Steven L Smith
Renaissance Man
Ever since the age of 8 when he disassembled, and successfully reassembled, his parents' dot matrix printer, Steven L Smith has had a natural curiosity for all things technical. By age 13, he had created his first website, using CompuServe's Home Page Wizard. Finding the output to be extremely limited, Steven taught himself HTML. CSS soon followed, and in High School, he learned PHP. Throughout High School and College, Steven dabbled in several other programming languages, and eventually landed an internship developing sites for a local marketing agency.
After graduating in May 2008 with a B.A. in Music from Nazareth College, he was hired as Nazareth's full-time Web Developer. From there, Steven moved into the startup world, as the Chief Technical Officer for BookDecay.com, and Web Application Developer at Mykonos Software. In 2012, Mykonos Software was bought by Juniper Networks, and Steven began working as a Software Engineer there. He also somehow finds time to maintain an independent portfolio of clients throughout the Rochester area.
Outside of work, Steven enjoys all things music, and spends most of his freetime at the local hackerspace, doing ham radio stuff, or playing with technology.
Education
- Nazareth College of Rochester
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- Graduation Date
- May 2008
- Grade Point Average
- 3.354
- Major
- Music (Bachelor of Arts)
- Minor
- Communication and Rhetoric
- Academic Awards and Honors
- Ralph P. Kepner Award for Technical Writing, Society for Technical Communication (2006)
- Phi Eta Sigma, National Freshman Honor Society (2005)
- Nazareth College President's Scholarship (2004)
- Nazareth College Music Scholarship (2004)
- Nazareth College Honors Program (2004)
- Activities
- Nazareth College Percussion Ensemble (2004-2005)
- Nazareth College Jazz Ensemble (2004-2008)
- Nazareth College Concert Choir (2004-2006)
- Nazareth College Men's Choir (2006-2008)
- WNAZ "The Pulse" Radio Station: Technical Assistant
- The Gleaner Student Newspaper: Copyeditor / Contributor
- NazLAN LAN Party: Founder and Chief Technical Director
- Freshman Orientation Staff (2005 - 2007)
- McQuaid Jesuit High School
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- Graduation Date
- June 2004
- Grade Point Average
- 3.85
- Extracurricular Activities
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- Jazz Band
- Pianist (2001 - 2004)
- Choir
- Pianist (2001 - 2004)
- Campus Ministry Board
- Codirector of Religious Communications
- Computer Club
- Vice President
- Percussion Ensemble
- Member (2003 - 2004)
- Mercy–McQuaid Players Drama Group
- Cast Member / Crew Member (2001 - 2004)
- Yearbook
- Staff Member
- Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Holiday Pops Youth Chorale
- Bass (2002 - 2003)
- Academic Awards and Honors
- National Honor Society
- Advanced Placement (A.P.) Scholar
- Capt. Thomas P. Driscoll, USMC Award for Academics, Leadership & Service (2003)
- Honor Roll throughout High School
- Academic Letter with 1 Bar
- Chosen as a delegate for the National Youth Leadership Forum on Technology (2003)
- McQuaid Student Life Grant (2003)
Additional Training
- SKYWARN Weather Spotter Training Course (spotter NY-MR-2142) — National Weather Service (2013)
- Application Security Fundamentals — Safelight Security Advisors (2012)
- Networking Fundamentals — Juniper Networks (2012)
- Natural Gas and Electricity Safety — Rochester Gas & Electric Company (2011)
- Basic Electronics — Interlock Rochester (2010)
- Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) — Homeland Security Management Institute (2010)
- SKYWARN Weather Spotter Training Course — National Weather Service (2010)
- Introduction to Disaster Services — American Red Cross (2010)
- Plone Advanced Bootcamp — Joel Burton (2009)
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- Nazareth College of Rochester
- Bloodborne Pathogen Safety — Nazareth College Campus Safety Department (2010)
- SafeZone Training — Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley, sponsored by Nazareth College (2009)
- Building Trust in the Workplace — Nazareth College Human Resources (2009)
- How to Communicate Tactfully and Professionally — Nazareth College Human Resources (2009)
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- FEMA Emergency Management Institute
- IS-704 NIMS Communications and Information Management (2010)
- IS-26 Guide to Points of Distribution (2010)
- IS-800.b National Response Framework, An Introduction (2010)
- IS-700.a National Incident Management System (NIMS) (2010)
- IS-15.a Special Events Contingency Planning for Public Safety Agencies (2010)
- IS-901 - Section 508 Awareness Course (2010)
- IS-200.a ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents (2010)
- IS-100.HE ICS for Higher Education (2010)
- IS-100.a Introduction to Incident Command System, ICS-100 (2010)
- IS-5.a Introduction to Hazardous Materials (2008)
- IS-242 Effective Communication (2007)
- IS-240 Leadership & Influence (2007)
Certifications
- Web Design Concepts (Master Level) — Brainbench (2009)
- Computer Fundamentals (Win XP) (Master Level) — Brainbench (2007)
- Computer Technical Support — Brainbench (2007)
- Server Administration — Brainbench (2007)
- MS Windows Server 2003 Administration — Brainbench (2007)
- Adobe InDesign CS — Brainbench (2007)
- Technical Helpdesk (Master Level) — Brainbench (2007)
- MS Windows XP Desktop Administration (Master Level) — Brainbench (2007)
- Computer Forensics (U.S.) (Master Level) — Brainbench (2007)
- Macintosh OS X 10.4 Desktop Administration (Master Level) — Brainbench (2007)
Licenses
- Amateur Radio ("Ham" Radio) License KC2YTC, General Class — Federal Communications Commission
- Amateur Radio Volunteer Examiner (VE) — American Radio Relay League
Conference / Talk Attendance
- Rehabilitation of the Broad Street Tunnel — Thomas Hack, P.E. and the WNY ABCD (2012)
- DEF CON 20 — Las Vegas, NV (2012)
- Black Hat USA 2012 — Las Vegas, NV
Represented Juniper Networks - Security BSides Rochester 2012
- RSA Conference 2012 — RSA
Represented Mykonos Software - HighEdWeb 2011 — HighEdWeb Association (2011)
Presented Poster: PloneEdu - HighEdWeb Rochester 2011 — HighEdWeb Association (2011)
- Plone Symposium East 2011 — Penn State University (2011)
- Hackerfest 2010 — Dox Electronics, Rochester NY (2010)
- EmComm East 2010 — Monroe County ARES (2010)
- DjangoCon US 2010 — Portland, OR (2010)
- Plone Symposium East 2010 — Penn State University (2010)
- Free Software in Ethics and Practice, Richard M. Stallman — RIT Center for Student Innovation (2010)
- HighEdWeb 2009 — HighEdWeb Association (2009)
Co-Presenter of Writing Customized Web Applications with Django
Skills
- Computer Skills
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- Operating Systems
- Microsoft DOS
- Microsoft Windows 3.11
- Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME
- Microsoft Windows NT/2K/XP/Vista/7/8
- Microsoft Windows Server NT, 2000, 2003, 2008
- Macintosh OS Classic
- Macintosh OS X
- GNU/Linux Variants (Especially Gentoo, Scientific Linux, and Ubuntu)
- FreeBSD and other BSD derivatives
- Application Experience
- Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Publisher, Outlook, and Visio
- Adobe Creative Suite: Photoshop, Ilustrator, InDesign, Acrobat Professional, Flash, Dreamweaver, AfterEffects
- Macromedia Contribute / Contribute Publishing Server Administration
- Text Editors: CoffeeCup, Eclipse, nano, vim, TextPad, Sublime Text
- Non-Linear Editors: Final Cut Pro, Vegas, ACID, Sound Forge, Samplitude, Sonar
- Sequencing / Scorewriting: Finale, Sibelius
- Project Management: Basecamp, activeCollab, trac, JIRA, Redmine
- Windows PowerShell
- PuTTY / Pageant / SSH / (S)FTP
- Database Experience
- PostgreSQL (commandline)
- MySQL (commandline and phpMyAdmin)
- Microsoft Access (GUI and ODBC)
- Zope Object Database (ZODB)
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005, 2008 (GUI and ODBC through FreeTDS)
- SQLite
- Server Experience
- Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 5, 6, and 7
- Microsoft Active Directory
- LDAP / OpenLDAP
- Apache HTTP Server
- Lighttpd
- nginx with uWSGI and supervisor
- Twisted
- Postfix
- LAMP / WAMP / XAMP
- VMWare ESX Server and vSphere
- Zenoss
- Version Control
- Subversion (commandline, TortoiseSVN, trac integration)
- Mercurial (commandline and TortoiseHG)
- Git (commandline)
- Third-Party API Integration
- Amazon Product Advertising API
- Datatel WebAdvisor SSO
- PayPal PayFlow Pro Credit Card Processing
- Flickr
- YouTube
- Google Data Protocol (GData)
- Facebook Graph API
- Project Vote Smart
- Web Development and General Information Technology Concepts
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- The Semantic Web
- Dublin Core
- Microformats
- Accessibility
- §508 Amendment to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
- W3C Web Accessibility Initiative WCAG
- Development Methodology
- Agile
- Scrum
- XP
- MVC Design Pattern
- The HTTP, ReST
- Software Development Lifecycle (SLDC)
- ITIL Change Management / Change Control
- Programming Languages
- LOGO
- Microsoft QBasic & QuickBASIC, AppleDOS BASIC
- C++
- Java / Groovy / Jython
- HTML & CSS
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- JavaScript
- jQuery Framework
- AJAX
- JSON
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- XML Cluster
- XML
- XHTML
- RSS / ATOM
- DTD
- XSLT and XPATH
- ZCML
- DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture)
- DocBooks / Publican
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- PHP
- LAMP / WAMP / XAMP Stack
- WordPress
- Joomla!
- Drupal
- ResourceSpace
- Visual Basic
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- Python
- Django Web Framework
- Zope Application Server
- Plone Content Management System
- Python Remote Objects (PyRO)
- CPython and Jython
- Bottle Web Framework
- SQL
- ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML)
- Ruby (Sinatra Framework)
- Regulatory Compliance
- PCI DSS
- FERPA
- Musical Skills
- Piano (solo and accompanist)
- Voice (Baritone / Tenor)
- Accessory Percussion
- Handbells
- Theremin
- Electronic music, sequencing, and digital editing
- Soft Skills
- Excellent written and oral communication
- Meets deadlines
- Plays well with others
- Knows what finished work looks like
- Knows when to lead and when to follow
- Independently motivated
- Knows how to teach highly technical skills to non-technical people
Professional Organizations
- Higher Education Web Professionals Association (HighEdWeb)
- Digital Rochester
Community Awards and Honors
- Eagle Scout with bronze palm, Otetiana Council, Rochester NY (2003)
- Polish Heritage Society of Rochester Music Incentive Grant
- National Federation of Music Clubs - 9 year Gold Cup Recipient
- Hands of Christ Award, Diocese of Rocheser (2004)
- Marilyn Streicher Award for Leadership and Service (2004)
- Town of Greece, NY Youth Hall of Fame (2003)
Community Groups
- American Radio Relay League
- American Motorcyclist Association
- Monroe County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
- Linux Users Group of Rochester (LUGOR)
- Rochester Pythonistas
- Monroe County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)
Served as Member of the Board of Directors from 12/2012 — Present
Served as Membership Coordinator from 2011 – Present
Served as Radio Operator from 2010 – Present - Monroe County Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES)
- Interlock Rochester Hackerspace, Full Member
- 2600 Rochester
- St. Charles Borromeo Church Sanctuary Choir, Tenor Section Leader
- St. Charles Borromeo Church Schola Cantorum, Bass and Soloist
- St. Charles Borromeo Church Northern Bells Handbell Choir, Ringer and Arranger (2000 - 2004)
Work Experience
- Juniper Networks (Feburary 2012 — Present)
- Software Engineer (Febuary 2012 — Present) — As a part of Juniper's Security Business Unit, work on the Junos WebApp Secure product (formerly Mykonos Web Security), with a focus on the web-based user interface, ReST API, and configuration system.
- Product Codemaster (October 2012 — Present) — As a part of the engineering team, work with Legal to ensure compliance with third-party and open-source licensing requirements.
- Mykonos Software (January 2012 — Februrary 2012)
- Web Application Developer — Work on the Mykonos Web Security Product, with a focus on the administrative interface.
- BookDecay.com (February 2011 — May 2012)
- Chief Technical Officer — BookDecay.com is intended save college students money by helping them avoid unnecessary textbook purchases. As the CTO, I am responsible for all technical of aspects the website, including web application development and day-to-day operations.
- Information Technology Services, Nazareth College of Rochester (August 2004 — January 2012)
- Web Developer — Maintain the college's primary website and other web assets. Assist in the selection and implementation of a new Web Content Management System (Plone). Develop and maintain custom web applications for IT, HR, Admissions, and the college at large. Set up new servers and maintain existing infrastructure. Contribute to various open source projects, including Django and Plone. (August 2008 – January 2012)
- 24 x 7 Support Technician — Serve on a team of individuals that provide 24 x 7 x 365 emergency and outage support for key IT systems, including web applications and sites, network and Internet connectivity, and escalation of priority 1 trouble tickets outside of the regular business day. (August 2008 – January 2012)
- Student Trainer — Created and maintained training materials for all student employees; held training sessions. Worked with other employees to create an online knowledgebase of technical issues. Mentored employees and assisted with the hiring process. (May 2006 — May 2008)
- User Support Assistant / Lab Assistant — Assisted users with various computer problems and maintained shared computing infrastructure for the college. (August 2004 — May 2006)
- VoteIntelligently.com (July 2010 — June 2011)
- Application Developer — VoteIntelligently.com is a social networking website intented to connect voters, politicians, and pundits and bring transparency to the political process in the United States. I was one of two Application Developers on the project, and worked primarily on API integration, databases, and back-end code.
- The Treble Clefs (October 2008 – September 2009)
- Accompanist — Piano accompanist for a women's choir comprising approximately 20 - 30 members, including regular rehearsals and concerts.
- MarketHOLD Productions (May 2006 – August 2008)
- Web Developer (contract position) — Worked with the art department, creative director, and web designers to develop and maintain websites and web applications based on client needs and web best-practices. Coordinated all aspects of web hosting for approximately 30 websites, including server setup, DNS management, e-mail setup, and domain registrations, renewals, and transfers. (May 2008 – August 2008)
- Internet Marketing Coordinator / Production Assistant — Met with clients and account representatives to gain an understanding of client needs, then formulated proposals. Developed and coded standards-compliant, template and database-driven websites and web applications. Maintained the company's computer systems and coordinated the efforts of technology vendors. Design and code websites, copy writing, Message On Hold, graphic design, assist with audio production, Technical assistant (May 2006 – May 2008)
- Enrollment Management, Nazareth College of Rochester (April 2007 – May 2008)
- Student Ambassador — Assisted with college recruitment by giving tours to prospective students, hosting overnight guests, and staffing open houses.
- Marketing & Communications, Nazareth College of Rochester (February 2008 – July 2008)
- Web Technical Assistant (contract position) — Constructed sitemaps for department sites, built the sites, tested, and populated with content. Made content and design modifications to existing pages. Assisted members of the Nazareth Web Team as a first-responder to web technical issues. (May 2008 – July 2008)
- Student Web Assistant — Worked with the Nazareth Web Team to integrate website content / functionality. (February 2008 – May 2008)
- PS&E / Sagemark Consulting (June 2004 – August 2004)
- Administrative Assistant — Performed a variety of clerical tasks including filing, preparation of bills, generating reports, and interacting with clients over the phone.
- Bookstore, McQuaid Jesuit High School (June 2004)
- Bookstore Assistant — Helped bookstore manager with end-of-year textbook return, inventory, and helped establish an online presence to sell excess books.
- Instructional Technology Department, McQuaid Jesuit High School (September 2002 – June 2004)
- Web and Network Assistant — Assisted the other members of the technology department with website maintenance and development, workstation testing and rollout, and user support. Provided strategic planning, development, and project management, enabling the creation of a student-run computer helpdesk. Assisted with server migration from Microsoft IIS 5 to Apache 1.3 with server-side includes.
- Steven Smith Enterprises, Rochester, New York (June 2000 – Present)
- Owner / Operator — Provided a wide variety of media and technical services to clients in the Greater Rochester Area including web design and development, web hosting, custom software development, computer repair, disc jockeying, music performance, audio / video production, and voiceover work.