Where I've Been...

Western Michigan University

B.S. Mechanical Engineering | 2012 - 2016

I graduated summa cum laude from Western Michigan Unviversity with a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering, where I was introduced to basic programming. Still, I believed my future was in mechanical engineering (specifically biomechanics).

University of Wisconsin - Madison

M.S. Mechanical Engineering | 2017 - 2019

I completed a Masters degree from UW - Madison (GPA: 3.85), also in mechanical engineering, with a focus in cardiovascular fluid dynamics. I published a first author paper, attended international conferences, and designed intricate experiments. But what I enjoyed most about research was (1), data analysis and (2) the interaction I had with people (conferences, presentations, collaborating, ect). I set out to do something where I could satisfy both of those interests.

Plastic Ingenuity

Sales Engineer | 2019 - 2021

Out of grad school I started working in technical sales for Plastic Ingenuity (PI), a custom thermoformer. In parallel, I began teaching myself to code. Eventually, my self-study intersected with my work at PI, as they needed a business-savy engineer to take over Salesforce development (Me!). Managing high-value opportunities put me in the perfect position to design a system that salespeople understood and found valuable.

Calimetrix

Operations Engineer | 2021 - Present

My most recent landmark is Calimetrix: a Madison-based start-up selling magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test objects. With only 8 team members, my title as operations engineer hardly describes the extent of my responsibilites. I developed an inventory management application, created marketing collateral, helped develop an international compliance program, and manufactured product.

Software Developer

Although circuitous, the above path led me to software engineering. The more I coded, the more I wanted to code - Take a look at the skills and projects I developed along the way!

Click above to learn more!

Low Code

SalesforceZoho Creator

Low code platforms provide tremendous value in business enviornments. Developers can create useful applications in a fraction of the time it takes to develop traditional custom apps. At Plastic Ingenuity, I developed custom Salesforce applications to guide salespeople through our unique sales funnel. At Calimetrix I used Zoho Creator, another low-code development platform, to create a custom inventory management application.

Frontend

ReactGatsbyCSS / SASSHTMLBootstrap / UI SemanticGatsby

I took my first online React course via Udemy.com in fall of 2020, and way too much fun. Toy front-ends turned into larger full stack applications, ultimately resulting in 2 portfolio projects (and many smaller ones): (1) a portfolio website with basic username / password authentication and (2) a job search management application with google oauth authentication. Most recently, I've learned Gatsby.js (a static site generator) - This site is run on Gatsby.

Backend

NodeExpressMongoDB

My backend experience is with node.js and express.js, with mongoDB as the data layer. That said, I've had exposure to postgreSQL and the flask framework (pythong). Both of my portfolio applications include authentication, custom error handling, database connections and of course, React frontends. They are hosted on heroku, but I have experience hosting APIs on Digital Ocean and Linode as well. Most Recently, I've been exploring / learning Robert Martin's (Uncle Bob) clean architecture.

TIM RUESINK

Mechanical Engineer by Training

Software Developer by Passion