# Arno C. > Software Engineer Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/arno ## Work Experience ### Software Engineer @ Garner Health Jan 2024 – Present ### Co-Creator & Software Engineer @ Willow Jan 2024 – Jan 2024 Willow is an open-source framework for building Change Data Capture pipelines. It reflects database changes to a cache in near real-time. Read more at https://willow-cdc.github.io/ • Developed framework to simplify Change Data Capture pipeline creation from 9 steps to 4 steps, leveraging open-source tools such as Debezium and Apache Kafka. • Resolved Debezium configuration issues which prevented multiple pipelines from connecting to the same database (PostgreSQL, Debezium). • Ensured Willow works properly when provided a minimum privileged database user, avoiding the need to provide Willow with superuser privileges. • Architected and implemented a RESTful API, facilitating pipeline creation and teardown (Node.js, Express). • Designed and constructed a custom Kafka connector to transform Kafka events and send to a cache (Node.js, KafkaJS, Redis). • Built user-friendly UI that streamlines pipeline management (React, Material UI). • Authored technical case study, providing an in-depth analysis of Willow's problem domain, system design, and engineering decisions (willow-cdc.github.io/case-study ). ### Research Data Analyst @ Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Jan 2020 – Jan 2023 | Boston, Massachusetts, United States • Used novel method to identify Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (PMHNPs) within Medicare claims data, showing that PMHNPs are offsetting the shortage of psychiatrists. Published in Health Affairs and featured in various media outlets. • Analyzed and retrieved a variety of healthcare datasets, advancing project on relationship between oncology specialization and patient outcomes. Presented preliminary results in the 2022 AcademyHealth Conference. Poster won Best Poster under the “Health Workforce” theme. ### Allison Davis Research Fellow @ Williams College Jan 2017 – Jan 2019 | Williamstown, MA Through an analytical lens, my past research has involved examining the relationship between air pollution and corruption in China, and examining how antihistamine purchases have evolved over time due to an extension in the ragweed pollen season. Research Paper Titles: "Corruption and the Environment: Modeling Regulator and Firm Behavior in China" "Ragweed Pollen Season and Consumer Purchases: Examining the Relationship Between Extending Season and Antihistamine Purchases" ### Economic Research Assistant @ Williams College Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | Williamstown, MA Worked as a research assistant for Professor Tara Watson. Starting in Spring 2018 and concluding by the summer of the same year, I primarily used Stata to advance projects under health economics. ### Undergraduate Teaching Assistant @ Williams College Jan 2016 – Jan 2017 | Williamstown, MA At Williams College, I have served as a teaching assistant for the Economics and Chinese department. As an ECON TA, I held weekly TA sessions to help students understand conceptual topics in microeconomics. I also graded weekly problem sets for +40 students, including feedback if necessary. As a TA for Basic Chinese, I held weekly 1-on-1 sessions with 10 students to increase their fluency and confidence in speaking Mandarin. Much of this was enforced through conversations using the grammar and phrases students learn. ## Education ### Bachelor of Arts - BA in Asian Studies and Economics Williams College ### Chinese Language and Literature Princeton University ### Minnechaug Regional High School ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/arno-cai - Portfolio: https://www.arnocai.com/ --- Source: https://flows.cv/arno JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/arno/resume.json Last updated: 2026-03-28