Project Portfolio
This page contains the details of the major projects I've worked on for the last few years. It's intended as a supplement to my resume, to give you more detail about what kind of work I do.
If you don't want to bother reading about everything I've done, here's a summary: I work to make systems that work, with each other and with the customers that use them. I can do anything from one-off scripts to large-scale architecture and I learn new systems quickly. If you want to know more, read on or send me an email at joseph.mastey@gmail.com
Professional Experience
Lyons Consulting Group
October 2009 - Current
Description
Lyons Consulting Group is an IT services and eCommerce firm helping companies realize technology's promise. LCG has worked to help more than 50 companies increase revenue and reduce costs.
Roles and Responsibilities
- Developed in-house SaaS software built on Open Source technology to fit specific customer needs.
- Planned and executed forward-looking development for software roadmap.
- Met with customer to gather requirements and communicate project status on a regular basis.
- Assisted other developers of varying technical backgrounds on other projects.
- Provided sales support as necessary.
Relevant Skills
- PHP5, MySQL5
- CSS, XHTML, Javascript, AJAX
- Zend Framework, Magento eCommerce Software (Magento Enterprise)
Outcome / Results
LCG's SaaS platform is in active development and is growing rapidly with new customers.
Chicago Public Library
May 2007 - September 2009
Description
The Chicago Public Library has a state-of-the-start Information Services department to take care of the wide variety of technology requirements that the institution has. With a small team of developers and IT staff, the IS department services the entire organization of over 80 libraries and allows it to provide services to the entire greater Chicago area.
Roles and Responsibilities
- Created a flash-based charting program to visualize multidimensional data for business stakeholders, allowing a deeper level of analysis of data for those stakeholders.
- Replaced decades-old Foxpro based help desk ticketing system with more functional web-based interface. Increased usability for users with limited vision. Increased tracking capability for department staff and customers within system.
- Designed and built an inventory manager to track 10,000+ PC and peripheral devices deployed in the library system, increasing tracking and reporting capabilities for Help Desk staff.
- Designed and built a rollout HQ tool for use by first-tier responders to help route calls to available techs. Allowed a small number of first-tier personnel to route calls efficiently and track issues through a large system-wide software rollout.
- Created a system to share and distribute press releases from the CPL Press office. Allowed PR staff to efficiently share press releases with each other, making possible leaves-of-absence of key personnel.
- Designed and built a "book review" module for staff use, including a recommendation engine for new selections and a "bookshelf" feature.
- Designed and helped build a comprehensive analytics and reporting engine for the library's new circulation software. This engine aggregated millions of disparate records and allowed users to get up-to-date reports and statistics on demand, in a variety of formats and permutations. Reporting capability at the library was increased exponentially, and business personnel were able to identify many areas of opportunity within the library as a result.
- Designed and built a tool to help librarians weed old and unused books from their collections. Stale material is listed as one of the top 5 reasons for non-attendance of libraries, making this a key project for any library.
- Helped less-experienced developers and webmasters get up to speed in a short period of time.
- Helped design and build a web-based application framework to handle new applications and relieve information density issues. This framework successfully incorporated more than two million lines of existing code with a more scalable framework for the next two million.
- Helped select intern candidates for the department's intern program. Acclimated new interns to the department and acted as a general guide to those staff.
- Gathered stakeholder requirements from several parties and successfully translated them into program designs.
- Participated in group design sessions with other developers to help overcome difficulties.
- Reviewed vendor code for functionality and maintainability, and reported those findings to executive business staff.
- Integrated with and extended functionality of third party applications to accomplish business objectives and serve users.
- Wrote SOAP APIs to expose functionality of intranet applications and integrate disparate vendor systems.
- Managed CMS system to allow non-technical staff access to relevant sections of the website.
- Updated website legacy code from hard-coded values to use of webservices for data, creating a maintainable website.
- Helped non-development staff obtain valuable data from database where no interface was available for retrieval.
- Built data warehouse and loading routines for vendor supplied applications to enable analytics applications.
- Created a utility application to allow union staff to prepare financially for the impact of new contract rules.
- Reverse-engineered legacy and third-party applications and wrote APIs to interact with those applications.
- Learned new languages and platforms on the fly to more effectively support development activities.
Relevant Skills
- PHP4/5, MySQL4/5, Oracle 10g, Oracle OLAP, SOAP and REST services, AS3, Perl
- CSS, XHTML, XML, Javascript, AJAX / JSON
- MVC Frameworks, Object Relational Mapping (ORM), Zend Framework
Outcome / Results
The CPL was able to provide the technology that individuals within the organization needed in a timely manner, including a large number of automation initiatives to increase the efficiency with with the library operates.
Samples
Helper Monkey Technologies
August 2006 - May 2007
Description
Helper Monkey Technologies Inc. is the creator of a software-as-a-service program to help individuals manage job transitions and ongoing career development. HMT needed a website that would allow users to manage these tasks effectively and without difficulty, including functionality for several tiers of service.
In addition to standard development activities, HMT engaged Illinois Institute of Technology's IPRO program to give students an opportunity to work on the project as part of their curriculum.
Roles and Responsibilities
- Created a working prototype program for HMT, including data model.
- Managed student workers on the second stage of program development, while providing additional direct development.
- Provided business-related consultation to HMT inc.
Relevant Skills
- PHP5, MySQL5
- CSS, XHTML, Javascript, AJAX
- MVC Frameworks, Smarty Template Engine
Outcome / Results
HMT successfully iterated through the first prototype and student additions, adapting as necessary to deal with time constraints and user feedback.
IIT iGroups 3
December 2006 - April 2007
Description
The Illinois Institute of Technology's IPRO program presents students with a semester-long team project, which often presents information-sharing problems. Exacerbating this problem, teams often continue on through multiple semesters, and may not share many team members. The iGroups tool was created to facilitate this interaction and knowledge management, but was experiencing information complexity issues.
Roles and Responsibilities
- Interfaced with Python back-end to provide a clean, usable, cross-browser interface to the program.
- Provided technical assistance / consultation for the system back-end.
Relevant Skills
- CSS, XHTML, Javascript, Custom Python Templating System
Outcome / Results
The iGroups 3 project is still in development, but has been able to achieve its visual and usability goals.
FindYourStash.com
February 2005 - Current
Description
FindYourStash.com is an affiliate marketing website that offers many activities for members to complete in exchange for cash or prizes. This site required a custom script including administrative back-end to facilitate management of the various site responsibilities.
By using a custom solution, rather than an off-the-shelf product, FindYourStash.com has been able to operate more efficiently than its competitors and secure advantages in security and time-to-market on upgrades and features.
Roles and Responsibilities
- Wrote a comprehensive script to handle the site traffic and operation, including a comprehensive administrative back-end.
- Maintained and upgraded the script to better meet the needs of the owner.
- Iterated through a second version of the script successfully to accomodate the growing needs of the site, and to address shortcomings of the first iteration.
- Currently in development stages of a significantly more robust third iteration to tackle the growing needs of the owner.
Relevant Skills
- PHP4/5, MySQL4/5, XML, SOAP/REST Services, MVC Frameworks, Zend Framework, NuSOAP
- CSS, XHTML, JS, JQuery, AJAX/JSON
Outcome / Results
FindYourStash.com is still in operation and is able to operate due to the facilities I provided.