Edwin Lai

Growing up, I was always a huge techie, but I never had to touch anything more involved than scripts to solve my computer problems before college. The first time I ran into coding was during a distribution requirement for my major, applied mathematics, while attending UCLA. During that class, I found that coding came very naturally to me, so I decided to pivot to web development after graduation.

Now I'm a full stack software engineer with ~4 years of experience in web application development. Tools I've worked with in the past include Kubernetes, Python, Django, JavaScript, and Angular. I enjoy building and shipping products users love, writing software that makes the lives of stakeholders and individual contributors easier, and bringing clarity and a human touch to engineering organizations. My colleagues would describe me as a consistently high performer who insists on implementing and evangelizing best practices.

The below is a selection of my past non-proprietary work. For better or worse, most of the work these days is proprietary.

Portfolio

Vetter

Digital Loan Automation Platform

Vetter
  • Implement redesign of marketing site and loan product based on Invision and Zeplin prototypes.
  • Work on loan processing web application used by small banks to improve throughput.
  • Consult with head of engineering and product manager to determine aesthetic direction.

WANDR

Connecting Savvy Travelers with Enterprising Hoteliers

WANDR

Features

  • Provided price conscious travelers with convenient packages assembled through partnerships with hotels looking to offload expiring inventory.
  • Project involved an automated scraper to collect data used for predicting future flight prices.

Stellaris Species Generator | Github

Utility for Creating Stellaris Species

Stellaris Species Generator

Features

  • Over 10,000 users in 5 days!
  • All known traits, ethos, and government forms available at species creation are selectable.
  • Tells users what trait, ethos, and government combinations are allowed on the fly.
  • Summary page collates species information in an aesthetically pleasing format.

Helping Hand | Github

Personal Fundraising Site Inspired by GoFundMe

Features

  • High-performance single page web app powered by React and Flux.
  • JavaScript search utility automatically filters results based on changes in user input.
  • Uses Ruby on Rails custom routes to respond to AJAX requests not covered by RESTful routes.

RainbowRoad | Github

JavaScript Browser Game Influenced by Candyland

Features

  • Animations used to move pieces and communicate gameplay instructions to players.
  • Implements computer players that are equally competent compared to human players.

ModelMapper | Github

Lightweight ORM Framework Based on ActiveRecord

Features

  • Replicates the most commonly used features of ActiveRecord without excess baggage.
  • Modules and inheritance keep code maintainable and DRY.