code craftsman

Jump to: Selected Projects, Education, Community Involvement, Buzzwords

Selected Projects

SQrbL
A reusable Ruby library to help manage complex database conversion projects by leveraging the expressive power of Ruby to reduce repetitive SQL. More information at: sqrbl.rubyforge.org
My role: Creator and primary developer (as of Sep 2009).
(2009)
Employer: raSANTIAGO & Associates
Technologies Used: Ruby, Ruby Gems, SQL
Donate Your Fat
A web application to track participants’ progress toward exercise and fitness goals. Users recruit their friends to sponsor them (similar to, e.g., a walkathon), with the money going to charity. (Project still under development as of this writing.)
My role: Designed and wrote most of the model logic. Co-wrote a RESTful XML API to support the Flex-based front end.
(2009)
Client: Generations Community Wellness (as employee of raSANTIAGO & Associates)
Technologies Used: Ruby on Rails, RSpec, XML, MySQL
DORIS
A custom recordkeeping and workflow web application to manage the process of reviewing and approving classroom accommodations for students with disabilities.
My role: Maintenance programmer: new features (including workflow design) and bug fixes.
(2007-2009)
Client: Columbia University, Office of Disability Services (as employee of Zocalo Software)
Technologies Used: Ruby on Rails, acts_as_state_machine plugin, MySQL.
STAR: Student Tutor Achievement Records
A custom web app to track and report tutor attendance and student achievement for a reading tutoring program in New York City.
My role: Took over the application after the departure of the original developer. Completed initial development, fixing significant performance issues in inherited code. Developed a custom reporting library to support generation and output of reports as HTML and CSV.
(2007-2009)
Client: Reading Excellence and Discovery (READ) Foundation (as employee of Zocalo Software)
Technologies Used: Ruby on Rails, Hobo, MySQL
Timr
Web application for tracking and reporting time.
My role: Creator and sole user. (No available apps supported my style of time tracking, so I wrote my own.)
(2007-present)
Technologies Used: Ruby on Rails, Hobo, MySQL
ELM
A custom web application to assist in reconciling and reporting budget data from several disconnected sources.
My role: Maintenance programmer: new features and bug fixes.
(2007-2009)
Client: Expeditionary Learning (as employee of Zocalo Software)
Technologies Used: Ruby on Rails
LEO
A custom web-based CMS and lesson planner for teachers to use to create and schedule curriculum, specifically designed to support Expeditionary Learning’s pedagogy.
My role: Maintenance programmer: new features and bug fixes.
(2007-2009)
Client: Expeditionary Learning (as employee of Zocalo Software)
Technologies Used: Ruby on Rails
Outcomes Tracker (version 3)
Custom application to track pre- and post-test client outcome evaluation scores for social service agencies in Placer County, CA and analyze program impact over time.
My role: Sole developer. Rewrote the application for the web to enable use of the software by teams in Africa as well as the United States.
(2006-2007)
Client: Placer Institute for Comprehensive Community Outcomes
Technologies Used: Ruby on Rails, ZiYa Charts plugin (helps generate Flash charts with animation), MySQL
Brigance Database
A database for recording assessment data for children with autism and charting behavioral development over time.
My role: Sole developer.
(2004-2005)
Employer: Teaching Autistic Children, Inc (In-house project)
Technologies Used: MS Access, MS Excel (controlled from Access via OLE automation)
Outcomes Tracker (version 2)
Custom application to track pre- and post-test client outcome evaluation scores for social service agencies in Placer County, CA and analyze program impact over time.
My role: Sole developer. Ported user interface and business logic to Visual Basic 6. Added built-in charting, statistics, and filtering features, which removed the need for agencies to spend over $1,000 to purchase licenses for Access and SPSS.
(2003-2004)
Client: Placer Institute for Comprehensive Community Outcomes
Technologies Used: Visual Basic 6, ComponentOne Studio for ActiveX (a custom controls library used for charting), MS Access.
Premium Pro
A database application used to manage premium billing for small medical insurers.
My role: Maintenance developer: new features and bug fixes.
(2001-2002)
Employer: Personable PC Solutions, Inc. (Project licenses and customization were sold by PPCS.)
Technologies Used: MS Access, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
Eligibility Manager
Application to read healthcare eligibility data from a variety of insurers (each with their own custom data format) and preprocess it before outputting it into EZ-CAP (a benefits administration package for medical offices).
My role: Maintenance developer: per-client customization, new features and bug fixes.
(2001-2002; returned for a major feature addition in May-July 2003)
Employer: Personable PC Solutions, Inc. (Project licenses and customization were sold by PPCS.)
Technologies Used: MS Access, VBA, ANSI X12
Training Calendar
A scheduling application to keep track of (and detect scheduling conflicts for) training resources, student attendance, and CLE credit information for attorneys in attendance.
My role: Sole developer.
(1999-2001)
Employer: HellerEhrman (in-house project)
Technologies Used: MS Access, VBA
Branch Closure Database
Custom database to manage the production of letters notifying customers of nearby branch closures.
My role: Sole developer.
(1999)
Employer: Wells Fargo Bank
Technologies Used: MS Access, VBA, MS Word (controlled from Access via OLE automation)
Outcomes Tracker (version 1)
Custom application to track pre- and post-test client outcome evaluation scores for social service agencies in Placer County, CA and analyze program impact over time.
My role: Sole developer. Created database in Access 97 to track evaluations, match them up by client, and export data for statistical analysis in SPSS.
(1998-1999)
Client: Placer Institute for Comprehensive Community Outcomes
Technologies Used: MS Access, VBA

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Education

Post-Baccalaureate Education
Bachelor of Science, Portland State University, 2007
Associate of Science, Portland Community College, 2005

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Community Involvement

Portland Ruby Brigade
(Professional Association)
2006 – present
Code’n’Splode
(Professional Association)
2007 – present
Code’n’Splode is an informal Portland group formed in 2007 to provide peer support to women in technology.
Winner, Iron Geek Ruby
(Event)
July 2008
(Portland, OR)
Entered a live coding competition at FOSCON 2008. (Challenge was to develop a complete web-enabled recipe database in 20 minutes.) With partner Brian Artiaco, won first place.
Presenter, Innotech Portland
(Event)
April 2008
With Brian Artiaco, gave a one-hour “Introduction to Ruby on Rails” presentation. (Presentation and code were put together in two days; the original presenter cancelled on short notice and the conference organizers contacted the Portland Ruby Brigade for volunteers.)
Oregon Game Project Challenge
(Volunteer)
April – May 2008
(Portland, OR)
Coached a team of four Rosemary Anderson High School students in OGPC 1.0.
Bradley-Angle House
(Volunteer)
2001 – 2006
(Portland, OR)
Troubleshooting, Windows installation and website updates.
Portland Access User Group
(Professional Association)
2001 – 2005
Member 2001-2004, occasional presenter.
Sisters of the Road Cafe
(Volunteer)
2002 – 2004
(Portland, OR)
Website updates and training.
Partnership for Safety and Justice
(Volunteer)
2002 – 2007
(Portland, OR)
Proofreading, Windows installation, hardware troubleshooting, Access assistance and website updates.
[PSJ was formerly the Western Prison Project.]

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Buzzwords