see entry below.

StrongLoop, Inc.

Senior Developer

My work at NodeFly was focused on providing near real-time monitoring for Node.js applications.

- Created native C++ module to gather internal event loop statistics from Node.js
- Rebuilt RESTful API with authentication and CORS support, using Express and Connect frameworks
- Built a client module with Request in order to abstract REST calls for user applications
- Developed methods to aggregate filesystem and network request metrics in Node.js core
- Worked with MySQL for data storage and Redis for managing user sessions
- Tested, built, and packaged NPMs on OS X, Windows, Linux, FreeBSD

Nodefly

Strangeloop provided web performance optimization (WPO) solutions to global ecommerce websites and enterprise applications. The Strangeloop Site Optimizer used an advanced set of acceleration treatments to simplify and streamline web pages in realtime.

- Developed a W3C-style traffic logger for metrics and diagnostics
- Implemented an offline upgrade feature for security-focused customers
- Supported field engineers by debugging customer-facing issues

Strangeloop Networks

Software Developer

Aegis is a leading provider of software for mobile phones to prevent distracted driving. FleetSafer enables employers to actively and passively enforce cell phone usage policies to reduce crashes, risk and liability.

- Managed installation and configuration of SCM tools to unify work item and source code tracking
- Migrated mobile development code repository to standardize on IBM's Rational Team Concert
- Provided mentorship and leadership to other developers on my team
- Designed a cross-platform (Blackberry/Android) logging framework in Java to improve debugging
- Modified the data transport protocol (TCP/IP and SMS) and tested the effects on mobile device battery life
- Ensured that unit tests were in place to validate software capabilities and requirements

Aegis Mobility Inc.

Mobility Team Lead

In my role as a technical advisor for Dasz Designs, I provided suggestions and feedback on hardware and software concepts, including assistance with some aspects of prototype development.

Dasz Designs

Advisor

Pulse Energy Management Software communicates with a large number of building automation and metering systems to collect, archive, analyze and communicate energy information. The system helps building owners and operators to quickly identify and resolve inefficient energy use, helps occupants learn how their buildings perform and ultimately helps to save money and reduce emissions.  My role there was primarily focused on data import and hardware device connectivity.

- Helped develop a Java data acquisition and processing application for Apache Tomcat & Derby
- Added performance monitoring and metrics using Java Simon, JMX, and Munin
- Maintained Python scripts for Siemens ION WebReach system integration
- Integrated with multiple protocols and file formats: Modbus, BACnet, DBF, XML, CSV
- Configured and provisioned Linux images for deployment on remote devices
- Performed field installations and management of data connectivity appliances

Pulse Energy

Connectivity Software Engineer

In this earlier period at Strangeloop, my role on the core Site Optimizer team was focused on system configuration management and device metrics/statistics.

- Designed an internal license format, including API and end-user license generation tools
- Planned and implemented a command line interface for advanced device configuration
- Added packet capture capabilities to facilitate reproduction of bugs found in the field
- Wrote cross-platform C++ code to gather and persist statistical data on the AS1000's performance
- Built a configuration management CGI, using JSON for data transfer

Linux Software Developer

VTech is one of the world's largest manufacturer of cordless telephones and a leading supplier of electronic learning products. It also provides highly sought-after contract manufacturing services.

- Adapted an internal testing application for a replacement VOIP product line
- Refactored an existing C/C++ code base for a new low-cost product
- Analyzed hardware schematics to determine the changes needed for related software systems
- Developed, tested and supported software from prototype through factory release
- Trained as an ISO9001 auditor to assist in internal company auditing
- Documented software technical specifications and wrote an SR&ED brief

VTech

Intermediate ATE Engineer

Frontier Geosciences Inc. offers comprehensive geophysical consulting and survey services to the mineral exploration, civil engineering, geotechnical engineering, groundwater and environmental communities on a worldwide basis. In my position as their sole software developer, I worked mainly on rapid prototyping of custom systems. This required a multidisciplinary approach using skills in software, hardware systems (COTS and custom electrical & electronics), and debugging during field trials.

- Programmed a multichannel video monitoring and logging application in Visual C++
- Created an over-water survey application combining DGPS and seismic refraction 
- Designed a tool in LabView for processing induced polarization survey data
- Developed a monitoring system for sonar-based sewer inspections
- Interfaced software with accelerometers, ADCs, counters, strain gauges and GPS
- Conducted field trials and operational support for several prototypes

Frontier Geosciences

Systems Developer

TELOS Technology became part of UTStarcom and later Star Solutions.  The company was focused on their Sonata MSC server, a (then) next-generation network softswitch-based mobile switching center (MSC) for 2G and 3G CDMA, GSM/UMTS, and GSM1x solutions.  I was a member of the Call Processing team.

- Developed application support for MF/R1 and MFC/R2 signaling protocols
- Performed system integration tests with multiple interfaces: ISDN PRI, ISUP, CDMA, GSM
- Provided development support for customer integration tests
- Designed a test harness to evaluate numerous SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) products
- Integrated a third-party SIP module in C++, including black-box unit tests
- Created a Perl/CGI front-end to an existing bug-tracking database
- Wrote an automated test framework in C for a proprietary SCADA card

TELOS Technology

Software Engineer

Stormix produced Storm Linux, an OS distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux.  They enhanced Debian's robust, open source, distribution by making it easier to install, configure, administer, and update.

- updated the Storm Linux sound configuration system
- wrote an FTP server configuration utility for ProFTPD as part of the Strike server

Andrew Martens