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Resume

I am a senior-level web software engineer with over 20 years of experience. I am passionate about developing purpose-driven web-based software and strongly motivated by service to others.

Edward Finkler: Web Software Engineer, Technologist and Mental Health Advocate

Contact Information

Summary

I am a senior-level web software engineer with over 20 years of experience. I am passionate about developing purpose-driven web-based software and strongly motivated by service to others. In addition to my technical expertise, I am a dedicated mental health advocate, working towards raising awareness and supporting individuals with mental illness in the tech industry.

I have been invited to speak at over 60 tech conferences around the world, including SXSWi, Adobe MAX, OSCON, All Things Open, Brooklyn Beta, Open Source Bridge, The Combine, EmpireJS, Nodevember, The Perl Conference, PyOhio, and TedXLafayette.

Expert Skills

Skill
Python Docker Flask
PostgreSQL SQLAlchemy AWS EC2
Azure JavaScript MongoDB
Ansible VueJS WordPress
Fabric Ghost Amazon RDS

Notable Projects

Group and Individual Benefits Enrollment System (Lead Architect and Developer)

Using: Heroku, Python, Flask, Celery, SQLAlchemy, PostgreSQL, VueJS, AWS Amplify Hosting, AWS S3, Redis, Ubuntu Linux

  • Architected and implemented UI components and backend services for payment and enrollment data collection
  • Migrated the system to an event-based model to eliminate daily timeouts and allow for scaling while performing responsively on a single 1GB AWS EC2 instance
  • Researched, designed, and implemented a telephony conference system that works with any phone, can recite scripts for legal disclosures, and automatically records and stores calls for auditing purposes

Geomapping Registry (Lead Architect, Developer, and DevOps)

Using: Python, Pyramid, PostgreSQL, Celery, JavaScript, Ansible, AWS EC2, Ubuntu Linux, Geoserver, AWS ALB, Elasticache, Aurora RDS for PostgreSQL, and App Runner

  • Redesigned a non-scaling custom architecture, reducing slow queries by 80% and allowing the system to scale easily without any code or DB schema changes

E-commerce Platform (Lead Architect, Developer, and DevOps)

Using: Python, Flask, SQLALchemy, PostgreSQL, Celery, Fabric, AWS EC2, AWS RDS, Ubuntu Linux

  • Architected and built an e-commerce platform that handled registration services grossing over $7.8 million in the first two years

On-demand DB Deployment System (Lead Architect, Developer, and DevOps)

Using: Neo4j, PHP, MySQL, Ansible, Fabric, JavaScript, VueJS, Bootstrap

  • Designed and implemented an on-demand deployment system for hosted Neo4j graph databases allowing customers to deploy instances immediately to AWS, Azure, Google Compute Engine, or Digital Ocean in any region

Spaz Microblogging Client (Lead Architect, Developer, and Open-source Project Maintainer)

Using: JavaScript, HTML, CSS

  • Winner, 2007 of Adobe’s “Best HTML Community Application”
  • Architected and built an open source microblogging client for Twitter, Identi.ca, and StatusNet compatible with Palm/HP webOS, Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux (https://github.com/spazproject)

Work History

Years Position Company Location
June 2023 - Present Senior Software Engineer Ziff Davis Shopping Austin, TX (remote)
Dec. 2017 - February 2023 Software Developer Delmar Software Development West Lafayette, IN
May 2015 - May 2017 CTO, Lead Developer, Head of Developer Culture Graph Story Memphis, TN (remote)
Sep 2014 - May 2015 Developer LegalServer Chicago, IL (remote)
Nov 2010 - Sep 2014 Partner, Developer Fictive Kin Brooklyn, NY (remote)
Apr 2010 - Nov 2010 PHP and JavaScript Developer HiiDef/Goodsie New York, NY (remote)
Jan 2002 - Apr 2010 Web and Security Administrator CERIAS, Purdue University West Lafayette, IN

Additional Expertise and Interests

Mental Health Advocacy

I am the Founder and Executive Director of Open Sourcing Mental Illness (https://OSMIHelp.org), a non-profit 501c3 dedicated to raising awareness and supporting those with mental illness in the tech industry.

Music and Audio Production

I have had a lifelong interest in making music and enjoy using computers as tools for artistic expression. I offer inexpensive audio mastering and podcast production to support independent artists and creators.

Visual Art and Design

I made my first fanzine when I was 13 years old and have been designing and creating visual art ever since. I have always had a strong interest in typography and graphic design, and I enjoy using computers as tools for artistic expression. More recently I've been exploring generative art and realtime visuals. I have created music videos for artists such as Raymond Watts (KMFDM, PIG) and Martin King (Test Dept, DogTablet).

Selected Open Source Work

mandrill-tester

ncs-notifications

phpsecinfo

  • funkatron/phpsecinfo
  • An easy-to-use tool delivering PHP environment security information and suggestions for improvement

Inspekt