MercEng
Hello!
I'm Syd, Entrepreneur, Full-Stack Developer, Competitive Athlete, AI & Crypto Enthusiast.
TRUST and RESPECT are everything to me and I don't believe that you can do business without them.
I'm here to help!
My Story
Originally I'm from Orange County, California, where I was a three sport athlete. I knew the chances of me competing professionally were slim so I leveraged my athleticism to get the best education possible and landed at the University of Chicago where I majored in statistics and pursued finance post-graduation.
During my time in finance, I worked for the family business. Because the environment was entrepreneurial, I quickly found myself overwhelmed with responsibilities but lacking time to complete those responsibilities. I began to learn about technology and automation to improve internal processes in the organization. I noticed that not only was I becoming more efficient but everyone else around me was becoming more efficient as well. I then decided to return to school to pursue a joint Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Computer Science from Chicago Booth School of Business.
During my time at school I worked on various projects as either a technical product manager, data scientist, or software engineer. Post school, I founded a fashion tech company and served as the CTO. It was here that I learned how to build a product from idea to fully completed system with cutting-edge technology using agile methods. I have since worked as a fractional CTO on various projects.
Experience
Co-Founder & CTO @Zelia
March 2023-November 2023 | Chicago, IL
Collaborated with the CEO to distill user demands into a comprehensive product roadmap, translating strategic business needs into actionable plans. Orchestrated end-to-end architecture for an AI-driven mobile application, ensuring seamless integration of front-end, back-end, machine learning elements, and secure cloud deployment. Managed a dynamic team of three engineers, overseeing system implementation through code reviews and providing technical guidance while actively contributing as an engineer, ensuring the project's successful execution.
Technical Product Manager @Viaduct
June 2022-March 2023 | Menlo Park, CA
Led the development of a pioneering product, utilizing data from CAN bus sensors and employing PySpark for intricate data analytics. Spearheaded the creation of a predictive modeling system for identifying potential component failures based on non-normal sensor readings, enabling proactive maintenance. Positioned the company for growth by implementing a data-driven go-to-market strategy, showcasing technical innovation and strategic planning in deploying predictive maintenance models to fleet companies.
Education
Masters Of Science In Computer Science
2021-2023 | University Of Chicago
Relevant courses included Data Structures and Algorithms, Databases, Parallel Programming, Big Data Engineering and Machine Learning.
Relevant courses included Artificial Intelligence, Entreprenuerial Discovery and New Venture Challenge