ABOUT ME
Passionate IT/Software Professional well versed in technical fields such as Full Stack Web Application Development, Linux Administration, Backend Development, Frontend Development, IT Services, Cloud Infrastructure, Automation, and Cybersecurity.
Always hungry to learn new technical skills, I thrived in college, thrived at working in multiple software positions during college, thrived at communicating technical concepts to non-technical colleagues, and thrived at managing all of the technical operations required for a data-driven, software-based startup company in Minneapolis, MN.
MY SKILLS
PORTFOLIO
The following tabs showcase the accomplishments I have achieved and the projects I have worked on. Before that, I would like to express to you the thread that is woven through each one of those sections. My career path, starting in college, was already planned out for me before I even started. Many of the projects, internships, and even classes I took were lined up in constructive order so that I could learn a skill and then apply that skill in the real world, almost immediately. I learned web development, then someone asked me to build a website. I learned Python, then someone asked me to code in Python. I learned Linux, then I realized building a Linux server was required of me. Many skills that I learned not just opened doors of opportunity for me, but were soon required of me from projects that were presented before me. It's like how in a video game the developers would strategically place the items you need to continue forward. It has blown me away how the story of my career has played out so far.
If you haven't picked it up yet, I'm talking about divine providence, the will of God. If it sounds silly to you, I'm sorry, but I am wholeheartedly convinced of the loving guidance and providential plan of Jesus Christ. I would be remiss if I didn't give credit to my Lord Jesus who is, as genuinely as I can say this, my savior, divine door-opener, talent-blesser, opportunity-ordainer, fear-deliverer, peace-giver, heart-protector, and chain-breaker.
When I started college at North Central University I didn't know what I would end up doing in a career, and I had great anxiety about getting an internship for the high-level internship class. You can probably think back to a time when you had anxiety about the perceived-as-challenging unknown. I had no idea what God had in store for me. Fast-forward a bit and I completed multiple internships and professional projects that were directly related to my career field of software development, all while still in college. These opportunities were literally handed to me, free for the taking, by God.
I'm sorry if you don't like God (He doesn't think respectively of you), but I can't just gloss over the chief cornerstone and significant driving force of my career. It was not of my own luck or persuasion or skill that I had many tremendous opportunities to work on these projects while still in college. It was God.
Data Analytics Web Application
I was put in charge of building out the entire software stack for a data analytics web application called DISTILL IQ. This project was by far the most complex project I've ever worked on. It was a multi-year project that involved constant iteration and improvement. The project's goal was to integrate DISTILL's quality data analytics expertise into a web application platform from which users could generate their own insights. As I built this platform, well into technical viability, I gained valuable skills working with a diverse array of technologies involving Python data computations, JavaScript frontend interactions, Google Cloud Functions, and Linux backend management.
Python Data Collection
For over a year I have gradually built up the backend supporting systems needed to enable DISTILL IQ. This system involves many Python scripts that automatically download data from a collection of public APIs on a consistent, scheduled basis based on data release frequency. Public data sources can vary in data format, schedule, and structure. DISTILL aims to make more sense of this mess of data and provide that value to users.
Linux Server Administration
Much of my work with DISTILL is only made possible by the internal Linux servers supporting the development process and enabling collaboration. I built these servers in the cloud and configured them with standard practice administration, networking, and cybersecurity technologies. The server is the core architecture that enables professional software development projects to exist and thrive.
Business Website
Supporting the core business of DISTILL, I was tasked with rebuilding their website. This website is professional and very business-oriented. It is designed to house DISTILL's brand, showcase information, and facilitate potential client conversions. This project helped me learn more about web development and domain name systems.
Church Website
I followed the recommendation of a friend of mine and joined Crowne Pointe Church, a church in Richfield, MN. They really needed a website upgrade and I was able to develop that for them with my recently attained experience in web development. Much like the DISTILL website, it is designed to house the brand, showcase information, and facilitate conversions. I learned a lot of web development best practices while doing this project.
Python Web Interface
One summer I had the opportunity to work with the founder of The Knowledge Box, a non-profit organization seeking to bring technology and education to offline people groups. I worked on several projects during this internship such as upgrading the UI of the Knowledge Box and developing an offline web interface that improves efficiency for storage drive duplication operations using technologies such as Linux, Python, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The development platform for these projects was a cluster of Raspberry Pis because "the Knowledge Box" is a Raspberry Pi product designed to provide technology and education to those who are less off technologically.
Weather App
This is a mini project involving a custom React web app that dynamically updates weather information. I wanted to build a mini project and challenge myself to build something with React that I would actually want to use myself. I'm actively learning React so this project was a good stepping stone in my journey of learning how to integrate React into a tech stack. The web app is fully functional and genuinely useful. It queries the weather information based on ZIP code. You can check out the weather app and get the weather information for your own ZIP code here.
Home Lab
I love doing side projects involving computer science. One summer I built my own Network Attached Storage (NAS) using consumer PC parts and I installed TrueNAS Scale on it. The NAS enables me to back up my data and also host Virtual Machines for experimentation and further learning involving server infrastructure and Linux services. Currently, I have Ubuntu Server VMs on it and I host Nextcloud on it, which is a private cloud storage software.
Raspberry Pi Projects
I have done many projects involving the Raspberry Pi, a microcomputer that uses Linux to educate about computer science. Using the Raspberry Pi, I host services such as Uptime Kuma, Home Assistant, AdGuard, Network UPS Tools, and BirdNET-Pi. Also, I made a Discord chatbot, in Python, that is hosted on the Raspberry Pi. It takes in commands and uses some APIs to give an intelligible response to the proper command input from the user. Lastly, my senior project in college involved using a Raspberry Pi as a Network Intrusion Detection System. It was a fun project to build.
Unify Squares Android App
In college, I took an Android app development course and the final project was to fully build out an Android app and officially publish it onto the Google Play Store. The app I built is called Unify Squares and it is a mobile puzzle game that is about unifying the squares by their color. The squares are randomly generated and your goal is to change the color of each square group into one single color at the end in as few moves as possible. You can view the page I made to showcase it or visit the Google Play Store page to download it.
Python MySQL Frontend
Also in college, I took a database administration course and the final project was a group project to create a fully-fledged database system. We divided the group into subgroups to complete the larger project more efficiently. The bulk of what I worked on was the frontend application which we used Python to implement. My favorite part of this front-end application is that it is genuinely useful if I were to work on a MySQL database again. You enter the information such as domain/IP, username, password, and database name and you are presented with a functional interface that can help you view and manage the database with ease.
Soldering and Circuits
This is very unrelated to my career in software, but I love soldering and electrical engineering. A core aspect of me is that I love learning and at one point I decided to start a small project. I wanted to modify a tiny RC Cybertruck toy to be solar-powered. This required a ton of learning on my part because I had to learn how to solder and I had to grasp the basics of electrical engineering. I think I can confidently say that I know the basics of electrical engineering and I know the basics of how circuits work. I want to continue learning more about electrical engineering because it is intriguing to me and I see it as a greatly complementary field of study to computer science. What excites me about it is that I have learned that I've only scratched the surface of learning electrical engineering.
Showcased below are a bunch of soldering/electrical engineering projects I worked on. These projects include the solar-powered Cybertruck toy, as mentioned earlier, a mini tesla coil, a digital clock, a radio, a digital piano, Christmas lights, a fully-functioning oscilloscope, a 1-bit counter, a temperature/humidity sensor, and a 555 timer square wave circuit.
In High School, I received the A Honor Roll award, the Salutatorian award, and the Perfect Attendance award. In February of 2020, I received the Student of the Month award from North Central University's College of Business and Technology. In April of 2022, I was inducted into North Central University's Sigma Beta Delta (ΣΒΔ) chapter alongside my friend Garret. I was on the Dean's List 4 times during my college career. In April of 2023, I received the Outstanding Computer Science Graduate award from North Central University's College of Business and Technology. Finally, in May of 2023, I graduated from North Central University with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, also alongside my friend Garret.
Web Apps
Explore my collection of self-hosted custom-built web apps and tools! Each one is open source with the source code accessible on GitHub.
CONTACT
CONTACT INFO
Feel free to reach out to me!
