Zachariah Jett
| Software Developer
After completing my M.A. in history, a post-graduation lull presented the perfect opportunity to accept a friend's dare to try programming. A week of learning Python was all it took to ignite my passion, which has continued to fuel my pursuit of coding.
As a graduate student, my mentor once said to me “All a good student needs is a library and the occasional kick in the seat of the pants.” Inspired by this advice, I dedicated myself to mastering not only history and programming but also the essential skill of independent learning.
While learning how to program, I have developed a passion for taking code apart to see how it works. My greatest satisfaction in programming comes from the challenge of learning new solutions: from digging into different algorithms and heuristics to figure out how to apply them to something completely different or to understanding how code works on the most minute level. This quest for deeper understanding has sparked a fascination with using tools like Compiler Explorer to delve into the intricacies of compiler optimizations and their impact on my C code.
Now I am excited to work with industry veterans with hard-won advice to share, improve my knowledge with real-world projects, and develop creative engineering solutions to real challenges.
Built core systems and designed new content for a Unity3D game, quickly gaining fluency in an under-documented C# codebase and the Unity engine with limited prior experience.
Applied independent problem-solving to design and test complex game systems, including:
- Weaponry & Combat: Created new weapons and enemies with novel mechanics and retrofitted a reload system into core weapon logic.
- Mission Architecture: Developed a new mission mechanic necessitating a comprehensive overhaul of all monster AI and map layouts.
- Control Schemes: Expanded upon partial existing legacy code to implement full keyboard and mouse functionality.
Spearheaded a comprehensive overhaul of the game's health/damage balance, applying a methodical approach to data analysis and optimization to enhance system adaptability and future scalability.
Utilized Agile (Kanban) and Git for collaborative development, actively contributing to team planning and proactively shaping project design and content scope to ensure achievable deadlines and enhance overall product quality.
Coordinated logistical and operational support for three large undergraduate courses of over 200 total students through managing and organizing course materials, organizing and grading assessments, and providing support and advice to students during office hours.
Dynamically collaborated with faculty and departmental staff to proactively diagnose, mitigate, and implement adaptive solutions to ensure the continuing operation of multiple classes and other departmental responsibilities during a period of intense and unprecedented challenge for the university, a faculty strike.
Created all official communications to 300+ residents, delivering key information and fostering community engagement.
Java Projects
Engineered an extensible and decoupled financial trade message routing system for a practical development exercise designed by a senior fin-tech developer.
Implemented using a Java (Spring Boot) tech-stack, utilizing Apache Camel enterprise integration patterns, XSLT for XML transformation, and JPA/Hibernate with an embedded H2 SQL database.
Exceeded project guidelines by designing a modular, adaptable system using JSON-based configuration, enabling dynamic alteration of message processing pipelines.
Proactively optimized memory usage of loading large configuration file with Jackson JSON's selective deserialization.
Ensured system integrity with comprehensive JUnit test coverage, including full database entry validation.
As part of the exercise, I was wholly responsible for designing the routing application, including the evaluation, selection, and integration of 3rd party technologies.
Web-Development Projects
Created an automated resume generator using Jekyll and Liquid to create tailored, job-specific resumes.
This tool leverages an orchestrating Bash script with unique applications of Jekyll’s systems pushing Jekyll far beyond its normal function.
This system intelligently detects and integrates resume-specific HTML, CSS, and data into the default configuration.
Resume content is fully configurable from a single source, permitting dynamic inclusion, exclusion, or reordering of elements.
Designed a calculator webpage offering complete functionality with full keyboard support.
Includes an undo function, a history tracker to review past calculations, and incorporates robust user error handling to ensure all inputs have clear responses.
Features: Keyboard inputs, built-in error handling, and history tracker
Created a web-based Etch-a-Sketch that replicates the classic look but with a mouse-based interface and customizable pixel density drawing canvas to allow for both enhanced usability and precise detail work.
Features: Styled like classic Etch-a-Sketch, user can easily increase or decrease drawing canvas dimensions
Built a browser-based version of Rock, Paper, Scissors with an enhanced user experience by using visual representations of player choices through stock images and incorporating a timed delay to build suspense before revealing the computer's selection.
Features: Displays images of player inputs with delay to keep surprise
Python Projects
Developed a small budgeting tool that tracks income, expenses, and transfers across multiple categories.
The tool includes custom visualizations to display budget activity and can generate a bar chart that highlights spending trends.
Features: Tracks debts and credits to account, displays percentage spent by category as bar chart
Online non-credit Professional Certificate authorized by Google and offered through Coursera.
- Application Deployment
- Cloud Computing
- Cloud Infrastructure & Storage
- Cloud Security
- Containerization (Docker)
- Databases (NoSQL / Relational)
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
- Identity and Access Management (IAM)
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
- Kubernetes
- Load Balancing
- Scalability / Autoscaling
- System Monitoring / Cloud Observability
- Virtual Machines
This comprehensive FreeCodeCamp Python course covered: advanced data structures, networking, regular expressions, relational databases (including SQLite), and data visualization.
- Data Structures (Lists, Dictionaries, Tuples)
- Data Visualization
- File I/O
- HTTP
- Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)
- Regular Expressions
- Relational Database Design
- SQL
- SQLite
- Web Scraping
- Web Services (APIs, JSON, XML)
Online non-credit Professional Certificate authorized by Google and offered through Coursera.
- Configuration Management
- CICD / DevOps
- GCP Cloud Services
- Git
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
- Puppet
- Python / Bash Automation Scripting
- RESTful APIs
- Test Driven Development
- Troubleshooting and Debugging
Outstanding Graduate Student – 2021
Presented research papers at two academic conferences – 2017
- "Negotiating Absolutism: Cooperation and Conscription in the Swedish Fiscal-Military State, 1683-1685," presented to Wright State Graduate Research Symposium, Fairborn, Ohio, April 2017
- "Negotiating for Efficiency: Conscription, Adaptation, and Reform in the Swedish Empire," presented to University of Toledo History Colloquium, Toledo, Ohio, November 2017
Minors: Scandinavian Area Studies, Swedish Language
Dean’s List: Winter, Spring – 2014, Autumn, Winter, Spring – 2015
Received Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship
- Study abroad at Uppsala International Summer Session (UISS) – Summer 2015
Attended Everett Community College's Ocean Research College Academy (O.R.C.A.)
Guided and approved key financial and outreach decisions for a century-old non-profit aiding families with school supplies late bills, and other small, but essential, needs.
Analyzed challenges and contributed to board decisions defining the charity's future.
Recognized for outstanding contributions to environmental conservation, coordinated with a local environmental group and county park services to establish requirements for a successful salmon spawning habitat restoration initiative, encompassing site scouting, project planning, and resource organization.
Managed all project phases, including comprehensive risk assessments and mitigation planning (e.g., safety protocols, summer heat mitigation, equipment logistics), coordinating scheduling, and thorough project documentation.
Managed the complete design, construction, and installation of a children's play area awning, coordinating with various stakeholders to define requirements and establish project schedules.
Applied strong time management, facilitation, and organizational skills to effectively communicate with and direct a team of 12+ youth, ensuring successful project completion.