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Alfie Renn

Alfie Renn

Software Engineer & Web Designer
Sheffield, UK
alfie@alfierenn.dev

Background

About

About

Hi! I'm Alfie: physics graduate, toki pona speaker, and software engineer. I love to make beautiful things with code (mainly using HTML/CSS/JavaScript and Python), including websites, apps, and graphs. With all my work I create good quality, robust, and well-tested code, as well as powerful automation and well-organised git repositories, empowering collaboration. Do check out my website and GitHub!

Work Experience

Work Experience

  • , Freelance Software Engineer / Web Designer

    Mar, 2023 - Present

    • Co-maintaining gspread, an open-source Python API for Google Sheets with over 8 million downloads per month, demanding a high level of future-planning and project management.

    • Management and upkeep of WordPress and Shopify eCommerce sites for an international brand.

    • Maintaining an extensive database of tens of thousands of vehicle paint colours using CSVs and SQL, including keeping it up to date, adapting the database format to the needs of the users, and ensuring a reproducible data pipeline.

    • Development and upkeep of a bespoke PHP plugin enabling dynamic product content for WordPress, as well as programmatic integrations with common WordPress plugins like WooCommerce and Yoast SEO.

    • Developed a mod for the video game Factorio in Lua, involving a low-level partner-plugin for the voice chat client Mumble, written in C. Released on Windows and Linux.

    • Interfaced with an electronic dot-matrix display discarded from a bus station, using C, requiring an involved knowledge of electronics and low-level communication protocols.

  • Software Engineer, ByteSnap Design

    Aug, 2022 - Mar, 20236 months

    • Utilised Vue and TypeScript to create an intuitive, user-friendly web application, using robust design patterns and best practices to ensure optimal functionality and user experience.

    • Designed and developed a responsive, feature-rich web application using Flutter and Dart, incorporating a range of views and user-friendly interfaces for maximum ease of use.

    • Employed WPF and C# to create a high-performance application, using SQL and an MVC architecture to facilitate the viewing, manipulation, and analysis of data.

    • Streamlined the deployment process of complex code with multiple dependencies, using Docker and GitLab CI to optimise the development process and improve productivity.

  • Solar Physics Research Student, Durham University Physics Department

    Jun, 2021 - Aug, 20212 months

    Researching novel telescope imaging techniques using quantum gases

    • Developed robust code with Python for fabricating and analysing images from a solar telescope.

    • Performed deep literature review to justify techniques used in the creation of said telescope.

    • Discussed and acted upon desires and needs of telescope engineers, theorists, and observationalists.

  • Design Engineer Intern, Viper RF

    Aug, 2019 - Sep, 20191 month

    Programmed and debugged a real-time optimisation algorithm on a microcontroller with C. This was used to minimise power losses for a microwave generator, to be used in an ion thruster for space satellites, improving both industry knowledge and personal skills.

Skills

Skills

  • Data Analysis

    Python

    Statistics

    Jupyter

  • Web Development

    HTML

    CSS

    JavaScript

    Vue

  • Git/Project Management

    Pull requests

    Git issues

    Open source maintainer

    GitHub Actions

  • Great development practises

    Test-Driven Development

    API Design

    Reliable documentation

  • DevOps

    Docker

    Git

    Continuous Integration

    Continuous Deployment

Education

Education

  • , MPhys Physics, Durham University

    Sep, 2018 - Jul, 2022

    Masters Project: Using Machine Learning to Optimise Quantum Optics Experiments

  • , A Level, GCSE, Cottingham High School and Sixth Form College

    Sep, 2011 - Jul, 2018

    A* Physics

    A* Mathematics

    A* Further Mathematics

    (GCSE) A* Mathematics, A English

    (GCSE) + 5A*, 3A, 2 Dist*

Awards

Awards

  • Florence Nightingale Award for Graphical Excellence , Durham University

    Awarded on: Jul 03, 2019

    Awarded for the optimal presentation of quantitative data to illustrate a Helmholtz coil. Used Python for graphing.

Volunteer Work

Volunteer Work

  • Open-source Maintainer, gspread - Simple interface for working with Google Sheets

    Jun, 2023 - Present

    Maintaining an open-source Python library for interacting with Google Sheets, including adding new features, fixing bugs, and responding to user issues.

  • Electrical Tester, British Heart Foundation

    Mar, 2023 - Present

    Testing electrical equipment for sale in charity shops.

Interests

Interests

  • Electronics

    PC buildingArduino (microcontroller and circuit boards)

  • Open-source

    Contributing to open-source projects
References

References

  • Jim Mayock, Viper RF. Matthew O'Keefe, PhD, MBA, Viper RF.

    [... W]e were very impressed with [Alfie]'s outstanding contribution to our business in a relatively short period. He demonstrated extremely high intelligence, organisation, good technical communication skills, work ethic, and a positive attitude. [Available on request.]

  • Alexandre Lavigne, open-source pull request.

    "This is very neat thank you for this contribution."

  • Romano Silva, open-source pull request.

    "Thanks @strib and. @alifeee - very good team work!!!!"

  • Prof. Ifan Hughes, Durham University

    [Available on request.]

  • Graeme Wintle, ByteSnap Design

    [Available on request.]