# Celia Song > Software Engineer at Palo Alto Networks Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/celiasong I am a former entrepreneur and mechanical engineer turned software engineer. Experienced at wearing many hats and having to teach myself new things, I'm excited to build great products using my software, hardware background & business experience. Shortly after graduating with a mechanical engineering degree at Cornell University, I worked at an aerospace company, and then at a small engineering firm where I oversaw numerous projects from design to manufacture. I then took an opportunity to start a business with my friend where I taught myself HTML, CSS & Javascript to build the website for the business, which ignited my interest in software. ## Work Experience ### Staff Software Engineer @ Palo Alto Networks Jan 2020 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area ### Software Engineer @ Expanse, acquired by Palo Alto Networks Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 Expanse was acquired in Dec 2020 ### Co Founder, COO @ 1up Events Jan 2015 – Jan 2018 | San Francisco Bay Area 1up is an online event services marketplace that is revolutionizing how events are planned letting anyone plan an amazing event in less than 5 minutes. -Wearer of many hats -Built company from ground up taking it up to over $800k+ revenue for 2018 -Ran operations for the company including overseeing all the event operations, company financials, insurance, and any other non-customer facing tasks, etc. -Managed over 10 event hosts (all with varying schedules and shifts) whose main duties were to oversee day-of event tasks as well as various event planning tasks -Developed processes to scale the operations of the company -Managed over 80+ different vendors in varying industries on our platform, including establishing contracts & terms, maintaining and building vendor relationships -Developed & created 1st 2 versions of the website (self-taught HTML, CSS, Javascript) -Helped create the current version of the website (in terms of architecture and key features needed.) www.1upevents.com Twitter: @Events1up Facebook: www.facebook.com/1upEventsLLC/ ### Project Engineer (Mechanical) @ Materion Corporation Jan 2013 – Jan 2016 | Fremont, CA -Managed projects from design to manufacture of brazed assemblies for high vacuum x-ray applications, including a $200,000 project to build a complex UHV chamber -Designed assemblies for manufacture and create drawings using Solidworks -Communicated with customers and vendors during design process to determine requirements and costs -Planned and created work instructions for manufacture of assemblies -Interfaced with technicians on manufacturing floor to optimize designs and resolve issues in order to meet on-time deliveries -Led various cost-down initiatives, including qualification and test of new material -Experience with/exposure to brazing, radiography, met sampling, leak checking Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certified ### Mechanical Engineer @ Space Systems Loral Jan 2010 – Jan 2013 -Design over 1000+ waveguide (interconnect) for payload units for large, complex spacecraft, such as DirecTV-14 and NBNCo using Pro/Engineer (Wildfire 4.0). -Design layout for payload units for deck-level subassemblies. -Work with lead engineers in various departments, such as structures, antenna, etc., in order to optimize designs. -Led a process improvement team (~5 people) in an effort to standardize assembly drawings; Implemented and maintained the instructions and template after the standardization effort. -Create major assembly drawings from design work for manufacture. -Process ECOs (Engineering Changes) to update drawings and parts during build. -Provide floor support during build phase of spacecraft, including resolving non-compliance issues. -Conduct and lead design peer reviews for various programs. ### Undergraduate Teaching Assistant @ Cornell University Jan 2009 – Jan 2010 Sibley School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering (Cornell University), Ithaca,NY Taught recitation sections for sophomore level thermodynamics course Conducted office hours and grade course assignments and examinations ### Summer Intern @ Sandia National Laboratories Jan 2009 – Jan 2009 Created and completed a systems-level conceptual design project for fuel cell mobile lighting tower as part of the Metal Hydride Center of Excellence (MHCoE) Designed heat transfer system for the tower that uses a metal hydride hydrogen storage system using Solidworks Presented completed work to potential sponsor/customer Boeing Co. in Everett, WA ### Academic Excellence Workshop Facilitator @ Cornell University Jan 2008 – Jan 2009 Cornell University Engineering Learning Initiatives, Ithaca, NY Facilitated and taught workshops that supplemented calculus courses by encouraging students to work together to solve problems; Created challenging problem sets for each session ### Student Supervisor (Cornell Dining) @ Cornell University Jan 2006 – Jan 2008 Robert Purcell Marketplace Eatery (Cornell University), Ithaca, NY Headed shift operation of dining hall; Managed ~10 student workers per shift; Trained new workers ### Summer Intern - Transmissions @ Sikorsky Aircraft Jan 2008 – Jan 2008 Designed parts and implemented engineering changes in the transmissions department for the Black Hawk (UH-60) helicopter model; Developed new dowel pin configuration in the main transmissions module to prevent corrosion using CATIA ### CBIA Fellowship Intern @ Boehringer Ingelheim Jan 2007 – Jan 2007 Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA) Fellowship Intern Conducted research in the department of immunology and inflammation; Ran various protein detection experiments and analyzed data collected from experiments ## Education ### Computer Software Engineering Hackbright Academy ### Computer Software Engineering Coursera ### B.S. in Mechanical Engineering Cornell University ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/celiasong-88 - GitHub: https://github.com/songcelia88/ --- Source: https://flows.cv/celiasong JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/celiasong/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-12