Alex Muntean
website: muntean.org
email: cv@muntean.org
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alexmuntean


SUMMARY

* Vast and excellent knowledge of computer systems and programming languages. Fast adoption rate of new technologies. Always committed to intensive research and study, to be up-to-date with the latest technologies & industry trends.
* Extensive experience with design, development and deployment of web applications with a focus on quality and great user experience.
* Design and development for a multicultural user-base using multiple locales and encodings. Considerable experience with internationalization (i18n) and localization (L10n).
* Development experience in international teams using agile methods (Scrum, XP), pair programming and Test-Driven Development.
* Agile project management and vendor management. Product management and business analysis.


TECHNICAL ENVIRONMENT

Note: The languages/technologies/tools marked with a "+" are the ones that I used the most in the last 3-4 years. If you are looking at my resume on my website (muntean.org/projects/resume/), clicking on the "+" will highlight the projects where I used that particular technology.

* Platforms: Internet/Intranet, iOS+, Linux+, Mac OS X+, Microsoft .NET, Mozilla, OpenSolaris+, RIA, SOA, Windows.
* Languages: ActionScript, C, C++, C#, CSS+, HTML+, Java, JavaScript+, MXML, ObjectiveC+, PL/pgSQL+, Python, Ruby+, SQL+, TrafficScript, Visual Basic, UML+, XML+, XSLT, XSD, XUL.
* Databases: Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL+.
* Media: Most Adobe/Macromedia and Corel products. Various Open Source tools.
* Web development: AJAX+, Apache, ASP.NET, Flash, Flex, IIS, JSON+, Mongrel, Mozilla, nginx+, Phusion Passenger, Ruby on Rails+, Sinatra+, Thin+, web services (REST+, RPC, SOAP), ZXTM.
* Tools: ArgoUML, Bugzilla, CVS, Doxygen, Eclipse+, Enterprise Architect (UML), Git+, JIRA/GreenHopper+, NetBeans, Subversion, Trac, vim+, VSS, Xcode+, XMLSpy.


EXPERIENCE

Senior Software Engineer.    Gilt Groupe Japan    Nov, 2008 - Present

Original member of the team that started Gilt Groupe Japan from scratch to become the very first e-commerce site for flash sales in Japan and the current industry leader.

* Involved in all phases of the Japan business: from planning and implementation to management and support. Successfully applied the SCRUM methodology for agile software development.
* Focus on all aspects of the backend systems. Warehouse system / integration with the 3PL (third-party logistics) system. Order processing / payments / integration with the payment gateway. Sales system. Reporting system.
* Design and implementation of a RESTful API for the mobile (keitai) application.
* Data modeling, optimization, internationalization & localization.
* Project management and vendor management. Liaison between Japan business units and US technology team.

Environment: AJAX, Apache, Cocoa, CSS, Eclipse, Git, HTML, iOS, Java, JavaScript, JSON, JIRA/GreenHopper, Linux, Mac OS X, nginx, ObjectiveC, OpenSolaris, Phusion Passenger, PL/pgSQL, PostgreSQL, REST, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Sinatra, SOA, SQL, Thin, TrafficScript, vim, ZXTM.


Senior Software Engineer.    Cerego Japan    Aug, 2007 - Nov, 2008

Part of the team building the first Social Learning Site in Japan and one of the first of its kind in the world: iKnow! The unique blend of a Social Network Site with easy-to-use e-Learning applications and services quickly made iKnow! very popular among Japanese and international users.
Awards: Top 10 Noticeable Japanese sites in 2007, DEMOgod Fall 2008.

* Involved in all project phases: from planning and design to implementation and maintenance.
* Working in a fast-paced environment using only open source technologies and agile development methodologies.
* Successfully applied Extreme Programming (XP) / Test-Driven Development (TDD) / Pair Programming software development methodology.

Environment: AJAX, CSS, Git, HTML, JavaScript, JSON, Linux, Mac OS X, Mongrel, MySQL, NetBeans, nginx, RESTful web services, Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Subversion, UML, vim, XML.


Technology Lead.    Amway Japan    May, 2006 - Aug, 2007

Tech lead of an agile team designing and building Rich Internet Applications (RIA) using a mixture of (mostly) open source technologies and agile development methodologies. Very strong emphasis on the user experience.

* Part of the team responsible with designing the scope and structure for company's next-gen online business toolset. Conducted research, feasibility studies and UI prototyping.
* Design and implementation of an intranet-based Dashboard application. The project quickly became very successful being recognized not only within Amway Japan but also with the international affiliates. This is the very first internal project, implemented using agile methods, with incremental monthly releases.
* Technical consulting (RIA/Flash Platform) for the team responsible with the new e-commerce application. Contributed to the adoption of Flex 2.0 for the front-end, which greatly improved the speed of the development.

Environment: ActionScript 3.0, Adobe Flex 2, AJAX, CSS 2.1, Eclipse, JSON, Linux, Mac OS X, Macromedia Studio 8, MXML, MySQL, REST, Ruby on Rails, Subversion, Trac, UML, web services, various XML technologies.


Software Engineer.    Eastman Kodak Japan, R&D Center    Aug, 2003 - May, 2006

Key member of the award-winning team which developed the world's first Internet-connected, Wi-Fi consumer digital camera: Kodak EasyShare-One.
Contributed to all project phases: design, specification, implementation, testing, and debugging. Acted as an interface between the Japan and the US teams. Successfully applied Extreme Programming (XP) practices for writing and testing the code.

* Editor, reviewer, and member of the design team of various specifications related to this project including a broad set of PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol - PIMA 15740:2000 standard) extensions, XML schemas and other data formats.
* Member of the design and implementation teams developing the UI and the middle-tier for the camera. The result is the first Embedded Rich Internet Application (ERIA).
* Designed and implemented a full PTP Initiator (client) in ActionScript 2.0.
* Designed and implemented a test PTP Responder (server) in C#/.NET.
* Developed a tool for searching and filtering (based on EXIF tags) EXIF JPEG images. Implementation in ANSI C.
* Fully decoded the Macromedia Action Media Format (used by Flash Remoting for RPC) and implemented a C++ codec library.
* Designed and prototyped an AJAX image viewer.
* Created a C++ UTF conversion library for UTF8 <-> UTF16 <-> UTF32 transformation.
* Implemented a Python TCP listener used for logging.

Environment: ActionScript 2.0, AJAX, Altova XMLSpy, ASP.NET, C# 2.0, CSS 2.1, CVS, Doxygen, Enterprise Architect (UML), Flash Remoting (AMF), GCC, HTML, JavaScript 1.5, Linux, Mac OS X, Macromedia Studio 8, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, Python, RPC, Ruby, various XML technologies.


Software Engineer / Webmaster.    East West Consulting Japan    Jul, 2001 - May, 2003

Initiated and heavily contributed to the migration from the old ASP/COM+ system to a new .NET-based system. The first developer in the company and one of the first in Japan to receive the MCAD.NET certification.

* Developed the new job-candidate matching system using a 3-tiered architecture: .NET Windows Forms / .NET Remoting / SQL Server 2000.
* Developed a intranet-based job tracking system using ASP.NET / SQL Server 2000.
* Developed and maintained the company and consultants' web sites. Administered the web servers. Generated web site reports, optimizing and implementing new web promotion strategies. The company became Japan's No.1 Executive Search company in both Google and Yahoo searches.
* Developed and maintained the company's intranet-based Personnel Management Application using a 3-tiered architecture: Internet Explorer / COM+ / SQL Server 2000.

Environment: .NET platform, ActionScript, ADO.NET, ASP.NET, C#, C++, CSS 2, COM+, HTML, JavaScript, Mac OS X, Macromedia Studio MX, Microsoft IIS, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Visual Studio 2003, VBScript, various XML technologies.


Software Engineer / Founder.    Genuine Ltd.    Sep, 1998 - Jun, 2001

Co-founder of a successful startup involved in a very diverse range of activities from IT consulting & web development to design services & typography.

* Developed interactive web sites and web applications (both Internet & intranet) for local and international clients. Administered the web servers.
* Successfully used Internet Explorer 5's XMLHttpRequest API together with DHTML and CSS for an e-commerce application. This technique will be known five years later as AJAX.

Environment: ActionScript, ASP, ADO, CSS, HTML, Java, JavaScript, Linux, Macromedia Studio, Microsoft Visual Studio, SQL, VBScript, Windows, various XML technologies.


Software Developer.    Topo-Cadastru Ltd.    May, 1997 - Sep, 1998

* Development and maintenance of a database application for topography-cadastre data acquisition. Export capabilities to Excel and data plotting in AutoCAD.

Environment: AutoCAD, Borland C++ Builder, Excel, FoxPro, VBA, Windows.


Software Developer / Webmaster.    Logon Ltd.    Sep, 1995 - Mar, 1997

* Development and maintenance of a cargo tracking database for transportation industry clients. Linux & Apache web server administration. Worked as the company's sole web developer helping the company to establish an early presence on the Internet.

Environment: Apache, Borland Delphi, Borland Paradox, CGI, HTML, Linux, MS-DOS, Novell, Visual Basic, Windows.


PERSONAL PROJECTS

Mozilla related: http://muntean.org/projects/mozilla/

* Locate in Bookmark Folders - Locates a bookmark in Bookmarks Manager's folders tree or in the Bookmarks Sidebar, complementing the Bookmark Search feature of Firefox.
* Several Firefox search plugins and Greasemonkey scripts.

Environment: CSS, DTD, JavaScript 1.5, Linux, Mac OS X, Mozilla, RDF, XML, XUL.


CERTIFICATIONS

These certifications were obtained between 2002-2004, so the list is mostly for "historical" reasons.

* Master-level certifications from Brainbench for .NET Framework, Computer Fundamentals, CSS2, Dreamweaver, English Vocabulary, HTML 4, JavaScript 1.5, RDBMS Concepts, VBScript, Web Development Concepts, and XML.
* Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD Microsoft .NET):
  * Developing and Implementing Windows-based Applications with Microsoft Visual C# .NET
  * Developing and Implementing Web Applications with Microsoft Visual C# .NET
  * Developing XML Web Services and Server Components with Microsoft Visual C# .NET
* Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP Microsoft .NET).


EDUCATION

* 1999: MS in Computer Science. ULBS, Sibiu, Romania. Diploma thesis in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the subject: "RoboCup Competition: real-time learning, planning and modeling in a dynamic multi-agent environment".
* 1998: BS in Computer Science. ULBS, Sibiu, Romania. Diploma thesis developed at the R&D department of ELWE Lehrsysteme from Cremlingen, Germany with the subject "Software development for displaying AC/DC motor characteristics using the interface Comenius".
* European Tempus Project JEP-9737/97 Scholarship in Cremlingen, Germany. Feb-Jul 1998.


LANGUAGES

* Romanian: native, English: bilingual proficiency, Japanese: limited working proficiency, Italian: elementary proficiency.
* Actively studying business Japanese.

[ last update: 2011-04-24 ]