Summary
Principal software engineer with 25 years experience in full-lifecycle software development, from gathering requirements through implementation.
Broad expertise in all tiers of J2EE systems. Extensive background in Java and JavaScript based UI-design with comprehensive portfolio. Excellent design and communication skills. Favor Agile engineering methodologies.
I have long been an advocate of and participant in open source projects. My most recent contributions can been seen on my Github account (www.github.com/howardabrams).
Engineering Skills
- Programming Languages— Java (J2EE), Clojure, Scala, Groovy and C
- Scripting Languages— JavaScript, Node.js, Ruby, Python, Perl and Unix Shell
- Java Technologies— Servlets, Spring, JSP, JDBC, EJB, Struts, Freemarker, Swing, JavaBeans, JavaMail, JAX and JDOM
- Web Technologies— Grails, JavaScript, jQuery, AngularJS, Web Services (SOAP, REST), Flex, XML, XSLT, HTML, JSP and CSS Stylesheets
- Databases— SQL, MongoDB, MySQL, Postgresql, Informix, Oracle and ORM Tools, like Hibernate and iBatis
- Operating Systems— Linux and multiple flavors of Unix and Mac OS X
- Development Tools— Git, Subversion, Perforce, Clearcase, Emacs, Eclipse, Unit Testing (JUnit and Mockito), Maven, Ant and Jenkins
Work Experience
| Workday | April 2013 to Present |
|---|---|
| Pleasanton, California | Senior Cloud Engineer |
Building a private cloud for their SaaS Product
Crafted a continuous deployment strategy of OpenStack with-in high-security data centers. Wrote API to encapulate cloud-related business logic.
[ Python, OpenStack, Chef, JavaScript ]
Building a monitoring and logging solution for OpenStack
Using Elasticsearch, Nagios and other tools, worked to create a private cloud health monitoring station.
[ Ruby, OpenStack, Elasticsearch, Logstash, Chef ]
| Gilt Groupe | July 2012 to April 2013 |
|---|---|
| New York City, New York | Senior Software Engineer |
Enhanced both front-end and back-end web services
Expanded enterprise e-commerce portal to handle customer product returns and exchanges.
[ Scala, Java, JavaScript, jQuery ]
| Huawei's Innovation Center | November 2010 to June 2012 |
|---|---|
| Santa Clara, California | Engineering Architect |
Project lead and architect of the user experience to the our PaaS cloud product.
Created the architecture (based on Node.js), data models, use cases (UML), and training for a remote team in China. See my website for details (howardabrams.com/resume/huawei).
[ Cloud Foundry, JavaScript, Node.js, MongoDB, Redis, UML ]
- Made UML class diagrams for use cases and data model
- Drew UI Mockups
- Created project frameworks and communication
- Developed build process for JavaScript projects
- Created a documentation generation tool
Project lead to build an SMB SaaS Framework on top of internal IaaS cloud product.
Managed partner companies and contractors for delivering the mobile application. Integrated the FuzzyToast JavaScript Framework (an open source project that I started).
[ Java, JavaScript, Guice, MongoDB ]
| iovation, Inc. | July 2009 to October 2010 |
|---|---|
| Portland, Oregon | Senior Software Engineer |
Project lead for expanding company web application interface from gathering customer input to feature implementation.
[ Java, Spring, JSP, jQuery, AJAX, Oracle ]
- Migrate JSP pages to dynamic AJAX-oriented application
- Enhance localization support, including multi-time zone synchronization
- Liason between engineering, customer support and product development
Led project to automate user interface and integration testing.
[ Groovy, Selenium ]
| Joule Labs | December 2008 to July 2009 |
|---|---|
| San Jose, California | Director of Engineering |
Created online portal for gathering energy usage and analyzing data.
Built for an international electronics manufacturer to generate energy analysis reports for the Carbon Disclosure Project.
[ Grails, Groovy, GSP, AJAX, jQuery, MySQL ]
- Designed UI mockups
- Created data model (Initial UML but implemented in GORM
- Developed architecture and framework
- Wrote interactive JavaScript widgets
- Kept close customer feedback loop with continuous deployments
| Cordys, Inc. | October 2007 to December 2008 |
|---|---|
| San Jose, California | Senior Software Engineer |
Created the user interface for H&R Block's Ask for Tax Advice portal.
The initial prototype, built in JavaScript, can be found on my website.
[ JavaScript, YahooUI, AJAX ]
Created portal repository for storing company-specific software components.
[ Groovy, Grails, GSP, MySQL, Javascript ]
- Database stored scripts, documentation and other supporting files.
- Repository supporting versioning, searching, etc.
- See my website for details (howardabrams.com/resume/cordys).
| uXcomm, Inc. | September 2004 to October 2007 |
|---|---|
| Beaverton, Oregon | Senior Software Engineer |
Created an embedded DSL scripting language for company's core product.
[ Java, JavaCC, Eclipse, JUnit, CruiseControl, Ant ]
- Added security, authorization features, and redesign product's plugin interface.
- Recognized and engineered fixes for a number of usability defects in core product.
- Engineered nightly builds and code control processes.
- Migrated code base to take advantage of the Eclipse build process and automated test suites.
Developed Xen hypervisor management application for controlling virtual machines.
Management included processes and properties of the operating system within the VM. Project commissioned by Cisco.
[ Xen, AJAX, Dojo, XSLT, SOAP, SBLIM, CIM-XML ]
Enhanced UI framework for web-based user interface that took XML data received from remote agents and reformatted for web display.
[ Java, J2EE, Servlets, XML, XSLT, Javascript, Hibernate, Ant, Eclipse, Web Tech ]
| Opus 41 | December 2002 to September 2004 |
|---|---|
| Portland, Oregon | V.P. of Engineering |
Recovered under-served product from WebGain to create AppComposer.
This Java development tool suite was licensed and branded for OEMs and software vendors.
[ Java, Swing, Ant, CVS, Eclipse ]
Built online ordering system to fax orders to Internet-limited offices.
Product helpful for companies with no IT support, like the kitchens of restaurants. Go to esanthai.com to see this application in action.
[ Java, Spring, JSP, JSTL, Freemarker ]
Built web-based Realtor CRM application.
This project included establishing core architecture and IT for this nascent startup.
[ Java, Spring, JSP, JSTL, Freemarker, JDBC, MySQL ]
Built a B2B web service for OEMs to license product to their customers.
Included both the server component and client component beans as well the creation of supporting components, like internationalization.
[ JAX-RPC, WSDL, Tomcat ]
| Immunix | August 1999 to December 2002 |
|---|---|
| Portland, Oregon | V.P. of Engineering |
Built secure, web-based server administration product.
Licensed to Dell for their PowerEdge server series and HP/Compaq for their Proliant servers.Product translated into multiple languages and branded for each OEM.
[ Java, Perl, Linux ]
Developed web framework for creating wizard-oriented applications.
Integrated Java data in the UI with Perl scripts for administrating low-level server functions. See my website for details (howardabrams.com/resume/wirex).
[ Java, J2EE, RNAx, Perl, Linux ]
Designed several portals for interfacing with customers.
Included back-end support for automatically upgraded deployed Linux servers.
[ Java, Cocoon ]
Managed the engineering team.
I was the engineering interface to the business units as well as to customers. Note: This company was purchased by Novell and integrated into the OpenSUSE Linux distribution.
| Informix | March 1997 to August 1999 |
|---|---|
| Portland, Oregon | Senior Software Engineer |
Built distributed GUI installer for distributed database server (v8.2).
The installer would push files from GUI client on a workstation to multiple servers, configure each instance, and then start entire system.
[ Java, AWT, RSH, SSH ]
Create node-to-node communication module through Unix shared memory.
[ C, Unix, Clearcase ]
| ADP Dealer Services | March 1995 to March 1997 |
|---|---|
| Portland, Oregon | Software Engineer |
Enhanced embedded micro-code and Unix Streams modules.
Expanded multi-tiered, database interface between PCs and legacy systems.
| Unisys Corporation | March 1992 to March 1995 |
|---|---|
| Salt Lake City, Utah | Software Engineer |
Enhanced company's SVR4 kernel modules for X.25 communications protocol.
Developed stream analyzers for X.25 communications packet data.
| Onyx Graphics | January 1991 to January 1992 |
|---|---|
| Salt Lake City, Utah | Software Engineer |
Help develop multimedia database system.
System capable of storing photos, thumb prints, etc. Work was primarily on the graphical interface and data manipulation.
| Dream Park Development | June 1989 to January 1991 |
|---|---|
| Salt Lake City, Utah | Founder / Software Engineer |
Worked on a variety of computer platforms with different languages for companies on short-term software contracts.
- SNMP Query VBX for Visual Basic for DreamPark Development
- Bi-Sync Data Acquisition Driver for National Semiconductor
- Office Software Development for Cascade Industries
- Inventory Control Package for Beneficial Health International
- Educational Programs for Washington County School District
- Computer Instructor for Dixie College
Education
- University of Utah , Salt Lake City, Utah - B.S. degree in Computer Science
- Dixie College , St. George, Utah - A.S. degree
