Hi, I'm Justin Mahar
I'm a full stack software engineer from Upstate NY with a passion for designing and building cutting-edge, cost-effective web applications.
Skills & Experience
As an RIT grad with over 15 years of software engineering experience, I've been fortunate enough to lead a talented team and develop a wide range of projects in my career. These include accessibility technology, enterprise medical software, and development tools, with a variety of API integrations including speech-to-text, AI, geolocation, e-commerce, social media, and more.
I specialize in serverless and composable architectures that leverage APIs, BaaS, and PaaS services. My expertise in these web technologies allows me to rapidly develop robust, scalable, and secure applications that are responsive, cross-browser compatible, and visually appealing—all with ultra-low cost and overhead. I've listed a few of my go-to technologies and frameworks below.
Hobbies
In my leisure time, I enjoy playing improv piano, reading, running 5Ks, the outdoors, cooking up epic meals with loved ones, and contributing to the open source community. I'm a nerd at heart and am always working on a passion project.
Your Turn
Thanks for stopping by. Have a look around, check out my projects and tools, and let me know if there's anything I can do to help you bring your tech dreams to life.
Onwards and upwards,
Justin
Experience
Assistant Director of Software Development
NTID Center on Access Technology
- Developed the TigerChat speech-to-text web app within a 6-week period using React, TypeScript, and Gatsby, now aiding communication for over 20,000 people annually.
- Implemented the C4 Access Service web app, combining speech-to-text technology with human captioning, using React, TypeScript, and Gatsby, currently serving at least 15 classes weekly in closed beta.
- Managed the transition from GitLab to GitHub, successfully migrating over 1000 issues and establishing a Kanban development workflow in GitHub Projects.
- Hired, mentored, and co-managed five developers, leading to the introduction of four additional critical features across service offerings.
Senior Software Engineer
NTID Center on Access Technology
- Achieved a 90% reduction in captionist typing and enhanced caption accuracy to over 98% by integrating speech-to-text APIs from Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and IBM into C-Print Desktop.
- Performed Zoom REST API integration for C-Print Desktop, establishing it as the first available captioning service on Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Developed a Ruby on Rails service hub, optimizing the connection process between service providers and clients, cutting setup times by more than 50%.
- Hired, mentored, and co-managed five developers who were instrumental in developing five crucial product enhancements.
Software Engineer
NTID Office of the President
- Designed and built C-Print Desktop and C-Print Mobile, leading to market leadership as the top captioning software in the US across over 200 organizations.
- Developed a cross-platform Adobe AIR AS3 mobile app, establishing a mobile presence for iOS and Android with a unified codebase.
- Led the migration from SVN and Trac, to Git and GitLab, streamlining issue tracking for over 500 issues and adopting industry-standard version control.
- Conducted 12 weekly focus groups with the Department of Access Services, collecting feedback that led to over 50 software improvements.
Junior Software Engineer
NTID Research and Teacher Education
- Implemented a new build system using Apache Ant, reducing build times by 78%.
- Created a JUnit test suite covering 100% of all software modules, ensuring high software reliability and performance.
- Designed and implemented a new captioning dictionary system, supporting over 1 million entries and achieving near-instant lookup times.
Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering (BSSE)
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)
Interested in what I have to offer?
I'd love to chat about projects for which I might seem like a great fit. You can download my up-to-date CV by clicking the button below.
If you're interested in working together, feel free to reach out via the contact form. I don't appreciate cold calls nor do I answer calls from unknown numbers.