Shannon A Young
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Welcome to Shannon A. Young's world!
I attended University of Maryland, Baltimore County, the Honors University (UMBC) during the years of 2000-2005 and graduated with a Computer Science degree. My academic focus was in Software Development, Object Oriented Programming and Web Development. While attending UMBC the courses that were most impressionable on me were Computer Science I and II (respectively Programming and Object-Oriented Programming), Software Design and Development, Algorithms, Scripting Languages and Operating Systems. The knowledge that I received from these courses was how to design, develop, test and deliver a functional program from both the top down (C++ and Java languages) and bottom up (c language), using Waterfall life cycle. In my career I used Waterfall and Agile life cycles. The Algorithms course assisted in requirements gathering in both a UNIX and Linux environment. For my Computer Science II course, we learned about Objects, Pointers, Addresses, Encapsulation, Polymorphism, Abstraction, Methods and Storage. There were several projects that required the development of programs. One project's goal was to program a car that could use the methods of a truck, as well as incorporating other requirements. This project resonates with me because while working on the project a bad snow storm knocked the power of my family's house out and I remember working on my project laying on the floor in a somewhat cold house with my laptop connected to a generator to get my project completed before the deadline. I would like to conclude this statement by saying that my project worked. Computer Science has always been a passion of mine since 1999, a little challenging at times but still a passion. After 17 years under my belt, when meeting a challenge, I just take a step back from what I'm working on, use the appropriate resources which might be a book or online tutorials, discussion boards, and most importantly I always continue learning. The majority of my educational experience at UMBC was focused on Software Development and Programming in a Virtual Red Hat Linux environment or simply UNIX. The Scripting Language course is how I learned many web development stacks such as LAMP (Linux Operating System, Apache Server, MYSQL database, PHP language). The Scripting Language course introduced Web Development to me. The courses, Computer Graphics and Graphic User Interface, showed both the aesthetic and functional sides of Software Development and Web Development. Modernly, responsive Graphical User Interfaces are popular because of the different technologies and devices that the majority of the world uses. Above, I have covered all of the UMBC courses that were impressionable.
Immediately after graduating from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and for the past 17 years, I worked for a variety of companies. I have included the most recent copy of my resume with this application. My resume also outlines the tools and technologies that I used at UMBC and in my career. The larger corporations that I worked for are T. Rowe Price, Legg Mason, Lockheed Martin and CSRA (previously called Computer Science Corporation and currently called GDIT). Many of the company contract vehicles were with Government Sectors such as the Center for Medicaid and Medicare and Social Security Administration. Before detailing my career accomplishments at these larger corporations, I would like to speak about when I worked for the smaller companies on my resume. One privilege of being an Programmer at Glynn Technologies, National Association of Educational Procurement (NAEP) and Amerigroup, I had the freedom to use whichever technologies that I chose based on efficiency, resources, costs and etc. At Glynn technology, I used new technologies when building a 508-compliant test and quizzes project that CMS designed using wireframes for the graphical user interface. The interface passed variables using the web address and cookies. When working at NAEP, I designed and developed a microsite for the organization, as well as monitored the in-house server, maintained the company's main website and listserv. The microsite was built using images, which was before css became popular so the website had a slow load time. At Amerigroup, I developed a User Interface for the Marketing Department. The User Interface was Microsoft Access Database and VBA driven. It integrated the Access Tables. Queries and Forms with Microsoft Mappoint and Microsoft Office. The load time of the Interface was pretty fast. There was one form that pulled in a large quantity of data, as well as had many queries so it was slow compared to the other forms. Over the years, I find it challenging –and fascinating to learn and use different technologies and tools. There are other features to take into account when choosing programming languages, technologies, operating systems, servers, and databases such as usability, ease of upgrade, costs, speed, reliability, aesthetics and more. On the other hand, when I worked at T. Rowe Price, Legg Mason, Lockheed Martin and CSRA it was in a team environment. The team consisted of a Team Lead and/or Supervisor, Business Analyst, Programmer/Developer/Web Developer and Tester. Usually, the project is more structured. As a programmer, I worked as a middle person between the Business Analyst and Tester. The Business Analyst would provide me with the requirements. I would develop a program based on the design and requirements. Afterward I would give the Tester the deliverables. I pride myself in my deliverables as a Programmer/Developer/Web Developer. The next step is confirming that my code is functional and neat, fixing the spacing, commenting the code, and providing the necessary documentation.
More importantly, currently I'm inventing a device that is not patented yet so I cannot elaborate much on it. My "Air Computer" device is developed using Powershell scripts and Batch files in an MS DOS Environment. The hardware includes a projector that communicates with a microcomputer, an apparatus connected by circuits, dupont wires, adapters, etc. In the process of developing my apparatus I discovered how to power a motherboard using a 9V battery and how to power a projector wirelessly. The projector and glove technology, which are part of the Air Computer hardware, uses Bluetooth to connect to one another. In my research for my Air Computer project, I have a level of-experienced working with virtual machines, in particular the VirtualBox installing, setting up and using a Ubuntu, Linux and Android Operating System. I also worked with a PC motherboard and circuit; discovering how to run a PC with a 9V battery and a 60V portable power supply. Additionally, I have worked with circuits, dupont wires, video adapters, memory cards, serial cords, MS Dos-Powershell-Batch files. In conclusion, I discovered that the best way to achieve my project goal is by working in an Android environment for all of the systems involved. If necessary, I can elaborate more on my project. In closing, I have an immense amount of knowledge and experience to offer in application and research in the area of Computer Science.
Update - I had a change in direction for my project. I built a projector that now had Debian Linux on it that simulates overriding the root device in the best way possible. Thus far I have added lenses to the projector attempting to manipulate lights distance. I have not been successful yet but I'm still working on it as I await project parts.
Currently, I'm also working on a social networking app project. I have a new knowledge and experience working of and working with - AWS, the MERN Stack (MongoDB, Express, React and Node JS, working in Command Prompt, the cloud environment, and local severs.