Roger Knowles Email & Phone Number

Dalton, Ga

I am a member of a two-person web development team whose primary responsibility is maintaining an online sales portal for our customers and sales staff. The site offers complex order processing, shopping cart, and sales support functionality for our customers and our nationwide sales team. We use Microsoft web technologies to maintain and upgrade the site, which connects to an IBM iSeries back end for all of its data and much of its business logic. I have been tasked with defining a path to modernize the web site, which was written in 2006. I am designing the new web site with a mobile-first approach, and separating the functionality of the site into a web service to provide data, and a client application to consume that data. The site is extremely large and contains many, many separate applications. The goal of my new design is to create a modern wrapper that can “host” the legacy applications so we can then begin the process of migrating/modernizing each application, one by one. This will allow our small team to modernize the key applications first and provide the urgent improvements that are needed, while allowing the site to continue to provide all of its current functionality. I am currently creating a Proof of Concept for the new design.This position has provided me with the opportunity to become familiar with the AS400/iSeries architecture and functionality, and given me an opportunity to work with P/L SQL, in contrast to the T-SQL I have used in previous positions.

The diverse nature of the solutions I implemented at Vector not only gave me the opportunity to learn a variety of technologies, but also to learn the critical skill of choosing the correct technology for the current challenge. Those solutions include:• A web-based database application that allows hundreds of users to manage tens of thousands of inventory items• Networked desktop applications that create and manage complex hierarchical data. • A company intranet site where employees can connect with one another• A small desktop application that helps clients collate and package targeted filesI also contributed in these other areas:• Mentored other developers, often teaching them the technology necessary to create a particular solution, and then supervising their implementation of the solution plan.• Procurement Integrity Officer for VectorCSP: acted as a point of contact for anyone who observed or suspected any improper activity regarding procurement within the company, its partners or its competitors. Though this role did not make many demands on my time, and it did not demonstrate my technical abilities, it did demonstrate that I was a highly regarded and trusted member of VectorCSP’s team.• Alternate Facility Security Officer for VectorCSP: received Basic Industrial Security training and passed the certification test for that training. This position requires a Secret security clearance.After leaving VectorCSP as a full-time employee, I have been fortunate enough to continue helping them with various projects for both internal company use, and for their clients.

Edenton, North Carolina

I was a key member of the development team that maintained a desktop engineering software solution. The solution enabled users to design and analyze truss systems for buildings. The software was quite complex, as it allowed the design of trusses and could then apply and analyze load forces that could potentially render the design unacceptable. The project provided me with a great opportunity to work in a very complex system and to not only become comfortable with that complexity, but to become a designer and creator within it. Because of my aggressive efforts to continually improve my knowledge and my skill as a programmer, I was able to survive several team downsizing events, which saw several senior team members leave the company.

Edenton, North Carolina

Eden Street Software was a tiny start-up company that provided an exciting environment for creativity and learning. It was formed around a product which provided virtual tours of the four most visited tourism destinations in the southeast of the United States; St. Augustine, Fl., Savannah, Ga., Charleston, SC., and New Orleans, La. The project provided a wonderful opportunity for Roger to dive into the world of software development. Being part of such a small team affords one the ability to contribute in a way that is difficult to do in larger teams, and this proved to be a fantastic experience as a first job in the industry.

Associate Degree, Computer Programming

Activities and Societies: Alpha Phi Omega

Bachelor'S Degree, Music