Currently I'm employed at a company offering cloud-based VoIP/PBX solutions for businesses, working on their Python/Django backend. Previously, I worked at Sony Pictures Imageworks, helping to manage their render farm and automating delivery processes for feature films.

Director of Platform @ From July 2015 to Present (6 months) Platform Development Engineer -> Platform Architect @ Responsible for maintaining the server-side stack for a VoIP/texting YC startup’s platform. This includes writing Django code and web APIs, working with Postgres and managing our AWS cloud infrastructure. • Built a deployment management system, virtually eliminating deployment-related downtime • Reduced message thread load time by 36% at the 95th percentile by streamlining our threading model • Created Riak-backed microservice with custom Solr schemas and extractors (Erlang) • Designed/implemented Django-style ORM in Python for Riak • Wrote client-facing Tastypie REST API allowing users to register short code groups • Achieved over 99.9% uptime of infrastructure by re-working AWS hosting scheme • Automated host management via AWS OpsWorks by creating Chef recipes to support our stack • Saved over $4k/month by de-sharding the main database and removing embedded sharding logic From November 2013 to July 2015 (1 year 9 months) Sr. Production Services Technician @ Developed Python and web applications implementing and improving show pipelines. Responsible for managing the allocation of rendering and storage resources. Assisted artists and production with technical issues. Facilitated global data transfer between both remote facilities and external vendors. • Wrote a department-standard shot management tool used by over 7 shows, earning peer-elected award • Developed Python application that aggregated validation/archive data for over 800 shots • Reduced delivery processing time over 90% by automating with a distributed computing solution • Wrote a tool to graph CPU usage analysis, helping production reduce inefficient render farm booking • Contributed FX to 13 shots on The Smurfs 2 including lightning, particle, and dust simulations • Projects: "The Smurfs"​, "The Amazing Spider-Man"​, "The Smurfs 2"​, "The Edge of Tomorrow" From May 2010 to November 2013 (3 years 7 months) Tutor @ Taught high school through graduate level students in one-on-one sessions, helping them with both academic coursework and standardized tests. • Taught geometry, algebra, physics and multivariable calculus • Worked well with many students in both long term and emergency test prep tutoring situations From September 2007 to 2011 (4 years) Research Assistant in Astrophysics @ Assisted professor in carrying out research investigating the attenuation of Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies at high redshifts and the corresponding implications for modeling the evolution of the intergalactic medium. • Inverted statistical prediction function in Mathematica to find domain limits for testing hypothesis • Ran validity tests to determine plausible detection parameters for automated image analysis of galaxies • Correlated data extracted from Hubble/ground images on over 100 galaxies for comparison to model From August 2005 to March 2008 (2 years 8 months)

Bachelor of Science (BS), Physics @ University of California, Irvine From 2003 to 2008 Bachelor of Arts (BA), Drama @ University of California, Irvine From 2003 to 2008 Max Smythe is skilled in: Python, JavaScript, Physics, C++, Visual Effects, Mathematica, Linux, PyQt, Houdini, Katana, HTML, Java, Multivariable Calculus, Statistical Data Analysis, Databases