# Colin Quinn > Software Engineer currently doing open-source work Location: Melrose, Massachusetts, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/colinquinn My path to Computer Science has been quite unconventional. It's not everyday you see a software engineer that studied Theatrical Set Design and Law Enforcement before pivoting to Computer Science after all! But now that I've been a software engineer for a couple years, I can't imagine myself not working in tech. It's a challenging and engaging field that allows me to use both the left and right sides of my brain to the fullest, and I wouldn't have it any other way! I still remember my first programming class where I learned C from an old, veteran engineer with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the language. He taught us not just the basics of integers, arrays and strings and the like, but really went in depth on how things worked under the hood with offsets and memory addresses. Details are important, like knowing how the python's global interpreter lock makes it so that python threads only offer concurrency, not true parallelism. And I've used that thoroughness and passion for quality that I developed in the eclectic mix of projects of worked on so far in my career: from simple collection of bash scripts to automate common Devops tasks for managing a Redis cluster, all the way to a full stack Django application for managing load tests in real time. I've had the pleasure of working with Ansible, reducing the size of and patching vulnerabilities in Docker containers, and even re-writing a longevity testing application to work with Kubernetes pods running Osquery. But I think the craziest thing I've ever had to do was build Logstash from source in order to patch some vulnerable libraries, especially since I don't often use either of the languages it is written in! Most recently I've been sharpening my skills in the front end with React and Typescript. First on an internal project where I also handled some of the security and authentication requirements, and now, as an actual front end developer. It's been quite the journey to get here, but I'm nowhere near finished yet. I can't wait to see what the future holds in store! ## Work Experience ### Software Engineer II @ Datto, Inc. Jan 2021 – Jan 2023 | Boston, Massachusetts, United States I worked on the team that managed onboarding and provisioning accounts for our integrated products. I started upgrading our PHP and twig based UI pages to use React in the frontend with a PHP powered API. This involved a lot of planning and discovery as the current pages had minimal documentation and test coverage. I created our test plan, documented our pages' requirements and the many users and permissions we needed to support, and designed our new API's spec. I also documented new coding standards for our shift to react. We released a new page and significantly increased our automated test coverage, but sadly I was laid off shortly after. ### Software Engineer @ Uptycs Jan 2019 – Jan 2021 | Waltham, Massachusetts, United States Spent my first year designing and coding tools and applications to automate devops and testing tasks. During my second year I worked on the frontend team using React and Typescript. Projects: - Uptycs Live Demo: A web app that generates events on stacks so there is data to show prospective customers during demos. I created the frontend using React and Typescript. I also implemented sessions using Redis and cookies, and Google Auth integration on the backend, as well as a small Express app to allow web SSH sessions. - Load Test Runner: A web app that automates the process of running load tests in the lab. Allows users to save load test settings, view ongoing tests, and see availability of stacks. Uses Django, JQuery, Vue, Celery and PostgreSQL - Patching Logstash Vulnerabilities: I had to update our Logstash containers to patch some vulnerable libraries. This involved building Logstash and one of its extensions from source code in an Alpine container, which was quite a challenge since I hadn't worked with Gradle or Ruby before. - Continuous Test Runner: A python app that runs longevity tests on osquery deployed on a kubernetes cluster by generating events in pods of various operating systems. Uses kubectl, Docker, Python and Bash Scripting. ### General Merchandise Expert @ Target Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area Moved freight, unloaded trucks, and stocked store shelves quickly and efficiently using manual labor and in-house technology and apps, as well as motorized equipment. ### IT Intern @ Coyote Logistics Jan 2017 – Jan 2017 | Chicago Developed the user interface for a web-based Microsoft MVC application for running unit tests for Coyote's web applications with another intern. Created a searchable test results display grid using JavaScript, jQuery Datatables, CSS, and HTML. Modified C# MVC controller code to pull test data from Microsoft Team Foundation Server’s REST API. ### Seasonal Worker @ Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board Jan 2014 – Jan 2016 | Minneapolis Cleaned and maintained various parks in Minneapolis. Operated and performed maintenance on commercial riding lawnmowers. ### Lumber Yard @ Menards Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 | Eden Prairie Operated forklift to load and unload freight, stock inventory, and helped customers with heavy items. ### Protective Agent @ EPG Security Group Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 | Twin Cities Area (many different locations) Enforced rules and provided customer service at events, concerts, nightclubs, and retail stores. Specific duties included checking IDs and credentials, scanning tickets. Performed pat-downs for weapons and contraband, and monitored crowds for general safety. ### Delivery Driver @ Milio's Sandwiches Jan 2013 – Jan 2013 | Eden Prairie Prepared and delivered food, took orders, cleaned kitchen area, and performed other prep work. ### Mover @ College Muscle Movers Jan 2012 – Jan 2012 | St. Paul Performed hard labor to transport customers' belongings quickly and efficiently. ### Student Assistant @ University of Miami - Jerry Herman Ring Theater Jan 2010 – Jan 2011 | Coral Gables, FL Worked with a crew to build, paint, install, and strike scenery in campus theater. Specific duties included general carpentry, interpreting plans and diagrams, scenic painting, leveling the stage and risers, tearing down stages, and other miscellaneous tasks. ### Production Intern @ Illusion Theater Jan 2010 – Jan 2010 | Minneapolis Worked with other interns to aid in the production process for Illusion Theater's summer season. Specific duties included organizing storage areas, maintenance of props and theater lights, making a list to track the movement of props during a play, operating a light board, and general carpentry. ## Education ### Computer Science Metro State University ### Computer Science Normandale Community College ### Law Enforcement Hennepin Technical College ### Associate of Science (AS) in Law Enforcement Normandale Community College ### Theater - Set Design University of Miami ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/cquinn540 - GitHub: https://github.com/cquinn540 --- Source: https://flows.cv/colinquinn JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/colinquinn/resume.json Last updated: 2026-03-31