Creative technologist blending artistic practice with full-stack
development expertise to craft exceptional user experiences. As an
amateur photographer, amateur painter, and software developer, I bring a
unique design sensibility to building beautiful, intuitive web
applications. Specialize in Python backend development and Next.js/React
applications, leveraging AI tools to accelerate development while
maintaining artistic attention to detail. Strong architectural skills in
designing scalable, maintainable systems. Passionate about using
technology to solve human problems and create delightful digital
experiences.
Core Competencies: Backend development &
architecture with Python and AWS serverless solutions • Full-stack web
development with Next.js/React and cloud infrastructure • Creative
development & UX design • AI-augmented workflows (Claude, GitHub
Copilot) • System design and event-driven architectures
Core Competencies:
Backend Development & Architecture: Design and
build scalable Python backend systems with focus on clean architecture,
API design, and cloud-native serverless solutions; strong skills in
system design and event-driven architectures
Creative Development & UX: Design and build
visually stunning, user-centered React applications with focus on
intuitive interactions and responsive design; blend artistic vision with
technical execution
Full-Stack Web Development: Python backend with
modern frontend architecture (Next.js, React, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS)
and cloud serverless infrastructure; from concept to deployment
AI-Augmented Workflows: Leverage AI tools (Claude,
ChatGPT Codex, GitHub Copilot) as creative collaborators to rapidly
prototype ideas, generate code, and iterate on designs 70-80%
faster
Artist & Problem Solver: Apply creative
problem-solving from art practice to technical challenges; user empathy
drives architecture decisions; storytelling through data visualization
and interface design
Data & Integration: DynamoDB (Streams, GSIs,
TTL), MySQL, NoSQL Schema Design, API Integration (PayPal, Salesforce,
3PL), Data Migration
Tools & Platforms: Git, GitHub, VS Code, Linux,
Windows Server, Shell Scripting (Bash, zsh), PowerShell
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
AssetWatch | Westerville, OH
Lead Backend Engineer | July 2023 – Present
Lead backend development for IoT monitoring platform, architecting
scalable Python-based systems and applying creative problem-solving to
build elegant solutions for complex technical challenges.
Architect and develop Python backend services for real-time IoT data
processing, building robust Lambda functions and ECS Fargate
microservices that handle high-throughput event streams from AWS IoT
Core and Kinesis
Re-architected data flow and system architecture to improve
application responsiveness by 60%, optimizing event processing pipelines
and implementing efficient caching strategies
Build RESTful APIs using Python and FastAPI with API Gateway,
enabling communication between IoT devices and client applications
Implemented zero-downtime canary deployments with rollback
capabilities, gradually migrating production traffic while monitoring
CloudWatch metrics for error rate and latency thresholds
Craft comprehensive technical documentation with visual diagrams and
clear narratives, transforming complex technical concepts into
accessible stories for diverse audiences
Brought 95% of the environment into infrastructure-as-code (IaC)
using Terraform and pipeline automation tools, implementing fully
functional non-prod environment that reduced production errors by
80%
Tracy Elsinger
Development | Dublin, OH (Freelance)
Creative Full-Stack Developer | April 2020 –
Present
Design and develop production web applications that merge artistic
sensibility with modern technology, creating beautiful and functional
digital experiences for diverse audiences.
Photography & Art
Gallery E-Commerce Platform - Conceived, designed, and
built complete e-commerce experience showcasing original photography and
paintings. Crafted intuitive browsing interface with React components
emphasizing visual presentation, created seamless shopping experience
with real-time inventory management and PayPal integration. Every design
decision reflects artistic principles: composition, color theory, and
user journey storytelling.
Health & Wellness
Blog with Recipe Management - Created compassionate,
user-centered Next.js application to help people with food sensitivities
and digestive issues. Designed intuitive recipe discovery interface with
filtering and search, built personalized meal planning features, and
developed automated grocery list generation. Project demonstrates
empathy-driven development: solving real human problems through
thoughtful design and technology.
Design responsive, accessible interfaces with Tailwind CSS that
adapt beautifully across all devices, ensuring visual consistency and
delightful interactions
Apply design thinking and component-based architecture to create
maintainable, scalable applications with artistic attention to detail in
every interaction
Optimize for performance and SEO using Next.js static site
generation, ensuring fast, discoverable, and engaging user
experiences
Manage end-to-end development lifecycle from concept and wireframing
through deployment and iteration, demonstrating both creative vision and
technical execution
Led site reliability engineering for 600+ AWS and GCP instances,
bringing systematic problem-solving and user-focused thinking to
infrastructure and compliance challenges.
Designed and developed centralized account management application
(Python/Flask) with intuitive interface for vendor access provisioning
and termination, reducing access review time by 70% and ensuring
consistency in execution across all external accounts
Standardized processes and security on Windows and Linux systems
using Chef and Ansible automation and reporting tools, maintaining
HITRUST and SOC2 compliance requirements across 600+ instances
Collaborated with project managers, application SMEs, and
infrastructure teams to develop standardized project designs.
Maintained project schedules and budgets through effective technical
planning and risk mitigation
Improved solution architecture processes, reducing project kickoff
time by 40%
Gap, Inc | Groveport, OH
Server Engineer | Dec 2013 – June 2015
Server engineer responsible for VMware, Windows, and Linux
infrastructure management and development.
Continuously improved Windows and VMware environments with automated
reporting, security hardening, monitoring, and alerting
Created efficiency reporting dashboards that allowed management to
make better hiring and purchasing decisions based on actual environment
utilization data
Technologies: VMware vSphere, Windows Server, Linux,
PowerShell, Bash
Cardinal Health | Dublin, OH
Server Engineer | July 2008 – Dec 2013
Managed virtual environment consisting of VMware vSphere (450 hosts
and 4300+ guests) and 10 vCenter servers across multiple remote
sites.
Managed the VMware environment with security patching, upgrades, and
large-scale migrations
Participated in projects for planning and deployments in the virtual
environments
Researched and tested new technologies to continually improve the
environment
Technologies: VMware vSphere 4.0-5.1, Windows
Server, PowerShell
Full-stack web application with Claude AI integration, deployed on
AWS with 100% Infrastructure-as-Code.
Architected production AI-powered ingredient parser using Claude
Haiku 4.5 in AWS Lambda, processing 1000+ normalization requests with
<2s latency, reducing manual data entry by 95%
Developed AI-powered skin sensitivity tracker enabling users to
photograph cosmetic product labels for automatic ingredient extraction
via Claude vision API, with differential analysis comparing reaction vs
safe products to identify likely trigger ingredients, reducing product
selection trial-and-error by 80%
Built intelligent recipe modification system analyzing recipes
against dietary restrictions (FODMAP, allergens) and suggesting viable
substitutions with structured JSON responses from Claude AI
Developed modern Next.js 15 application with 50+ responsive pages,
TypeScript strict mode, React 19 Server Components, Tailwind CSS,
achieving <2s page load times via CloudFront CDN
Implemented AWS Cognito authentication with cross-device sync using
DynamoDB (7-table architecture with streams, GSIs, and TTL) for meal
plans, user preferences, and community recipes
Imported and normalized 10,000+ USDA FoodData Central nutrition
records using TypeScript data processing pipelines with fuzzy-matching
algorithms for ingredient catalog
Created comprehensive Playwright test suite covering authentication
flows, recipe submission, and meal planning across Chrome, Firefox, and
Safari with parallel CI/CD execution
Directed AI coding agents throughout development to accelerate
component creation, test writing, and API integration by 70-80%,
verifying all generated code for correctness and security
Art E-Commerce Platform | Personal Project
(Production)
2022 – Present | https://tracyelsinger.net
Full-stack e-commerce platform for selling original artwork and
photography with integrated payment processing, digital downloads, and
interactive discovery features.
Built complete e-commerce solution with PayPal and Apple Pay
integration, shopping cart persistence across sessions, and
dimension-based shipping calculator with geolocation-based restrictions
using FedEx API
Implemented secure digital download system for purchased photography
using S3 pre-signed URLs with 48-hour expiry, automated email delivery
via AWS Lambda and SNS with custom HTML templates
Developed interactive UI features: before/after slider comparing
reference photos to finished paintings with drag/touch controls,
algorithmic color palette generator extracting dominant colors with hex
code copying, and Leaflet.js travel map displaying photography locations
across multiple countries
Architected multi-table DynamoDB schema for artwork catalog (500+
items), order management, user favorites, and purchase history with GSIs
for efficient email-based lookups and cross-device sync via Cognito
Created advanced search functionality using Fuse.js fuzzy-matching
across artwork metadata (title, genre, medium, description) with
responsive masonry grid layout and lazy-loading for optimal
performance
Built Python data loading scripts for batch importing artwork
metadata with coordinated S3 uploads for high-resolution images and
automated thumbnail generation