Nathaniel Ekoniak
http://www.nateko.com/
nathaniel@nateko.com
+1(206)326-1394


--Profile

I am a skilled Software Engineer with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a passion for finding elegant solutions to challenging problems.  From a goal as small as refining the user experience in a single application to as serious as expanding access to educational tools in developing nations, I want to use the power of computing and the internet to improve people's lives.


--Achievements

Co-designed and implemented Fourdrinier, an in-house CMS, as part of a small team of developers, resulting in a dramatic increase in the functionality, stability, compatibility and usability of The Post Online, a public website serving thousands of users.

Designed Fourdrinier's PostgreSQL database and converted and regularized years of historical data to an internally consistent format, greatly increasing the efficiency of data insertion and retrieval as well as expanding the utility of existing data.

Created an automated backup solution using Perl and rsync for the servers supporting Lon-CAPA, an online course delivery system, at Ohio University, increasing the frequency and longevity of backups while decreasing storage requirements.

Automated high-volume, labor-intensive data entry processes as Technical Coordinator at a branch office of America Coming Together, a voter education group, resulting in a more than ten-fold productivity increase and significant cost savings.


--Qualifications

Proficient in most areas of computing including:
  major operating systems (Mac OS X, Linux and UNIX-like environments, Windows)
  programming languages including C/C++, Perl and PHP
  object-oriented design and other major language paradigms
  SQL and relational database design (experience with PostgreSQL and MySQL)
  dynamic/database-driven web development using PHP, (X)HTML, CSS and a back-end SQL database
  version control (CVS and SVN)
  common software including development tools and office/productivity suites
Adept at learning new software, programming languages and environments.


--Work Experience

August 2006-August 2007
English Language Teacher.  Shibushi City Board of Education.  Shibushi, Japan.
  Taught conversational English in elementary and junior high schools and for the Shibushi City Lifelong Learning Program.


April 2005-July 2006
Web Developer / Database Architect.  The Post.  Athens, Ohio.
( http://www.thepost.ohiou.edu/ )
  Worked with a small team of developers to maintain and expand The Post Online, a website serving both customers and employees.

September 2005-March 2006
Assistant Lon-CAPA Manager.  Ohio University Physics Department.  Athens, Ohio.
  Assisted with the maintenance of the Linux servers for the Lon-CAPA online course delivery system at Ohio University.

June 2004-September 2004
Technical Coordinator.  America Coming Together.  Liberty, Ohio.
  Coordinated data processing efforts and managed local technical operations at the Youngstown, Ohio branch office.


--Education

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, cum laude. June 2006.

Ohio University Honors Tutorial College. Athens, Ohio. September 2002-June 2006.
  Major:  Computer Science
  Minors: Mathematics and Japanese

Japanese Language Study. Chubu University. Kasugai, Japan. September 2004-February 2005.


--Language Competencies

English. Native competency.
Japanese. Advanced spoken and written competency.
French. Working knowledge of written French, elementary conversational ability.


References available upon request.