Quinn Wass

About Quinn Wass

I am a Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft specializing in the architecture and performance of large-scale distributed systems and database internals. Currently, I am a core member of the Fabric Graph team, where I’ve helped scale a distributed OLAP graph engine from its earliest prototypes to a public-facing Microsoft offering used by large internal and external services.My expertise in systems and high-scale software: optimizing query engines, building zero-copy distributed messaging layers, and designing fault-tolerant infrastructure. I have deep experience in- Database Internals: Query optimization (Volcano-style execution), predicate/projection pushdown, and rule-based logical optimizers- High-Performance Systems: C++(20) optimization, eliminating CPU bottlenecks, and memory-efficient data shuffling via gRPC and Apache Arrow- Distributed Architecture: Regional replication, consistent metadata stores, and self-healing Kubernetes infrastructure.Core Tech: C++(20), Go, C#, gRPC, Apache Arrow, Kubernetes, & Azure.I enjoy tackling hard engineering problems whether it’s reducing query latency by 30% or architecting cross-boundary security primitives and mentoring teams to raise the bar on code quality and performance debugging.

Experience

1. Senior Software Engineer

   Microsoft

   Nov 2024 — Present · Seattle, WA, US

   Level: 64Fabric Graph team - Engine Internals- Building a distributed high performance analytical graph engine in C++- Distributed query engine development and optimization- Implemented predicate and projection pushdown rules within the rule based logical optimizer, reducing IO amplification and decreasing query latency by 30%- Designed a zero-copy distributed messaging layer (gRPC) to support shuffles, preventing buffer duplication and executor backpressure collapse under peak load while maintaining reliability- Lead the development of distributed testing and benchmarking infrastructure used by the team to evaluate new query and ingestion optimizations.https://blog.fabric.microsoft.com/en-US/blog/the-foundation-for-powering-ai-driven-operations-fabric-real-time-intelligence/

Education

• Seattle University

  Bachelor of Science, Magna Cum Lade, Computer Science