Hello!
My name is Evan and I'm a recent graduate of Texas A&M University. I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Computing with a concentration area of Software Entrepreneurship. My professional journey is deeply rooted in a profound love for software engineering, which forms the backbone of the work I do.
I have been lucky enough to delve into a diverse range of subjects, from the intricacies of coding to the nuances of business leadership, enterprise fundamentals, and product design. This unique blend of studies is designed to equip me with the skills required to thrive in various industry environments, from growing startups to large corporate settings.
What truly fuels my passion for software engineering is the endless opportunity for learning it offers. The thrill of solving complex problems and seeing my code come to life is unparalleled. I believe that software engineering is not just a discipline, but a craft that requires continuous learning and refinement.
I'm grateful to have learned from some of the best engineers and business leaders during my time as an undergraduate. And now I am applying my skills to the real world. I'm interested in several parts of the software development lifecycle including frontend, full-stack, cloud, and CI/CD. The road ahead is exciting!
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." - Alan Kay
These are the major personal projects I have worked on over the past few years in chronological order along with my thoughts on them.
This was very much a humble beginning. The idea for GeoCash was to be a mobile game similar to actual Geocaching but users would earn money for following hints to a real-world location. Think of it as a scavenger hunt for money. I was proud of it at the time but now that I'm looking back, I can see a lot of things that could have been better. I only knew native Android development and it wouldn't even be approved by the Google Play Store because the business model was considered gambling. I had to settle for putting it on third-party APK websites where it couldn't get any exposure. Desipite this, I still consider GeoCash important as the project was one of my first large endeavors as a software engineer.
The next project I worked on was Eagle - an app for finding fun stops along the way on road trips. I grew up taking a lot of road trips with my family and really enjoyed them; that was the inspiration for this app. Users would enter in some keywords to describe what they were interested in and a backend service I created would calculate a search area along the route and find some interesting stops that fit that search criteria. Users could then add and remove points of interest to effectively plan their journey. There was also the option for users to share the trips they planned on social media to grow the user base. This one had more charm and, knowing everything I know now, it's something that may be fun to revisit in the future!
- Android Development
- Firebase
- Google Cloud Platform
- Snapchat SDK
- Google Maps SDK
- HTML
- CSS
- Javascript
- Google AdMob
- Web design
- UI/UX design
Some time had passed since I worked on GeoCash and I thought it deserved a second chance. I had gained new skills and felt that I could apply my new knowledge to make it better. The biggest of these new skills that I learned was Flutter so now I could develop the app for iOS and actually get it to everyone. GeoCash became SearchX and had a fresh new design. The confusing monetary elements were gone and the UI was cleaned up a little. It was now a pure scavenger hunt game with a freemium subscription model to generate revenue. These changes were in the right direction. That being said, it was missing one thing: it was just a novelty and users didn't really get much value from it. This issue was the biggest driving factor in my next project.
- Flutter
- Android Development
- iOS Development
- Firebase
- Google Cloud Platform
- Java Spring
- Google Maps SDK
- Stripe API
- Google Play Billing
- Apple In App Purchases
- Graphic design
- Social media marketing
- Web design
- UI/UX design
Coatails is one of the more recent projects I have worked on and is one of the biggest codebases I've developed. It's an app dedicated to making professional networking more than just simple friend requests online. To connect with someone, users have to meet their new connection in real life first and scan a QR code to connect(think Snapchat or Venmo). This is done because connecting in real life offers the chance for a conversation so users can really get to know their new contact and form a much better professional connection than they ever could online. Networks on Coatails are quality over quantity. The app also offers users a visual map to show who their connections know to facilitate career growth. Overall, Coatails is like if your contacts app was upgraded in every way. Users get a quicker exchange of information, more details on people, and a fantastic way to seek out new connections.
- Flutter
- Android Development
- iOS Development
- Firebase
- Google Cloud Platform
- SendGrid
- Node.js
- Figma
- Notion
- Accessibility
- Product design
- UI/UX design
- Graphic Design
- Social media marketing
- Web design
- Lean startup principles
- Jobs to be done framework
In the spring of 2024, my time as a student at Texas A&M was coming to an end. Because I was on my last semester, it was time to work on my senior capstone project. With my team of four other students, we created RecipeRocal - an app that makes good nutrition easier through gamification. Users of the app can set daily goals based on factors such as their weight, height, and level of physical activity. These inputs then calculate to a set of daily macronutrients that the users can reach for by logging their meals throughout the day. At the end of each day, a backend script runs to determine if the user hit their goal for the day and to send them a notification about it. There was also the feature of leveling up over time based on experience points.
The semester I spent working on RecipeRocal has been an incredible learning experience for what software engineering is like in industry. I served as my team's CI/CD lead to develop many different automations that kept the team working efficiently. It was here where I learned about the value of linting, unit testing, automated workflows, and many other DevOps practices.
- Agile methodology
- Scrum
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Source control
- Automation
- Unit testing
Having graduated with my bachelor's degree, I moved back home to continue my job search. As a software engineer, I believe it's important to always have a good project to work on so you don't fall out of practice; a way to keep your skills sharp. I wanted to delve deeper into web development and I'm really interested in simple web tools so I created ResuTailor.
ResuTailor is a self hosted React app that automates the tedious process of adjusting your resume for every job application. Whenever you apply for jobs, you have to make sure keywords appear exactly as they do on the job description so your application will pass the company's ATS. Once the application is set up, all you have to do is enter the URL of the job you're applying for and select the skills you have. Then ResuTailor puts together a custom version of your resume with those skills.
While it may not be the biggest, ResuTailor reflects how much I have grown as a software engineer through my efforts for best practices. In this project, I have used code style enforcement, automatic unit tests, containerization, and more to build a sophisticated application.
- Agile methodology
- Source control
- Automation
- Unit testing
- CI/CD
- Frontend
- Backend
- Cloud hosting
- Containerization
- Style enforcement