About Dan
My background is in Web development, especially full-stack development using the Django and Ruby on Rails frameworks. I'm from Wayne, Pennsylvania and graduated Penn State in 2007. I previously lived in Philadelphia and the New Jersey shore. I moved to Silver Spring, Maryland in 2016.
I'm a husband to my wife Jen, a dad to our toddler daughter Lucy, and a pet dad to two cats and a rabbit. I enjoy playing in pinball leagues and competitions, riding e-scooters, going to baseball games, and watching the This Week in Google podcast, even though it's never actually about Google!
I'm a Senior Software Engineer at U.S. News & World Report, working on their Best Cars site. There I have created many public-facing features on a site that reaches millions of car shoppers monthly. I also frequently help improve backend load time and create partner data integrations. I work alongside eight developers and regularly participate in code reviews and mentoring with them.
Download Printable Resume
Technical Skills
Python
Ruby
JavaScript
HTML5 / CSS3
Django
Rails
MySQL
Postgres
Elasticsearch
Work Experience
Present
U.S. News & World Report
Senior Software Engineer • Washington, DC
- Developed backend Python/Django code for a high-traffic media Web site, U.S. News Best Cars.
- Completed major projects including Elasticsearch implementation, faceted search, partner integrations, Django upgrades, a move to AWS, and a sitewide URL restructure.
- Optimized existing code to improve maintainability, security, response times, and capacity.
- Led project to change domain name while successfully minimizing traffic disruption.
- Led initiative to start using unit tests and database migrations.
- Mentored four new developers on product, infrastructure and setting up environments.
Jan 2016
WorkWave
Senior Software Engineer • Neptune, NJ
- Developed features on existing classic ASP application, an enterprise CRM for managing pest control and other field service companies.
- Overhauled internal documentation covering development environment setup, allowing new developers to get themselves up and running in hours rather than days.
- Trained three new developers on architecture of application, source control workflows, manipulating application data and completing other common maintenance tasks.
- Wrote complex SQL queries, optimized existing queries and performed one-time data updates.
April 2015
Bizyhood
Consultant • Remote
- Developed a Django application for start-up offering small business marketing tools.
- Completed projects requiring a variety of skills including consuming REST APIs, building a front-end with AJAX, designing a DB schema and authenticating users through oAuth.
- Followed an Agile workflow, participating in daily stand-ups via video chat.
Oct 2013
Yashi
Front End Developer • Toms River, NJ
- Developed two Ruby on Rails applications for company delivering online video advertising.
- Developed front-end JavaScript code to provide interactive graphs and charts.
- Developed features on existing CodeIgniter application.
- Administered two dozen Ubuntu Web servers on AWS.
June 2013
Achieve3000
Applications Engineer • Remote and in Lakewood, NJ
- Developed PHP and Ruby on Rails applications for this SaaS company serving K-12 schools.
- Served as Salesforce.com administrator, developed data integrations between SFDC and other systems.
