jeff smykil

Pronunciation: /sˈmɪk.əl/  |  Pronouns: He/Him  |  Location: Chicago, IL

A New England transplant, former teacher, classically trained musician, and avid reader, software engineering is my second career. I enjoy creating tools that make people's lives easier through intuitive data-backed design with a strong focus on accessibility. I like getting dirty in the entire process and learning about different parts of a tech stack with which I am unfamiliar. With approximately ten years of experience in software engineering, I have experience leading teams, mentoring and coaching, and planning and architecting large portions of applications including APIs and database schemas.

Skills

Computer Languages

JavaScrit / Node.js CSS HTML Python

Databases

MongoDB PostgreSQL

Tools / Frameworks

React Bootstrap Material UI Tailwind Git / Github Vue Redux Express Typescript Mongoose ORM Prisma ORM NextJS Flask

Creative Tools

Inkscape Linearity Curve Pixelmator Capcut Shotcut Figma

Key

Advanced Intermediate Learning

Experience

Software Engineer | Discovery Education | 05/2023 - 02/2024 | Full time (Contract)
Senior Software Engineer | Screencastify | 03/2022 - 01/2023 | Full Time
Principal Software Engineer | Encyclopædia Britannica | 07/2017 - 03/2022 | Full Time
Front End Engineer | L2 Interactive | 04/2015 - 07/2017 | Full Time
Full Stack Engineer / Designer | Rev4 Interactive | 11/2014 - 5/2014 | Full Time
Software Engineer III, Ad Delivery Developer | PointRoll (Now Sizmek) | 05/2014 - 10/2014 | Full Time
Front End Developer / Designer | Radianse | 10/2010 - 05/2014 | Full Time

Vounteering & Leadership

  • SciAnts Media | 03/2022 - Present | Science Communication Outreach
  • Athletic Coach / Umpire | 2005
  • College Information Technology Committee | 2000 -2003 • Music Educators National Conference
  • MENC Local Chapter | Public Relations Officer | 2003

Education

Bachelor of Music | K-12 Instrumental Education | Keene State College

Certifications / Relevant Courses

Project Samples

This is a small selection of personal projects that I have worked on over the years. All projects have been designed and coded by me. Some are older than others. This shouldn't really be considered a portfolio, just things I enjoyed working on over the years. Some are used by the public, some are only used by myself, and some are just tech demos for fun. Most of my work has been webapps I have developed for employers over the years.

Science Epoch Calculator

A Netlify Lambda function that returns the eon, era, period, epoch, and age of a date. Used primarily on Twitch in conjunction with a nightbot command.

Backend: Typescript, Netlify, Lambda

Science Epoch Calculator on Github

Created 2024 - Last updated 2024

Book Diary

I wanted to be able to look at the books I read in a quicker way, in an interface that was easier for me to read than what goodreads™ offered. I wanted to easily see how many books, pages, etc I had read in a year, or a month. I also wanted to be able to find books based off my ratings. This application does this.

Frontend: Vite, Bootstrap, React, SASS, Typescript, Vitest, Netlify

Backend: Fastify, PostgreSQL, Prisma

View Book Diary
Book Diary on Github

Created 2023 - Last updated 2025

Triviants

A web app for tracking and viewing daily trivia answers for a small community.

Frontend: Vite, React, React Router, Formik, yup, MaterialUI, emotionjs,Typescript, msw, Vitest, msw, Netlify

Backend: Express, Mongoose, bcrypt, jsonwebtoken, Heroku

View Triviants
Triviants on Github is a Private Repo

Created 2023 - Last updated 2024

Fret Master

A tool for learning the notes on the fretboard of a variety of stringed instruments.

Frontend: Vite, Bootstrap, React, SASS, Typescript, Vitest

View Fret Master
Fret Master on Github

Created 2018 - Last Updated 2023

Mad Minute Music

Mad Minute Music is a tool to quickly generate note naming worksheets for music students.

  • Pick from one to four clefs including all of your personal favorites: treble, bass, alto, and even the dreaded tenor.
  • Up to 60 questions per worksheet.
  • Choose if you want a question slot to have no note, or a particular clef.
  • Chose from any combination of key signatures.
  • Worksheet didn't turn out the way you wanted? Easily go back and edit it and try again!
  • Easily print just what you need, no extraneous images or site interface will print on a worksheet.

    • Frontend: JQuery, QUnit, Bootstrap, CSS, Vexflow

View Mad Minute Music
Mad Minute Music on Github

Created 2015 - Last Updated 2019

Monkey Music

Proof of concept note naming game.

Frontend: HTML Canvas, CSS, Graphing Library

View Monkey Music

Created ??? - Last Updated ???