About Me

Core Technical Skills Work History Education Projects

Summary

I’m a former structural engineer that decided it was time for a career change after nearly 8 years in the industry. My love for technology and passion for learning made my new career choice an easy one. I completed a master’s degree in computer science at the University of Illinois at Springfield in December of 2015 and left my old career behind.

Core Technical Skills

.NET: ADO.NET, ASP.NET, C#, Entity Framework, MVC, SignalR, VB.NET, Web Forms, Xamarin
Web: AJAX, Angular, CSS, HTML, JavaScript, JSON, jQuery, PHP, XML
DBMS: MySQL, MS SQL Server
Tools: SQL Server Management Studio, Team Foundation Server, Visual Studio IDE, Visual Studio Code
Azure Cloud Services: Application Insights, App Service, Content Delivery Network, Service Bus, SQL Database, Storage
Web Servers: IIS, Apache

Work History

American Academy of Sleep Medicine Darien, IL
Programmer 01/2016 - Present
  • Overhauled a legacy web application dedicated to improving sleep study scoring consistency for sleep technologists resulting in a 30% year-over-year increase in revenue. This ASP.NET Web Forms application was developed using VB.NET, ADO.NET, and MS SQL Server.
    • Upgraded the administrative dashboard to a customized version of Bootstrap 3.
    • Developed an internal notification system to reduce reliance on external emails.
    • Added a pediatric sleep study scoring track and provided access to all AASM archived records.
    • Migrated from Telerik reporting to jsreports and amcharts for deeper report customization.
    • Simplified the registration and subscription processes.
  • Designed and implemented a lightweight version of an existing telemedicine platform with ASP.NET MVC 5 using C#, Entity Framework 6, SignalR, and WebRTC.
  • Developed Android and iOS applications that integrate with an existing telemedicine platform using Xamarin.Android, Xamarin.iOS, SignalR, and WebRTC.
  • Provided ongoing maintenance and developed new features for a telemedicine platform built with ASP.NET Web Forms. This n-tiered application was developed using VB.NET, ADO.NET, SignalR, and WebRTC.
    • Integrated Stripe Connect to allow users to accept client payments.
    • Created a medical history collection component with a Clinical Document Architecture 2 formatted export feature.
    • Developed an availability calendar module that allows patients to schedule appointments from staff selected availability.
    • Launched a service that connects patients with board-certified sleep medicine physicians via telemedicine.
    • Improved algorithm efficiency on several data intensive pages reducing load times by up to 90%.
    • Migrated static content to a CDN.
    • Implemented an Azure Service Bus backplane to facilitate seamless application deployment slot swapping without severing SignalR connections.
  • Provided updates and ongoing maintenance for several web and mobile applications, including foundation.aasm.org, jcsm.aasm.org, wellness.welltrinsic.com, sleepmeeting.org, AASM Resource Library iOS and Android mobile apps, I See the Animals Sleeping Android mobile app, and The Animals Sleep Android mobile app.
   
Freelance Web Developer Glen Ellyn, IL
Web Developer 06/2012 - 06/2014
  • Migrated sites from WordPress.org to shared hosting allowing for deeper customization.
  • Created templates for existing static websites transitioning to a CMS (such as Joomla or WordPress).
  • Developed custom WordPress and Joomla plugins.
  • Implemented automatic backup processes for existing websites.
   
Shive-Hattery, Inc. Downers Grove, IL
Structural Engineer 02/2011 - 06/2012
  • Provided comprehensive structural engineering design services and project management support for the industrial, educational, commercial, and telecom industries.
  • Retrofitted existing structures to accommodate new tenants within the retail industry.
  • Analyzed existing buildings, telecom towers, and water towers outfitted with new mobile network antennas.
  • Collaborated on several projects using the Autodesk Revit building information modeling tool.
   
Carl Walker, Inc. Lombard, IL
Project Engineer 01/2005 - 03/2007 and 08/2007 - 01/2011
  • Provided comprehensive structural engineering design services for more than 30 unique parking structures throughout the United States.
  • Designed precast concrete, post-tensioned concrete, and steel framed structural systems in areas across the country ranging from low to high seismicity.
  • Designed spread footing, auger cast pile, drilled pier, steel driven pile, and timber driven pile foundation systems.
  • Served as lead structural engineer on four parking structure projects.
  • Effectively managed the construction phase of a four supported level, horizontal expansion to an existing post-tensioned parking structure in Duluth, Minnesota.
   
Drucker Zajdel Structural Engineers Naperville, IL
Project Engineer 03/2007 - 08/2007
  • Provided structural engineering design services for several small to mid-sized commercial and residential masonry, wood, and steel structures.
  • Designed and detailed structural steel connections for two high-rise buildings in downtown Chicago.
   
Carl Walker, Inc. Indianapolis, IN
Engineering Intern (Internship) 05/2004 - 08/2004
  • Post-tensioned parking structure design.
  • Retaining wall analysis and design.
  • Foundation system analysis and design.
   
WRG Design, Inc. (Now Cardno) Portland, OR
Design Technician (Internship) 06/2002 - 12/2002 and 05/2003 - 08/2003
  • Grading design.
  • Storm drain system design.
  • Technical drafter for various site design projects.
   
Marion County Public Works Salem, OR
Engineering Technician (Internship) 05/2001 - 09/2001
  • Wood, masonry, and reinforced concrete structural analysis.
  • Hydraulic analysis and design for stream improvements.
  • Grading design for a wetland restoration.

Education

University of Illinois at Springfield 08/2013 - 12/2015
Master of Science: Computer Science  
Current Cumulative GPA: 4.0/4.0  
   
Purdue University 08/2003 - 12/2004
Master of Science: Civil Engineering (Structural Emphasis)  
Cumulative GPA: 4.0/4.0  
   
Oregon State University 09/1998 - 03/2003
Bachelor of Science: Civil Engineering  
Cumulative GPA: 3.89/4.0  

Personal Projects

BDFIT Restore
https://bdfitrestore.com 11/2018 - Present
Description Coming Soon
   
BDFIT Fire
https://bdfitfire.com 08/2018 - Present
Description Coming Soon
   
BDFIT
https://bdfit.co 04/2018 - Present
Description Coming Soon
   
Professional Engineering License Manager
https://jacobmdavidson.com/pelicensemanager/ 08/2012 - 02/2018
Built on top of the Joomla! content management system, this web application helps professional engineers manage and maintain their professional engineering licenses. This membership-based web site uses a MySQL database to log completed continuing education, track license renewal deadlines, and automatically generate continuing education logs to be submitted for license renewal. Also included is a notification system that periodically emails each user with upcoming license renewal dates and outstanding continuing education requirements.
   
CivilPE.net
https://jacobmdavidson.com/civilpenet/ 06/2012 - 02/2018
This WordPress based site was built to provide licensing information for civil engineers. It was an exercise in search engine optimization meant to drive targeted traffic to the Professional Engineering License Manager. In addition to blog posts, social networking was used to increase traffic via Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube. The site currently attracts more than 1000 unique visitors monthly.
   
Elavon Converge Payment Gateway for WooCommerce
Available on Github 09/2012 - 10/2016
This WordPress plugin adds the Elavon Converge payment gateway to WooCommerce (an eCommerce solution for WordPress). Ongoing customer support has been provided for the more than 200 customers that have purchased this plugin.
   
Chatter Server and Client
jacobmdavidson.com/chattersystem/ 11/2015
Developed as a term project for the Network Programming course at the University of Illinois at Springfield, this set of applications provides instant messaging services over a local area network, and stores client names in a MySQL database.
   
ComputerSMS Android and Desktop Applications
Available on Github, Server and Android App 10/2015
Send and receive SMS text messages through an Android phone using a desktop application connected to the same local area network. Includes multicast DNS to simplify service discovery, XML message passing, and AES-128 message encryption derived from a Diffie-Hellman key exchange.
   
Farkle
Available on Github 12/2014
Developed as a team project for the Software Engineering Capstone course at the University of Illinois at Springfield, this application is a desktop version of the popular dice game Farkle.
   
Surveying Coordinate Transformation
Available on Github 08/2014
This application was developed for my wife who is a land surveyor. Built in C# .NET, this application uses the least squares methodology to transform survey coordinates from one coordinate system to another.
   
SMS to Morse Code Converter - Android Application
Available on Google Play 07/2014
This Android application converts incoming text messages to Morse code based on the ITU- R M.1667-1 recommendation. If the phone’s ringer mode is set to normal, the Morse code message is played at the frequency and speed settings chosen within the app settings. If the ringer mode is set to vibrate, the Morse code message is vibrated at the selected speed setting.
   
Updated on Jacob M Davidson