Welcome

This portfolio contains samples that represent my professional experience supporting production software and promoting team knowledge share through documentation.

There are two sections that represent my operational work experience:

• HPC operations and shell scripting – samples that showcase my experience managing batch jobs and configuring environments in a distributed context
• Automated testing and deployment – an overview of the CI/CD pipeline that I developed for testing and deploying this site, a project that I used to continue building on the deployment management skills from my previous role

The technical writing samples include a how-to guide, a tutorial, and a reference document.

Background

In my previous role, I worked as a developer in a scientific computing setting, where I was part of a team that maintained oceanographic software on an HPC cluster.

Most of the work that I did was operational. I supported remote sensor data processing applications end-to-end, from data ingest to product delivery. I spent a lot of time working with batch job scripts, troubleshooting production issues, and tracking down issues on a distributed system. I wrote shell scripts to automate routine tasks and developed a custom troubleshooting and monitoring tool during my time there.

I also did a lot of technical writing. Every issue I solved, I made an effort to document and share the fix. I helped fill in gaps in onboarding documentation, and wrote guides and shared environment scripts with teammates to help them get started.

Due to the nature of the work, I can’t share examples from that role directly. To get around this, I designed a fictional software project - an air quality monitoring system maintained by a university research team - and created sample scripts and documentation that demonstrate my skillset. The samples are based on publicly available HPC documentation from providers like Stanford, USC, and the University of Arizona.

How I built this site

I built this site using Hugo, a static site generator. I used Markdown to author content, and a combination of YAML and SCSS to configure the site’s presentation. In some places, I extended the site’s theme to add new features, or to fix an issue with formatting. The site’s full source is available on GitHub.

To manage testing and deploying the site, I developed a CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions that includes a Markdown linter and a link checker. As I make changes to the site’s source code or content, it is automatically built, tested, and deployed via GitHub Pages. To see how I set up this pipeline, see the workflow files for CI tests and deployment, or read the overview in Automated testing and deployment.

Research and writing process

Along with the source code for this site and its content, I also provide an open look into my research process for developing these samples. You can view my full research notes in the site repository.

I used Microsoft’s Writing Style Guide to write and proofread content. I used this project as an opportunity to learn and apply Diátaxis, which is a system for authoring and organizing technical documentation.