Zachary A. Stiles
Front End Developer
UI/UX Engineer
About Me
Hello world, I'm Zack! Engineer, designer, traveller, adventurer. Here to help.
While I have worked with computers professionally since 2005, my passion for web development goes back as far as I can remember. HTML, JavaScript, and CSS are my core toolkit.
I work with Angular, VueJS, JQuery, PHP, Rails, WordPress, Bootstrap, Foundation, MySQL, NodeJS, SASS, Java, and C/C++.
I leverage modern best-practices including BEMIT, TDD, and agile methodology to develop code which functions smoothly across all browsers and platforms.
Education
University of Rhode Island
BS in Computer Engineering (GPA: 3.48 / 4.00)
• Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society - Student VP and Webmaster• Tau Beta Pi Honor Society
• Capstone - Digital Signal Processing in FPGA (Sponsor: Raytheon Company)
• Design signal processing chain on a Spartan-6 Xilinx FPGA.
• Reverse distortions applied to a sound file which mimic various types of real life signal interference.
• Responsible for the software aspects of the MicroBlaze processor (featured on the Xilinx board).
• Performed administrative duties for the group's SVN file server. 2007 - 2011
Work History
Cisco.com
Frontend Developer
April 2020 - present
Chewy.com
Software Engineer II
• Primarily worked as a front-end developer, using core HTML/JS/CSS and a variety of frameworks (primarily Vue) to help fix bugs and develop new functionality.
• Experience working with Java / Kotlin for site backend.
• Extensive ADA/WCAG accessibiliy work.
• Wrote test cases in Jest and Kotlin.
• Agile / SCRUM development style.
April 2018 - April 2020
CVS Health
Sr Analyst App Development
• Working primarily with Angular, HTML5, CSS3 to turn UX visions into fully responsive UI layouts.
• Long-term and extensive development work with accessible UI (WCAG 2.1).
• Development, testing, and support for mobile web, mobile app, and desktop.
• Experience working in both waterfall and agile development styles.
January 2017 - April 2018
Cognizant
UI Lead Developer
• Worked for six months as a contractor while getting started with CVS.
• Received leadership recognition for UI development contributions within the first three months.
August 2016 - January 2017
Zmags, Inc.
Technical Supporter
• Assisted clients ranging from small businesses to large corporate accounts with the use of our publishing platform.• Handled support tickets via phone, email, and online chat; the team primarily used Salesforce and Zendesk.
• Performed account maintenance, developed code demos, and wrote tutorial content for our Community Portal.
• Worked with Product team to test, identify, and troubleshoot bugs, tracked primarily using Jira and Confluence. March 2012 -
May 2016
SupportSpace, Ltd.
SupportSpace Certified Expert
• Provided online support as a consultant to the SupportSpace website, solving a variety of problems depending on customer’s situation and needs.• Worked with consumer home electronics, primarily computers, printers, and wireless routers.
• Ranked top expert on the site for number of sessions completed, with over 4,800 cases as of October 2011. December 2007 -
October 2011
Racman Electronic Repairs
Technical Support, Office Assistant
• Repair and troubleshoot computers.• Setup and maintenance of office network.
• Data entry and backup using QuickBooks.
• Filing paperwork and ordering parts.
• General office duties.
• Cleaned copier parts and housings. 2005 - 2008
Projects
Portfolio Website - Ruby on Rails, HTML, JS/JQuery, CSS
• This site (the one you're reading now) uses Ruby on Rails, runs on a Heroku Dyno, and is managed via Git.
• All layouts created from scratch using HTML and CSS3. Sass nesting and mixins to keep style sheets neat.
• CSS3 animated backgrounds, smooth scrolling for internal navigation links, Colorbox for screenshots and videos.
• Responsively adapts to support mobile and small browser windows, appearing nicely on all widths 320 pixels and up.
• This site (the one you're reading now) uses Ruby on Rails, runs on a Heroku Dyno, and is managed via Git.
• All layouts created from scratch using HTML and CSS3. Sass nesting and mixins to keep style sheets neat.
• CSS3 animated backgrounds, smooth scrolling for internal navigation links, Colorbox for screenshots and videos.
• Responsively adapts to support mobile and small browser windows, appearing nicely on all widths 320 pixels and up.
"Weekend Web Dev" Blog - Ruby on Rails, HTML, JS/JQuery, CSS• Content hosted and managed via Butter CMS, which is communicated with using calls to their API Ruby Client.
• Custom JQuery for sorting and loading posts.
• New UI/UX projects developed periodically, time permitting.
• Process and methodology for each, behind-the-scenes view of development.
A Dark Road - Angular, Bootstrap, HTML5, JS, CSS• An "unfolding game", which starts with the simplest UI possible and evolves in complexity over the course of play.
• Intuitive UI teaches users its mechanics naturally through gameplay, without the need for a manual or tutorial.
• Extensive use of Angular directives to facilitate dynamic UX and branching paths which respond to game state.
Samuel Stiles Photography - Bootstrap, WordPress, PHP, JQuery, CSS, HTML5• Templates, plugins, and content managed via WordPress 4.5.3.
• Heavily customized theme built from the ground up in Bootstrap 2.3.2.
• Interactive galleries display up to 8 photos at once, and can flip through any number more.
• News page, social sharing integration, PHP contact form, automated backups.
• For ease of use, Project galleries and Blog posts are created the same way.
Wisdom of Astrology - Bolt, Foundation, HTML, JS/JQuery, CSS, PHP• Content managed via Bolt CMS, templates built in Zurb Foundation.
• Integrates with Blogger, PayPal, and YouTube.
• Filters for imported content: remove Comic Sans, minimum font size, fix broken image links.
HAV Insurance Co. - Foundation, HTML, JS/JQuery, CSS• Responsive layouts built in Zurb Foundation 6, HTML5, and CSS3. JQuery for functionality.
• Signup and login process, account management, managed locally via session data.
• Policy data loaded via AJAX from XML.
"Kūsō Neko Pāku" Cat Café Promotional Site - HTML, JS/JQuery, CSS• Layouts created from scratch using HTML and CSS3, responsively supports widths as low as 320px.
• Google Maps integration for location, YouTube integration for cats gallery.
• Gallery content and news posts are loaded from XML via AJAX.
• Fully functioning calendar built with JQuery.
Collaborative Storytelling Site - Ruby on Rails, MySQL
• Programmed an online application to handle branching story writing and sharing.
• Functionality included user login, friend lists, story upvoting and downvoting.
• Database managed via MySQL.
• Programmed an online application to handle branching story writing and sharing.
• Functionality included user login, friend lists, story upvoting and downvoting.
• Database managed via MySQL.
HTML Form Generator - HTML, Javascript, CSS, PHP• Form which generates other fully-functioning custom forms according to user input.
• Outputs HTML and PHP files to be easily implemented elsewhere via IFrame or lightbox.
• Full length instructional manual containing a list of examples.
• Live demo available, click link icon at right.
Mockup Maker - HTML, Javascript, CSS
• Form which generates a sophisticated mockup overlaying Zmags Publicator content on prospect websites.
• Setting changes for sizing and position of the overlay and underlying page are displayed immediately for testing.
• Finished URL hides the control panel and displays the completed mockup on demand for sales demos.
• Form which generates a sophisticated mockup overlaying Zmags Publicator content on prospect websites.
• Setting changes for sizing and position of the overlay and underlying page are displayed immediately for testing.
• Finished URL hides the control panel and displays the completed mockup on demand for sales demos.
Lightbox CSS Generator - HTML, Javascript, CSS
• Customer-friendly fillable form to generate complex CSS styles from simple user inputs.
• CSS code block is copied to online platform to format Colorbox popups within digital magazines.
• Accompanied by two full length instructional articles: a usage manual and list of examples.
• Customer-friendly fillable form to generate complex CSS styles from simple user inputs.
• CSS code block is copied to online platform to format Colorbox popups within digital magazines.
• Accompanied by two full length instructional articles: a usage manual and list of examples.
Mass Data Migration - Selenium
• Developed a new automated solution to transfer ~5000 settings pages for an important client.
• Learned Selenium in one day, implemented a large automation script, monitored it over four days.
• Sideflow plugin for looping and conditionals, logger plugin for tracking progress.
• Saved an estimated three weeks company time while still maintaining my normal day-to-day tasks.
• Developed a new automated solution to transfer ~5000 settings pages for an important client.
• Learned Selenium in one day, implemented a large automation script, monitored it over four days.
• Sideflow plugin for looping and conditionals, logger plugin for tracking progress.
• Saved an estimated three weeks company time while still maintaining my normal day-to-day tasks.
"Bitsnakes" Artificial Life - Java• Experiment in creating virtual creatures that fulfill the technical specifications of "being alive".
• Entities are physically allocated in contiguous memory, giving them tangible real world presence.
• Each snake attempts to collect virtual "food bits", starve out competition, and survive the longest.
Space Invaders-type Arcade Game - Java• Fully functioning video game programmed in Java using the Eclipse SDK.
• Increasing difficulty, local high score, cheat codes, four enemy characters, boss battle, enemy AI.
• Extensive use of class inheritance to reduce code complexity.
PI Calculator CPU - VHDL• Designed and programmed a custom computer system using VHDL and assembly code on Altera FPGA.
• Calculates digits of pi sequentially using the Spigot Algorithm. This implementation displays 4,799 places.
• Algorithm is easily extensible to any number of places, but bounded by available hardware memory.
