I’m a software and web architect in the Seattle area. I work on multiple projects, am an entrepreneur, and I frequently speak on issues relating to women in technology.

I’m a Trekkie, and a serious one at that. I enjoy reading, politics, blogging, coding, yoga, tango, and plenty of other oddball interests.

You’ll find me traipsing about Seattle, taking pictures, setting up shop at sundry coffee houses, and traveling as much as possible by train. I co-founded LadyCoders;, I teach at University of Washington, and I eat as many macarons as possible.

I look forward to meeting you!

You can reach me in several locations.

Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
The Cowgirl Coder
Email

You can also view my resume here: Tarah M Wheeler Van Vlack Resume.

Tarah M. Wheeler Van Vlack, BA, MS, PhD (precan), CSM, CSD
16135 NE 85th St Ste 2546 tarah@tarahwheeler.com
Redmond, WA 98073-2546
(562) 448-2724
www.tarahwheeler.com

Widely Skilled Senior Software Architect and Development Manager

Leading teams of onsite and remote designers, developers, and database architects
Managing system requirements for multiple sites simultaneously
Innovative designing of multitiered systems architecture as well as analysis and metrics tools
13 years of professional experience and academic teaching in Linux platforms and applications use and development
Successful background in developing efficient and elegant code
Dedicated to Agile principles of development, experienced Certified Scrum Master, Certified Scrum Developer, postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Agile Development, founder of the Redmond Scrum Users Group
Seamlessly integrating multiple site components from database to development to design
Maintaining and updating legacy code
Client-facing architecture development and liaising for multiple customers and vendor agencies.
Skillfully designing, debugging, and executing personal through enterprise-level sites
More than 11 years of professional and academic experience in cutting-edge object-oriented complex systems computational modeling
More than 8 years of OSS development on the bleeding edge of social media technologies and marketing

Experience

Senior Development Manager
Red Queen Technologies, Portland, OR 2002- current

Consulted on multiple team structures and advised on Agile adoption through the Scrum Alliance with experience running several teams at once
Acting as expert technical advisor to small businesses experiencing rapid growth in their infrastructural requirements
Advised on technical requirements for hiring web development professionals and evaluated qualifications for multiple consultants
Premiered new research methodology for the analysis of GIS [geographical information systems] data
Designed cross-platform visualization methods for the display of computationally generated data
Consulted on ergonomic solutions for disabled information technology professionals
Developed multiple websites, including small personal sites, shopping cart enabled commercial sites, and multiple enterprise-level web applications
Implemented cloud networks with multiple OS and hard and soft components
Taught seminars at multiple levels in open source (OS Java, Repast simulation libraries) and proprietary (MS Office integration with web applications) software
Wrote multiple deployable applications in Java to manage and analyze massive databases of social and technical information
Created agent-based models of human behavior and interaction in Java and VB for social media marketing clients
Hosted multiple e-commerce sites with custom web sites personally developed in PHP off the WordPress platform.

Technical Program Manager
Spoken Communications, Redmond, WA 2011-2011

Delivered every project on time or before
Created and led GUI redesign project
Developed operations procedures for Linux users
Led disaster recovery testing for AT&T client in multiple geographical locations
Reviewed requirements for stack scalability and efficiency

Chief Development Manager
Fanvertise, Redmond, WA 2008-2011

Built custom LAMP stack from barebones to full deployment
Implemented enterprise-level site from inception to full deployment
Worked with multiple contractors of differing skill levels
Implemented agile development processes as Scrum Master
Hired specialists trained for different tasks in the creation of web-based applications
Managed team of technical and nontechnical professionals
Coordinated Windows and Linux crossover efforts and cross-platform stability assessment
Wrote encryption algorithms in Java and C# to protect user data
Planned, coordinated, and implemented upgrades to FOSS stack
Executed the implementation of a massively scalable MySQL database with multiple tables for user, client, and corporate data storage
Personally designed frontend of scalable site in HTML, XML, CSS, and PHP
Primary personnel administrator and trainer for technical staff
Reviewed requirements for database scalability and efficiency
Monitored technical design for stability, speed, and ease of use

Web Developer, Halo for Xbox 360
Microsoft Game Studios, Redmond, WA 2010-2011

Configured virtual directories and multiple sites in IIS
Took the lead on site accessibility by providing W3C compliant tags for sight-impaired users
Updated multiple pages to comply with W3C criteria
Created Ruby on Rails documentation to help team install, configure, and work with third-party SCSS style source files
Alternate Scrum Master for Halo
Developed custom JavaScript functions to override third-party software issues
XML and localization files created, updated, maintained, compiled for multiple countries
ASP.NET, C#.NET and custom web application developed and administered for Halo Waypoint Forums
Debugging and reskinning Telligent Forums application used to manage millions of Halo fan accounts
Participated in daily SCRUM standups and developed through multiple sprints
Bungie.net retooling and integration after Microsoft acquisition

Lead Web Developer, Lips for Xbox 360
Microsoft Game Studios, Redmond, WA 2009-2010

Maintained, upgraded, and debugged 30,000+ lines of web code
Delivered Lips+5 marketing promotion 10 days before deadline
Developed new UX and UI solutions and custom solutions with particular focus on look-and-feel consistency
Assumed control and ownership of site from departing central web development team
Rewrote the front end to remove nested tables and comply with tableless layout as specified by WC3 guidelines
Liaised between external design contractors, Xbox LIVE, Xbox.com, and Microsoft Game Studios
Scrum Master for Xbox 360/XBL liaison team
Designed new resx (XML application resource files) for complete site in 27 countries
Streamlined documentation process using SCRUM development process
Developed, utilized, and personally deployed multiple technologies including ASP.NET, C#.NET, XML, VB.NET, AJAX, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Silverlight, MS SQL, Ektron CMS400
Administered multiple productivity and data platforms including but not limited to MOSS, MS Visual Studio, Team Foundation Server, SQL Server, and many others.
Created site content types and assigned SharePoint document templates for internal SP portal
Reworked Web Parts of main site for layout/zoning
Updated and acted as WD, admin, and contributor for SharePoint central web engineering site at Microsoft Game Studios, including wiki, permissions, IT documentation, and group management

Technical Skills

Technical expertise: Familiar with networking and administering multiple operating systems including Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP Pro SP1/2/3, Vista, Windows 7, Jolicloud, and OSX with multiple flavors of *NIX (Mandriva 2008-2010, RHEL, Fedora Core 6, 7, 8, 9, Ubuntu 7.10, Kubuntu 8.04, 8.10, 9.04, 9.10, 10.04, 10.10, 11.04, 11.10 RC, Netbook Remix, Xubuntu 9.04, 9.10) utilizing proprietary and open source software. Experience with Novell successor Open Enterprise Server OES2, clustering, and skilled at deploying LAMP/XAMPP/WAMP stacks as well as variant flavors on the traditional stack. Extensively experienced in C#.NET, AJAX, and VB.NET in ASP.NET applications. Have utilized and configured MS Virtual Server 2003 and 2008, MSSQL Server 2008RC2, and MS Enterprise Server 2005 with intermediate experience in configuring IIS and application pools.

Programming, scripting, mathematical, and database languages (w/API): Primarily Java/JAXB, HTML, X/D/HTML, XML/XSLT, C#, C#.NET, JavaScript, jQuery, bash, and CSS with experience in PHP, MATLAB, , C++, Mathematica, awk, ant, Ruby, R, S, STATA, JScript, MS SQL with sprocs, PostgreSQL and MySQL with variants.

Verson Control Systems: MS Team Foundation Server, Git, SourceDepot, Unfuddle, Subversion (after CVS), Assembla

Web/Content Management Systems: SharePoint 2007 and 2010 (including MOSS, WorkFlow, InfoPath 2007, OCS, BI, WCM, SPD, and schemas), Silverlight 2-3, Ektron CMS400, Drupal, extensively experienced in WordPress configuration and theming, Joomla, MovableType, Ruby on Rails, and have built custom CMS solutions for clients in C#.NET and PHP.

Applications and IDEs: All MS Office products from Office 95-2010 beta, MS Project, MS Groove Server, MS Visual Studio 2005-2010, Eclipse, NetBeans, Adobe CS3-4, GIMP, OpenOffice 2-3, Team Foundation Server 8-9, many more.

Project planning & management: Extensive SCRUM experience and Agile development; completed University of Washington’s advanced Agile development training program. Experienced in personally creating enterprise-level web applications from inception to deployment at full public release. Directed several contractors with complementary skills in the creation of virtual server boxes, segmented services that mediated between client and partner companies, and developed financial services templates from scratch. Managed multiple technical contractors from hiring to resolution stage in the development of enterprise-level web applications. Startup experience in all tasks from chief executive, operations, finance, technology, and infrastructure.

Technical training & expertise: Taught classes in mathematical applications in computational science, developed databases with billions of entries, worked in concert in multiple laboratories to analyze and report on that data using advanced statistical methods, and have more than 14 years of professional experience in proprietary and open source software design, execution, and deployment.

Social Media Experience: Social media familiarity and constant participation in Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Loopt, LinkedIn, and multiple internet communities, including The Ubuntu Forums, ASP.NET Developer forums, a 12-year account at Sun Developer Network (now the Oracle Forums), and Linux Questions. Professional blog at http://thecowgirlcoder.com; frequent discussions of social media marketing, MS and OSS technologies, social issues surrounding coding as a profession.

Professional Certifications

Certified ScrumMaster, Seattle, WA December 2010

Certified ScrumDeveloper, Seattle, WA March 2011

The University of Washington Certificate Program in Advanced Agile
Development, Seattle, WA March 2011

Education

The University of Washington, Seattle, WA 2010-2011
Certificate Program in Scrum/Agile Development, Advanced Agile Development

The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 2004-2008
Precandidate for Ph.D. in Complex Systems/Computational Modeling and Political
Science

Portland State University, Portland, OR 2002-2004
M.S. in Political Science, Psychology, and Computational Science

Carroll College, Helena, MT 1998-2001
B.A. in International Relations and Business

References available on request