Derek Garcia Email & Phone Number

Honolulu, Hi, Us

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Remote

I was part of the Chainguard Labs! team and developed various software and perform research tasks surrounding Chainguard Images. I made heavy use of Docker and Python to collect and gather data, consolidating my findings into weekly reports to the Labs! team.

Rochester, New York, United States

After the successful completion of the tasks of the contract awarded to the lab, I off-boarded the remainder of my team and handled any outstanding tasks. With no major project to focus on, I transitioned out of my developer lead role and I remained with the lab as a Research Assistant. I developed various automation, web-scrapper, and code analysis scripts to aid several post-doc students with their research. I also used the experience to broaden my exposure to various challenges and interesting research problems to incorporate into my research.

Rochester, New York, United States

After accepting an internship opportunity at Vanguard, I remained at the Laboratory of Software Design and Productivity part-time to help complete final deliverables for the government contract. As the size of the Rochester team drastically reduced, I took a more involved role in developing the remaining critical features. I followed SOLID design principles, practiced test-driven development, and wrote robust documentation to ensure sustainable code for future development teams. I was heavily involved with the final quality assurance of the software to address any pressing issues before final submission.Additionally, I was responsible for onboarding the future developer team from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. I thoroughly explained our development practices, software history, and codebase so the new developers could start contributing quickly and effectively. With ownership transferring to the University of Hawai'i, I was less involved in Agile planning methodologies and assumed an advisor role. I assisted the Hawai'i leadership in implementing Agile development practices, used my experience with the project to provide estimated development timelines, and provided general advice and guidance when needed.As a final contribution to the project, I wrote several detailed reports for the government sponsors, summarizing all the capabilities of the software and our research findings.

Rochester, New York, United States

After completing a summer internship working with Dr. Mehdi Mirakhorli and the LearnSBOM Team, I was offered the opportunity to continue working for the Laboratory of Software Design and Productivity. The lab was awarded a government contract and I played a crucial role in developing the team and ensuring the success of the contract.To help fulfill the needs of the contract, I was tasked with finding talented individuals; growing our team from three to over thirty developers. I developed a series of software tasks and questions to assess applicants' coding abilities and fit for the position. I identified and interviewed top candidates with backgrounds ranging from Software Engineering to Cybersecurity. I was also responsible for their onboarding and quick integration with the rest of the team.As a Senior Team Lead, I helped establish and maintain critical project infrastructure throughout the contract. I coordinated several teams totaling 15 to 20 developers across several projects using Agile methodologies. I was responsible for breaking down contract deliverables into MVPs and SCRUM plans for my team to work on and summarize our progress in detailed and technical reports. I met regularly with government sponsors to demonstrate our progress and answer any technical questions that would arise. I practice a "servant-leadership" approach through a hands-on leadership style and provided my team with all the necessary resources they needed to succeed. This process involved hosting weekly meetings and standups where I encouraged team input to ensure my team had a welcoming and collaborative environment to voice their thoughts and opinions. In addition to my lead responsibilities, I was heavily involved in developing system architectures and day-to-day code development. I utilized SOLID design principles and proper git practices for quality code.

Rochester, New York, United States

I worked with a small team for the Laboratory of Software Design and Productivity at RIT. We worked with tools that help manage Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs). We were working to create a central database of information to help educate and inform the Software Development Community on the importance of SBOMs, especially in the wake of major security breaks such as the SolarWinds hack and Log4j vulnerabilities. By creating a database of SBOM tools, we aimed to help push for more widespread adoption in the Software Development field by making SBOM tools as easy as possible to learn to use and to find the correct tool to apply to any given software environment.This required that I read through numerous source code documentation of varying levels of depth and learn the basics of a myriad of languages (PHP, Docker, Go, JavaScript, and more) to develop a thorough understanding of the software. I then translated that information into Video Demonstrations that would briefly and effectively explain how to use the software. That process also involved the use of basic video recording and editing skills to best illustrate the concept. After a demonstration was published, I engaged with the community to answer any questions they had about the tool.In addition to contributing to the database, I played a small role in developing the design and function of the early LearnSBOM website. This included extensive work with HTML, JavaScript, and API integration. I would also write and contribute some articles about SBOMs.

Malvern, Pennsylvania, United States

I joined the Global Technology Operations team at Vanguard where I developed critical automation software for Vanguard's Out-of-Region Resiliency Program.As part of Vanguard's Out-of-Region Resiliency Program, a new data center was constructed on the U.S. West Coast to strengthen Vanguard operations. To help automate the data center, I developed Ansible playbooks to manage the infrastructure during testing and event operations, drastically reducing the risk of manual misconfigurations and the time required to configure.I worked with a small team of developers utilizing Ansible, AWX, AWS, and Bitbucket to test the automation in various regions to ensure a reliable automation script.

Rochester, New York, United States

I oversaw and helped run several areas within the dining area to ensure smooth service to patrons. I also helped train new staff in various dining room operations and ensure they were able to integrate into the fast-paced environment with ease.

Rochester, New York, United States

I helped run various cooking areas within one of RIT's dining halls, frequently working under pressure to ensure each patron receives their order quickly. I also interacted and maintained good relationships with the patrons.

Calverton, New York, United States

I was in charge of running and maintaining an area of the camp dedicated to teaching practial outdoor skills. I prepared lesson plans for each staff member containing correct content to teach to campers. When not instructing or managing, I served as general staff and would assist in meal prep and cleaning and sanitizing of facilities among other tasks. I played an active role in keeping campers safe during the COVID-19 pandemic by enforcing social distancing and mask wearing policies as well as following those policies while interacting with campers.

Phd, Computer Science

Master'S Degree, Computer Science

Bachelor'S Degree, Computer Science