I solve problems and build things.
I'm a full stack Javascript and Python dev with AWS and GIS expertise.
I've built hospitals, battled disease outbreaks, taught physics, and designed and installed solar PV systems.
Since moving into tech in 2011, I've architected, written, tested, released, debugged, and project managed software, and I've directed the quality assurance and release team for a 100+ member software organization.
Most recently, I was a lead software developer and team lead at a renewable energy startup, where I architected and built out our APIs, AWS infrastructure, and GIS applications, among many other things.
Here's my story ↓
University of Southern California I joined USC straight out of high school to study Civil Engineering. I took a few programming courses on the side, and mildly regretted not choosing Computer Science as my major. I found I deeply enjoyed any extracurriculars involving building things with my hands, and got pretty good at metalworking and welding as a result. After a few summer internships I found I didn't love the options Civil Engineering was giving me, so after graduation I headed to Tanzania as a Peace Corps Volunteer.
Peace Corps I lived in Tanzania for two years and three months, teaching physics and mathematics to high schoolers at a remote campus on the shores of Lake Victoria. I didn't fully escape my engineering education however, and coordinated a few construction projects including water supply for the dormitories and rehabilitation of some teacher housing.
Doctors Without Borders - South Sudan After the Peace Corps, I joined Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières), and spent 10 months in South Sudan as a Technical Logistician at a remote hospital. I've never had as challenging or rewarding of a job in my life, and I learned an incredible amount while being responsible for a huge range of both technical and managerial roles. I spent the last month as part of an outbreak response team, investigating and treating victims of a visceral leishmaniasis (Kala Azar) outbreak.
Doctors Without Borders - Haiti After a devastating earthquake hit Haiti in early 2010, I joined Doctors Without Borders' emergency response, this time focusing on the construction and management side of things. For the first month, I helped build and run a medical clinic in one of the largest tent encampments in Port-au-Prince. I then transitioned to coordinating the construction of a replacement 120 bed emergency obstetrics hospital. I spent the last 6 months of my 13 month stay building and operating cholera treatment centers, as we transitioned to fighting the outbreak.
Sungevity After spending most of my 20's out of the country, I was ready to stay in one place and find a more traditional line of work. My international experiences had introduced me to various forms of renewable energy, and I decided to join the booming residential solar industry. I joined Sungevity as an entry level solar designer, but quickly transferred to the software team, utilizing my management, organization, and learn as I go skills to climb to the position of Director of Quality Assurance within 4 years. After trying out management for a year, I decided I like writing code too much to stop being an individual contributor, and moved to the DevOps team, where I remained until Sungevity unfortunately went bankrupt.
Catalyze I joined Catalyze as the second employee, brought on to build out the software platform from scratch. Leveraging what I learned at Sungevity and my knack for figuring things out on the fly, I stood up our AWS infrastructure, databases, and Python APIs. I then dove into Javascript and built front end GIS applications for displaying crucial prospecting and site data for our sales and design teams. I also took the lead in designing our scrum and release processes, and helped hire and build out the highest functioning software team I've ever had the joy of working with.
After deciding to move on from Catalyze, I've taken a few months off to do some much needed house projects and explore a little more of Colorado. Now I'm looking for the next team to call home. I'm especially interested in climate tech and renewable energy, but I'd consider any organization working to make the world a better place.