Colin Banigan
Resume
Experience
Senior Software Engineer
Instacart
Full-Stack Software Engineer within Core Growth for Instacart. Currently working on optimizing our customer activation funnel, revamping our customers and shoppers homepage, landing pages, and storefront with performance and design updates, improving SEO, integrating Instacart with Google Shopping and other paid channels, as well as driving targeted marketing campaigns.
Experience working alongside engineering, product, data science, design, and marketing to craft the best software to suit market needs.
Relevant technologies: Ruby (Ruby on Rails, Rspec), JavaScript/TypeScript (React, Node, Jest), Python (Apache Airflow), Amazon Web Services (AWS), Segment, Google Tag Manager (GTM), DataDog, SQL (PostgreSQL), HAML, SASS, HTML, CSS
Experience working alongside engineering, product, data science, design, and marketing to craft the best software to suit market needs.
Relevant technologies: Ruby (Ruby on Rails, Rspec), JavaScript/TypeScript (React, Node, Jest), Python (Apache Airflow), Amazon Web Services (AWS), Segment, Google Tag Manager (GTM), DataDog, SQL (PostgreSQL), HAML, SASS, HTML, CSS
Software Engineer
Capital One
Software Engineer within Data Engineering in Capital One Financial Services. Re-engineered the data pipeline from on-premise to the cloud (AWS). Work included distributed computing for data load, transformation, and validation (PySpark + AWS EMR + S3 + Snowflake), full-stack web development (Angular + Java Spring Boot/Python Flask + PostgreSQL), autonomous deployment on an internal CI/CD pipeline with unit, integration, and performance tests (Docker + Jenkins + Python Unittest + Behave + JMeter), and machine learning data analysis (Python + H2O).
Software Engineering Intern
Capital One
Full-stack developer within the Home Loans Department. Fully integrated a core feature in the main Home Loans application to vizualize and sort previous contact information to improve customer satisfaction. Project included creating a UI in Angular 4, writing an OL in STS, and retrieving data from Cassandra DBs.
Undergraduate Researcher
The StoryLab at Texas A&M University
Android developer and researcher at The StoryLab. Primary research focused on informal science education through the use of Android Wear smart watches. Secondary research compared and contrasted movement within virtual reality.
Education
M.S. in Computer Science
Georgia Institute of Technology
GPA — 3.8
Master of Science in Computer Science with a specialization in Interactive Intelligence from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Completed two graduate classes while pursuing my undergraduate degree at Texas A&M:
Completed eight graduate classes with Georgia Tech:
Master of Science in Computer Science with a specialization in Interactive Intelligence from Georgia Institute of Technology.
Completed two graduate classes while pursuing my undergraduate degree at Texas A&M:
- CSCE 671: Computer-Human Interaction
- CSCE 625: Artificial Intelligence
Completed eight graduate classes with Georgia Tech:
- CS 7637: Knowledge-Based AI
- CS 6300: Software Development Process
- CS 7646: Machine Learning for Trading
- CS 6440: Intro to Health Informatics
- CS 6035: Introduction to Information Security
- CS 7638: Robotics: AI Techniques
- CS 8803: AI, Ethics, and Society
- CS 7641: Machine Learning
B.S. in Computer Science
Texas A&M University
GPA — 3.57
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Texas A&M's Department of Engineering. Completed two minors in Visualization and Cybersecurity, and a Business Management Certificate with the Mays Business School at Texas A&M. Graduated Cum Laude.
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Texas A&M's Department of Engineering. Completed two minors in Visualization and Cybersecurity, and a Business Management Certificate with the Mays Business School at Texas A&M. Graduated Cum Laude.
Publications
Wearables for Learning: Examining the Smartwatch as a Tool for Situated Science Reflection
CHI '18: Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Abstract:
Relatively little research exists on the use of smartwatches to support learning. This paper presents an approach for commodity smartwatches as a tool for situated reflection in elementary school science. The approach was embodied in a smartwatch app called ScienceStories that allows students to voice record reflections about science concepts anytime, anywhere. We conducted a study with 18 fifth-grade children to investigate first, the effects of ScienceStories on students' science self-efficacy, and second the effects of different motivational structures (gamification, narrative-based, hybrid) designed into the smartwatch app on students' quality and quantity of use. Quantitative results showed ScienceStories increased science self-efficacy especially with a motivational structure. The gamified version had the highest quantity of use, while narrative performance performed worst. Qualitative findings described how students' recordings related to science topics and were contextualized. We discuss how our findings contribute to understanding of how to design smartwatch apps for educational purposes.
Relatively little research exists on the use of smartwatches to support learning. This paper presents an approach for commodity smartwatches as a tool for situated reflection in elementary school science. The approach was embodied in a smartwatch app called ScienceStories that allows students to voice record reflections about science concepts anytime, anywhere. We conducted a study with 18 fifth-grade children to investigate first, the effects of ScienceStories on students' science self-efficacy, and second the effects of different motivational structures (gamification, narrative-based, hybrid) designed into the smartwatch app on students' quality and quantity of use. Quantitative results showed ScienceStories increased science self-efficacy especially with a motivational structure. The gamified version had the highest quantity of use, while narrative performance performed worst. Qualitative findings described how students' recordings related to science topics and were contextualized. We discuss how our findings contribute to understanding of how to design smartwatch apps for educational purposes.
Becoming Makers: Examining "Making" Literacy in the Elementary School Science Classroom
IDC '17: Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children
Abstract:
This paper extends the concept of digital literacy and applies it to Making. Through case descriptions, we contribute an understanding of how children can become or fail to become individuals literate in Making within a formal learning context. Our analysis draws from video recordings and other data sources of two 4th grade classrooms in which the students, who had already participated in 1.5 years of more structured 'makified activities', engaged in an open-ended, exploration-based, and playful task that was more in line with the spirit of Making. Student teams were classified as 'high in Making literacy' and 'low in Making literacy', revealing how Making literacy was expressed at the level of skills, mental models, and practices in various ways for different students. Our qualitative analysis demonstrates what burgeoning Making literacy may mean in a public elementary school classroom, paving the way for a vision of a time when Making becomes generalized practice.
This paper extends the concept of digital literacy and applies it to Making. Through case descriptions, we contribute an understanding of how children can become or fail to become individuals literate in Making within a formal learning context. Our analysis draws from video recordings and other data sources of two 4th grade classrooms in which the students, who had already participated in 1.5 years of more structured 'makified activities', engaged in an open-ended, exploration-based, and playful task that was more in line with the spirit of Making. Student teams were classified as 'high in Making literacy' and 'low in Making literacy', revealing how Making literacy was expressed at the level of skills, mental models, and practices in various ways for different students. Our qualitative analysis demonstrates what burgeoning Making literacy may mean in a public elementary school classroom, paving the way for a vision of a time when Making becomes generalized practice.
