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Hello there! 👋

I'm Mark, and I'm a Scala nerd.

This site is my tech blog, largely about and related to all things Scala. I use ZIO at work, so you'll likely find a healthy dose of that here as well.

Given the opportunity, I will likely talk to you about kubernetes too 👼

Work History

If you're interested in a sort of running Curriculum Vitae, then read on to learn a little more about me, as well as my current and past misadventures! If you're looking for something more official looking, you can get the most recent copy of hand-crafted LaTeX resume here.

Carvana

Principal Engineer | Special Projects :: 2020-Present
Carvana is an online car retailer. There, in the Special Projects department, I build out backends in Scala.

Kangarootime

Senior Software Engineer :: 2019-2020
Kangarootime creates leading software for childcare centers and preschools. In my time there, I helped lift, develop, and deploy a new product platform to Kubernetes.

Evil Lair Studios

Chief Super Villain :: 2016-2020

I owned and operated Evil Lair Studios, LLC - a side project in the 'Maker' spirit. I design/build things with my trusty CO2 Laser Cutter, CNC Milling Machine, and 3D Printer. (Shut down in 2020)

I had originally started the company to self publish some game titles with based around super villains, hence the fun name. I decided to keep the theme, because what super villain doesn't love elaborate contraptions?! 😜

Blue Orange Digital

Senior Scala Engineer :: 2018-2019 (6 Mo)

Blue Orange Digital is a an integrated full-stack data science agency. In my time there, I helped shore up the infrastructure of a multi-billion dollar hedge fund based in Stamford, Connecticut. I worked to troubleshoot, improve, and document their containerized Scala/Akka micro service platform backed by Kafka/MongoDB/MS SQLServer.

Vaspian

Full Stack Developer :: 2014-2018

Vaspian is a cloud-based VoIP provider located in Buffalo, NY. In my time there, I focused on building and automating platforms that provide advanced analytics and interfaces to our customers, as well as enhanced operational tools for internal service provisioning.

Some of the larger projects I lead while working there include:

In-House Kubernetes

Designed, built, and maintain our own bare-metal Kubernetes cluster for application deployment. Building this all-in-one system allowed us to more reliably deliver our current applications/services to our customers, promptly roll out new features, as well as offer new services that were intractable to manage before.

Customer Facing Applications

Built and maintain our main customer facing portal, which provides custom reporting and real-time event integration with our core phone system. Using Scala and Akka, along with the Play Framework, we have been able to roll out stable, scalable services that are agile enough to grow with our customers.

Internal Tooling

Built and maintain middleware for maintenance/administration of systems built by our internal Network Engineers which allows our customer service/support staff to perform more technical tasks such as:

  • Dynamically provision custom services for our customers
  • Manage and troubleshoot customer configurations
  • Monitor customer service status in real time

Sensorcon

Scientist/Software Developer :: 2011-2014

Sensorcon is a developer and manufacturer of environmental sensors located in Williamsville, NY. In my time there, I was part of a small start-up team focusing on bringing products to market from the ground up. My primary focus was working with firmware engineers to write libraries and customer facing applications (iOS, Android, PC) that could talk to our sensor devices via Bluetooth.

Relevant software projects include:

  • iOS/Android/Java API library development to integrate with our sensors
  • iOS/Android App development
  • Internal inventory system to improve our manufacturing capacity
  • Automated QA testing protocols and procedures for sensor development, to enable technicians to batch process sensors in a reliable and repeatable manner
  • Automated QC testing procedures for production, to promptly identify issues before they reached consumers

You can also check out the (archived) KickStarter campaign we ran!

University at Buffalo

PhD Theoretical Chemistry :: 2006-2012

I received my PhD at the State University of New York at Buffalo in Computational Chemistry under Dr. Jochen Autschbach, focusing on optical activity of transition metal complexes.

I managed to put out a couple papers during my time there. You can check out my Google Scholar if you want to see some of the topics I've written about.