HI, I'M JOEL
Below is a showcase of web apps, sites, and projects I've built. I hope you enjoy!
FULL-STACK SKILLZ
A website and browser extension to help make online news more freely accessible for all.
Runs on JavaScript in the cloud via Cloudflare Workers. Browser extension is client-side JavaScript.
The most popular paywall extension in the Chrome store. Over 15K users and 140K pageviews monthly, and growing.
You know you've made something good when the copycats come crawling..
Various projects or bootstrapped startup ideas that didn't make it, for one reason or another.
Custom storefront related to the survival gear niche. The site allowed you to create bespoke survival kits in a custom-built shopping cart and then passed you to checkout on Amazon. Two person project. Python/Django, Heroku, background workers, Amazon Product Advertising API, HTML/CSS/JavaScript.
Developed an internal web app for a previous job that tracks the progress of IPs through various checklist milestones. Database-backed CRUD app allowed users to add and remove blocks, assign block owners, and mark progress on each checklist item across multiple blocks. Python/Django, AJAX, HTML/CSS/JavaScript.
One digital news subscription that would get you access to all partner sites. I developed a proof of concept that let you log into the partner sites (similar to Single Sign-On). The difficulty of partnering with giant conglomerates and differences in co-founder expectations pretty much doomed this one from the start.
Many bootstrapped companies employ a technique of building a simple landing page to test if there is market interest in an idea before building the entire product. Here are some validation landing pages of my own.
My first love
The conversion of my Honda CRX to battery-powered EV. Over 300 hours put into engineering, custom metal fabrication, circuit design, and high-voltage electrical work.
C-Rex was faster than stock, cost less to operate, had fewer moving parts, and was more fun to drive! Sadly, I sold him when I became a dad since he had no backseats. ðŸ˜
The easy part.. if it leaks or squeaks, it's gone!
DC motor mounted to the original transmission
Still have that fresh-from-Shenzen smell!
A good chunk of time went into designing the battery packs, the heart of any EV
I cut a hole in the floor behind the front seats. GR8 Stuff is my friend.
Painted maize, of course
Six months of planning, setbacks, and late nights
Lots of body work and a brand new paint job later
After my sister had a scary encounter in the park, I set out to make a stungun that could be operated hands-free, so there was no excuse to leave it at home.
An onboard accelerometer detects an intentional double-shake of the device to set it off. I designed the circuit and PCB, drew the enclosure in CAD, and wrote the firmware.
The final product worked, but my wife was too scared to have such high-voltage so near her wrist. And that's the tale of how I learned the hard lesson of not talking to my users first.
Teeny tiny parts
Baking an early prototype
Measuring and plotting accelerometer response
The profile of a double-shake
Running in the lab like an idiot
Soooo maaany batteries..
An enclosure rendering
You want renderings? I've got plenty
As a consultant, I turned my client's idea for an internet-connected impact-sensing car alarm into a shipping product. He's sold millions in revenue.. wish I'd asked for equity 😂
BMMPR plugs into the OBD-II port, and has cellular and bluetooth connectivity, GPS, and an accelerometer. I designed all the hardware and wrote the firmware to connect to the mobile app and an AWS backend.
The journey of 1000 miles begins with one giant breadboard covered in evaluation boards
Using a development board to figure out why I wasn't getting GPS lock
The mainboard contains the OBD connector, buck converter, accelerometer, and cellular radio
The daughterboard plugs on top of the mainboard and has the microcontroller, bluetooth radio, and GPS module
Learning whatever skills I need to solve problems.
Design of web apps with Python, JavaScript, Django, SQL, and Bootstrap. Topics include database design, scalability, security, and user experience.
Review site Chat app Shopping cart
Learn to build database-backed APIs and web applications with Python, Flask, and JavaScript. Database design, manage user authentication and access control with Docker and Kubernetes.
Music venue app API design Roles-based access control
Fundamentals of machine learning taught by Andrew Ng. Supervised machine learning algorithms, including linear regression, logistic regression, neural networks, and support vector machines. Python and Matlab.
Handwritten digit recognition Spam classification filter Anomaly detection Movie recommendation engine
“Joel performed well beyond my high expectations. He was self motivated, and was quickly able to set his own goals and timelines for his work. He did excellent independent research ... He incorporated both large and small pieces of innovations to meet the demanding project requirements. Joel maintained a high level of focus in his day to day work. He is not easily distracted from the task at hand. I cannot remember him ever missing a deadline for a deliverable. Joel worked very well with the other engineers in the group. He works well under pressure and is able to bring his ideas in team discussions in a positive, non-confrontational manner. He delivers across all possible considerations: productivity, initiative, responsiveness , and professionalism. His friendly positive personality is a great asset to any team environment.”
Principal Engineer at Intel
“Joel did well working independently, even on difficult problems ... His work was of the highest quality. Throughout his time on my team, Joel showed a knack for learning new subjects quickly, he showed excellent communication/teamwork, and he reliably met his schedules. I'd be happy to have Joel return to my team!”
Director of Engineering at Intel
“Joel understands complex matters even when outside of his direct area of expertise. He is quickly able to learn new software tools, which enables him to spend less time with the mechanics of the job and more time doing the actual work before him. Joel's work ethic and attitude are an asset to any team.”
Principal Engineer at Edge Scientific