Roger

About Roger

In my world, I often find myself balancing the thrill of flying with the joy of teaching code. Every day is an opportunity to inspire the next generation of developers as they dive into the world of programming languages like HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript/TypeScript, and more. I’ve spent over six years at edX partnering with 68+ universities, where I teach immersive courses that transform career switchers into capable software engineers ready to tackle real-world challenges.As an instructor and developer, I\'ve guided hundreds of students through intensive boot camps—over 250 hours of hands-on learning at The University of Texas at Austin alone! Watching my students land excellent jobs after completing our programs is incredibly rewarding. Their success stories fuel my passion for teaching even more.Before stepping into education full-time, I honed my skills as a Senior Software Developer at The University of Texas at Austin. I was responsible for maintaining a CMS-powered website using C#.NET while implementing CI/CD practices on Microsoft Azure. My experience also includes building APIs that support mobile applications and creating administrative portals using PHP and MySQL.You might find me soaring through the skies as a pilot when I\'m not coding or teaching. This love for aviation mirrors my approach to technology—always exploring new heights and pushing boundaries. Flying and coding require precision, creativity, and an adventurous spirit.If you\'re interested in discussing software development education or exploring collaboration opportunities in tech training programs, feel free to reach out via email! Let\'s connect and see how we can inspire others together.Skills: HTML5 | CSS3 | JavaScript/TypeScript | MySQL | MongoDB | ExpressJS | Apollo GraphQL | CI/CD | GitHub Actions | Jest | Cypress

Experience

1. Senior Software Engineer Software Coach

   Akima

   Dec 2025 — Present · Austin, TX, US

   Lead design and development of Java Spring Boot microservices for scalable, low-latency, high-availability systems.Design and maintain containerized services using Docker, enabling consistent local development, testing, and deployment across environments.Drive architecture and technical decision-making, evaluating trade-offs across performance, scalability, maintainability, and security.Champion Test-Driven Development (TDD) using JUnit and Mockito, improving code quality and reducing production regressions.Collaborate with product managers and technical leads to translate complex requirements into clean, maintainable technical solutions.Mentor and pair with junior engineers through XP practices, code reviews, and design discussions, accelerating team effectiveness and knowledge transfer.Build and maintain RESTful APIs consumed by modern React frontends.Integrate services into CI/CD pipelines, leveraging Docker to support automated testing and reliable deployments.Operate as a trusted senior individual contributor, balancing hands-on delivery with technical leadership across the full software lifecycle.Core Technologies:Java 21, Spring Boot 3, REST APIs, React 19, Docker, JUnit, Mockito, Git, Agile, CI/CD

Education

• Western Governors University

  Bachelor of Science - BS, Computer Science

• Western Governors University

  Masters, Computer Science - Human Computer Interface

• The University of Texas at Arlington

  Bachelor of Science - BS, Information Systems

Skills

• C#
• Zendframework
• Jquery
• Web Applications
• Laravel
• Windows 7
• Mvc
• Web Services
• Databases
• Javascript
• Html 5
• Apache
• Java
• Xml
• Ubuntu
• Ajax
• Html
• Visual Basic
• Microsoft Office
• Php
• Cascading Style Sheets (Css)
• Jquery UI
• Lamp
• Mobile Applications
• Codeigniter
• Os X
• Sql
• Mac Os X
• Linux
• Git
• Web Development
• Software Development
• Python
• Html5
• Xhtml
• Css
• Node.js
• Subversion
• Mysql
• Microsoft Sql Server