Raúl Santos
- grounduphq.com
borfast.com
Software Engineer at Ground Up
Profile
Having entered the world of computers at the tender age of 5, with a TIMEX 2048, I began programming in
BASIC at 7 and I have since then developed my knowledge in several areas of IT.
I have several years of experience in various programming languages, like Python, PHP, C++, Javascript,
HTML, CSS and others I use less often, like Assembly.
Nowadays I spend most of my time with Python, with a fair amount of Javascript thrown in, and tools like
Docker, Redis, Vagrant, Gulp, AWS, Google Cloud Platform, MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc.
Django is my favourite generic web framework. Rails is great too, and if I have to use PHP, then I choose
Laravel.
I am a pragmatic perfectionist. I always strive to do the best thing while trying to maintain a healthy balance
between perfect and practical. Well built software, with organised, clean and tested code, making use of
best practices and proven methodologies is a beautiful thing.
Being also an environmentalist at heart, I always strive to do what's best for the environment and I
constantly try to spread awareness of "little big" things that anyone can do and can make a huge difference
for everyone on the planet.
I have also always been connected to sports since I was young. Besides bodyboard, surf and MTB, which I
do regularly, I practised swimming for 9 years, rowing for 4 years (including a national championship and
lots of smaller regional races), and Kung Fu and Tai Chi since 1998.
I am cheerful, sociable, easy going and a person of principles, greatly appreciating values such as honesty,
humility, righteousness, patience and loyalty.
Work experience
Web & Android Developer
Aug 2009 - Present
Ground Up
Since Ground Up is my one man operation, I am responsible for everything, from communicating directly
with clients, to project management, implementing the solutions for each project, researching and
experimenting with new technologies, etc.
I work with other highly intelligent people from a pool of contacts I have gathered over the years, bringing in
the required expertise for each project.
External Consultant
Jan 2016 - Jul 2016
Wall-i
Wall-i is a digital signage solution that aims to be easier and cheaper than the vast majority of competing
solutions by using low-cost hardware like Raspberry-Pis and other mini-computers.
I was brought on board to help create a minimum viable product to install on a few select retail chains as a
test. This included re-creating from scratch all the Python code for the media player and media
synchronisation on the Raspberry-Pi, improving the operating system configuration, and fixing existing
functionalities on the web application (written in Laravel 5).
There were also features with which previous team was struggling and asked me to take over, like a queue
management system implemented entirely by me from scratch using Django, and an alarm scheduling
solution for scenarios such as factories where a bell rings to signal beginning and end of workers' shifts.
https://www.visualcv.com/borfast
Chief Software Architect
May 2012 - Apr 2016
Wemeter
I started as the lead software engineer on the project since its inception, being responsible for everything
from planning, designing and implementing features, deciding what technologies to use, helping the
company choose which path to follow in terms of what functionalities should be offered first or at all,
interviewing and selecting candidates to join the development team, among other things.
Wemeter is a resource consumption metering application designed to give office buildings, shopping malls
and other big buildings detailed information and analytics about their spending on water, gas and
electricity, with other metrics being planned for the short-term future. It is currently deployed in two of
Portugal's biggest shopping malls, with dozens of clients on the waiting list, including international ones.
The product has a micro-service-oriented architecture, with tools written in Python, Go and Java. On the
hardware side it deploys various brands of equipments and we were developing our own hardware
solution starting with Raspberry Pis, for which I was using Ubuntu Core and Salt.
Software Architect
May 2013 - Aug 2015
Conseev, LLC
I was the software architect on DoSocial.com, a powerful social media management platform, similar to
Buffer.
As this was a greenfield project, I had the liberty to choose most of the technologies used. This allowed me
to introduce some web technologies to the company. By introducing tools like unit testing, Fabric,
Beanstalkd, Vagrant and Ansible, I radically improved several aspects of the company's projects by
automating deployments, improving performance and making applications more stable.
Besides the implementation of the vast majority of the code, I was also responsible for the server
configuration and maintenance, software installation and configuration, and generally making sure things
were running smoothly.
I was also part of the recruiting process for the company, as the responsible for the technical interviews of
new candidates.
Server maintenance and operational tasks were also part of my regular activities, such as migrating large
databases to new servers, setting up MySQL replication on them, code reviews, etc.
Finally, I also contributed to the business side by giving feedback and making suggestions to help steer the
company to success.
Software Engineer
Mar 2012 - May 2013
Mukuru
I was the sole developer responsible for implementing the whole Textacash money transfer system that
became an instant success in Zimbabwe, since it changed the lives of so many people by allowing them to
easily have an ATM card and be able to receive money from friends and relatives abroad. More information
here:
- http://www.mukuru.com/zimbabwe/currencies/txt-a-cash-zw-usd
- http://www.cabs.co.zw/index.php/delivery-channels/textacash
I worked directly with the banks involved in the project, using their APIs and making sure everything was
implemented as intended and also providing technical support directly to tellers and banking staff.
Mukuru is mainly a money transfer business and uses a web application as its main tool. I was responsible
for a little of everything, from improving the application caching and performance (I was the one who
introduced Beanstalkd to the application stack), to designing a Restful API, developing new services and
products from scratch, and some system administration tasks.
https://www.visualcv.com/borfast
Web and Android developer
Mar 2011 - Aug 2011
Viatecla
I was responsible for the development of the Android version of one of the company's products, and used
my experience as a web developer to help and advise in other projects, in particular the new HTML5, CSS3
and Javascript smart tv interface for the company's video-on-demand product.
I also used C# to implement the backend for a data visualisation simulator written by someone else in
Silverlight, communicating via web services, and investigated several possible mapping solutions (Google
Maps, Bing Maps, OpenStreetMap, mapnik, Mapbox, TileMill) for implementing some new features in one of
the company's tourism products.
Additionally, I interviewed candidates for potential roles inside the company, assessing their technical
knowledge and personal motivation.
Web Developer
Mar 2010 - Mar 2011
log / DRI
Worked as an outsourced developer on-site for a client (DRI) that did projects for companies like CIMPAS,
Chronopost e PTInovação.
Most projects were related to CRM and were based on one or more of these technologies: PHP, SugarCRM,
Drupal and Zend Framework.
Being one of the persons with most experience on HTML, CSS, Javascript and especially Drupal, I helped a
lot with those technologies.
Web developer, systems administrator, trainer
Sep 2000 - Mar 2010
Fernão Mendes Pinto Secondary School
My main responsibility was to maintain the school's website, which at first was based on a very simple
Content Management System created by myself with PHP and MySQL. As time passed and the needs
increased, the CMS was moved to Drupal, which, although no longer maintained by me, is still the CMS in
use.
In 2006 Moodle was added as an online resource for students and teachers, and the site was moved to a
Virtual Private Server, the maintenance of which was also my responsibility.
Google Apps was also used to provide email accounts for all the school's staff, as well as all the other online
tools Google Apps offers. Students were supposed to also have email accounts and the solution to manage
the accounts was already in place but the school board never decided to go ahead with it.
I also provided training for teachers about the online tools they had available, as well as several workshops
about various computer-related subjects, including linux and open source software.
Web developer
Apr 2009 - Aug 2009
Writers Federation
Development of the website "Writers Federation", a website for writers to expose their work with some
social networking characteristics, based on Drupal. The site's design was implemented by another
company, contracted by the client.
Web developer
Aug 2008 - Nov 2008
Artist Level Networks
I was the senior developer responsible for the development of the website for Artist Level Networks, a
social network for artists implemented with Drupal. My work on the project ended prematurely due to me
suffering an injury that prevented me from commuting to the company office for several weeks, which led
to the rest of the project being developed without my participation.
https://www.visualcv.com/borfast
C++ developer
Oct 2007 - Oct 2008
AnubisNetworks
I was responsible for creating the proof-of-concept prototype for the core module of what would become
the following version of AnubisNetworks' various anti-spam products.
Web developer
Mar 2005 - Oct 2005
ICANS21
I developed and maintained a conference management system for the ICANS21 (21st International
Conference on Amorphous and Nanocrystalline Semiconductors), , that took place in the Faculty of Science
and Technology, of the New University of Lisbon. Features included hotel room reservations, online
payments, and online abstract evaluation and voting.
I also provided technical support for the event organization and to the system users during the conference.
Web developer
May 2005 - Aug 2005
Simbiose
I was responsible for the initial development of a content management system to serve as the base for
every future project of the company. Drupal was proposed instead of "reinventing the wheel" but the
company eventually decided they would prefer to have their own proprietary platform and Drupal was
abandoned.
Web developer
Jan 2005 - Mar 2005
Materiais 2005
I developed and maintained a conference management system for the Materiais 2005 - III International
Materials Symposium and XII Portuguese Materials Socitey Meeting, which took place in the Aveiro
University. Features included hotel room reservations, online payments, and online abstract evaluation and
voting.
I also provided technical support for the event organization and to the system users during the conference.
Developer
2000 - 2002
CDX Project
I was a contributor and later one of the core developers of CDX, a library for game and multimedia
applications development, based on DireIctX and C++.
Systems Administrator
1997 - 2000
H. Blanco Buying Agency
I was responsible for administering the software and the computer network of the company.
Online presence
Github: https://github.com/borfast
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/borfast/
Stack Overflow: https://stackoverflow.com/cv/borfast
Personal website: https://www.borfast.com
https://www.visualcv.com/borfast
