Jolene Poulin

Burnaby, BC• (587) 879-3355 • poulin.jolene@gmail.com

I am a Front-End Software Developer at samdesk working on keeping people safe no matter the circumstances. I work closely with my fellow developers and the design team to make a seamless user experience while delivering alerts and bringing breaking news to our users' fingertips. We're constantly building, iterating, testing, and monitoring our solutions.

When I'm not working, I enjoy knitting, reading, and spending time outdoors. Sometimes I'll play games (Beacon Pines is one of my favourites), make cookies (ginger molasses will forever be the best), or watch TV (I especially like Bob's Burgers). My dog particularly enjoys it when I sit still for cuddles, sometimes he'll even help with my knitting.


Experience

Front-End Software Developer

samdesk

My responsibilities at samdesk include:

  • Build real-time alerts dashboard
  • Notify users of emerging news events
  • Allow users to filter and stream which types of alerts they would like to receive
  • Work in React, Typescript, Next.js, Apollo, GraphQL
  • Write comprehensive unit tests using Jest
  • Monitor errors with Rollbar
  • Run daily standup and weekly retrospectives
  • Participate in project breakdown and planning
  • Build, test, and iterate on an internal component library
April 2023 - Present

Software Developer

University of Alberta - ALTLab

My responsibilities at ALTLab included:

  • Extract individual words and phrases from recorded speech sessions to display to front-end web users
  • Analyze data for discrepencies and investigate data anomalies
  • Train and run Persephone models on untranscribed speech sessions
  • Train and run Simple4All models to synthesize new speech snippets
  • Design, build, and maintain online services to access written and spoken Cree
  • Work with community members on various tasks related to the database of spoken Cree
  • Update and maintain ALTLab's primary service, itwêwina
  • Port itwêwina to React framework
December 2020 - April 2023

Junior Developer

Full Circle Visuals

My responsibilities at Full Circle Visuals included:

  • Automate the process of capturing and stitching 360° timelapse video
  • Work with Python, Phidgets, and gphoto2
  • Design a hardware camera rig for 6 Sony cameras
  • Use software to capture images and stitch them into a timelapse video
  • Allow the software to run autonomously or be configured using hardware switches and inputs
April 2018 - December 2020

Software Developer Co-op

Drivewyze

My responsibilities at Drivewyze included:

  • Use Python to develop a universal test harness for internal LISP dialects
  • Write a test harness for each LISP dialect that communicated with the Python wrapper. Test harnesses were written in .NET, C++, and JavaScript
  • The tests themselves were written in LISP
  • Adapt the test system to run in CI against a specified test suite
  • Assist team members in developing an ETL pipeline by ensuring all data that was present at point A is still present at point B
  • Start company-wide Ladies' Lunch and delegate its organization to another coworker before leaving
  • Deliver a detailed Lunch 'n' Learn presentation to train coworkers on my LISP test harness
April 2019 - December 2019

Junior/Intern Developer

coParenter

My responsibilities at coParenter included:

  • Work in React to update and maintain a web app
  • Develop widgets and front-facing elements for a new release of the product in Flutter and Dart (which were both in beta at the time)
  • Assist in product planning meetings
  • Work with a designer to implement new features
May 2018 - August 2018

Community Member

Startup Edmonton

While engaged in the Startup Edmonton community, I:

  • Attended conferences, meet-ups, and member events to learn about Edmonton's emerging tech community
  • Engaged in conversations with students, founders, and everyone in between to learn about the industry
  • Learned technical skills from a network of experienced peers
May 2017 - March 2020

Student Volunteer

Undergraduate Association of Computing Science (UACS)

My responsibilities as part of UACS included:

  • Assisting with regular student event planning, running, and follow-up
  • Organize end-of-term LAN parties in December 2017 and April 2018
  • Organize and host Doughnut and Coffee Society with an external speaker on a monthly basis
  • Organize and host Industry Speed Dating in March 2019
September 2016 - April 2020

Summer Research Student

Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology (WISEST)

In the summer of 2015, I was chosen as part of the WISEST Summer Research Program to participate in a research project where women are typically under-represented. My 6-week project involved:

  • Assisting a biomechanical engineering PhD candidate by performing strength tests on various 3D printing materials
  • Presenting my findings to my supervisor
  • Using what I learned to print a 3D replica of the lower lumbar spine
  • Attending seminars related to working in academia
  • Summarizing my findings in a poster and presenting that poster to the public
July 2015 - August 2015

Education

University of Alberta

Bachelor of Science
Computing Science with Open Specialization
September 2016 - December 2020

Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute

AlbertaWomen.AI
Learn from a group of experienced women and non-binary folx in the Edmonton tech sphere.
January 2020 - June 2020

Startup Edmonton

Preflight I Program
The basics of customer validation for a new company idea.
April 2017 - May 2017

Projects

Squawk

CMPUT 404 Team

CMPUT 404 is a web development course offered by the University of Alberta. The term-long project for this course is to create a stand-alone social network and integrate it with another team's project. Squawk was my group's project. I was largely responsible for making our site responsive with vanilla JavaScript, implementing front-end elements, and coordinating with others to integrate the front and back ends. I also wrote an extensive test suite for the project, including basic tests for the models and automated integration tests for the site functionality. The site is hosted on heroku and uses django for resource management. My team built the platform without the use of any templates or extensive libraries. The full readme and git history can be accessed here: Squawk on Git.

Winter 2020

UACS Website

Solo Project

The Undergraduate Association of Computing Science (UACS) represents undergraduate computing science students at the U of A. I took it upon myself to redesign the website, updating it from the last time it was edited in the early 2000's. The website is accessible here: UACS Website!

Fall 2019 - Winter 2020

Debbie's Dog Dilemma

Well Done Studios

Debbie's Dog Dilemma, created by Well-Done Studios is the final project for the CMPUT 250 course as offered by the University of Alberta in winter 2018. In this game created using the RPG MV engine, you play as Debbie, an overwhelmed university student struggling to submit her assignment before the deadline. The problem? Her homework is stolen by a dog! Help her find her homework before the end of the weekend by completing a variety of puzzles across campus.

I was the producer as well as one of three developers for Debbie's Dog Dilemma. As the producer, I helped keep the team on track for deadlines and submissions, and constantly reminded the team to keep the scope of our project in mind, earning me the honorary title of Scope Whisperer. As a developer, I worked on the puzzles in the game. This includes the basis of the initial snow puzzles, dodging cats in a small maze, navigating a poorly constructed building on campus, and playing the piano with your favourite characters from the game!

Debbie's Dog Dilemma won multiple awards at the end-of-year awards ceremony, including Story and Design, Artwork, and Game of the Year. It can be downloaded and played here: Debbie's Dog Dilemma on itch.io

Winter 2018

SegFault

CMPUT 350 Team

I was one of four developers on this project where we were tasked to create a bot that would intelligently play StarCraft II (SCII). We played a Terran bot that employed a full rush strategy. I handled the attack patterns and micro-management. These functions determined if our units would attack the weakest enemy or the most dangerous enemy, applied stim-packs when appropriate, and employed kiting to increase the chances of success. SegFault, which is what we named our bot, won second in the class-wide SCII bot tournament held by the TAs at the end of the term. Due to the University's collaboration policy, the shared repo for this project is private.

Fall 2018

Skills

Programming Languages & Tools
  • JavaScript  React  TypeScript
  • GraphQL  Apollo  Next.js
  • Python  Jest  Rollbar
  • MUI  Headless UI
Natural Languages
  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Spanish
  • Cree

Interests

In addition to programming languages, I love learning natural languages. I've been learning languages other than my native English for as long as I can remember and I'm always looking for ways to improve my language abilities. I also enjoy learning and playing instruments, drawing, and re-watching Star Trek!

My career interests include machine learning, natural language processing, information retrieval, and leadership, as well as good ol' web development. I've had the pleasure of leading a few group projects in school and would love to transfers those skills to the work environment.


Awards & Achievements

  • Best Student Game at the Design and Game Awards, 2019
  • Student Blog Feature for Startup Edmonton, 2018
  • Priscilla Hammond Memorial Award in Junior English, 2017
  • Schulich Leader Nominee, 2016
  • Graduated Vista Virtual School as the first ever French Immersion student in the school division, 2016
  • Pembina Hills Citizenship Award Recipient, 2016
  • Raju Family Award, 2016
  • Member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Youth Initiative to reshape the Alberta high school curriculum as it relates to past and contemporary Aboriginal topics
  • Poster published on the University of Alberta’s Education and Research Archive (ERA): Using Rapid Prototyping to Create an Accurate Model of the Lumbar Spine, 2015