Michael Ragusa

Education

Bucknell University College of Engineering (2009-2013)

Bachelors of Science, Computer Science and Engineering

• Minor in Mathematics
• GPA: 3.35
• Engineering GPA: 3.52
• Proficient in C, C#, Java, PHP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript
• Courses:
  • Networking
  • Network Security
  • Operating Systems
  • Algorithms
  • Data Structures
  • Computer Architecture
  • Computer Graphics
  • Senior Design

Experience

Cognition Corporation, Lexington MA (2014-2019)

Senior Software Engineer

• Extended the compiler and feature set for an in-house custom scripting language built in C++ called ASE
• Wrote Visual Studio plugin for ASE in C#, features include syntax highlighting, variable and function auto-complete, and debugger support
• Lead conversion of all projects from Visual Source Safe to Git and was responsible for associated team training
• Developed a generic connector utility in C# that allows data synchronization between Cockpit and other platforms via a plug-in based architecture
• Created open-source tool based on an XML diff engine in C++ to produce HTML diffs that are both precise and easy to view in a web browser (http://download.cognition.us/open-source/XYDiff_source_v1_5_0.zip)
• Extensive work on the main web-based product, including integrating a new text editor and making the product's password retention policy standards compliant
• Core team member on new web-based IDE product for writing custom configurations for the main product
• Developed FastCGI plugin that allows Cognition's custom web server to be run behind Apache or IIS, enabling invisible handling of port redirection

Explorica, Inc. (2013-2014)

Junior Software Developer

• Responsible for delivering full stack solutions utilizing ASP.NET, JavaScript, and Microsoft SQL
• Instrumental in reworking main website to be responsive using Bootstrap
• Redesigned main tour selection page to progressively load and provide client side sorting and filtering
• Improved internal sales sites to make important information available quickly while working with clients

Enterprise Systems at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA (2011-2013)

Web Developer

• Developed Web Applications for Bucknell University
• Integrated ASP.NET C# based web pages, JavaScript, and PL/SQL
• Promoted to Student Leader - Additional responsibilities include training new student employees
• Met with Bucknell University employees to determine project requirements and recommend solutions
• Worked during both the school year and the summer

Delta Upsilon, Demosthenean Chapter Web Site (2011-2013)

Webmaster

• Maintained and upgraded the chapter's web site utilizing PHP, CSS, JavaScript, Flash plugins
• Developed new pages in PHP to integrate with the chapter's Facebook page
• Managed the mySQL database backend to keep track of the chapter's data

Bloom Energy, Sunnyvale, CA (Summer 2008)

Intern

• Company uses fuel cell technology to generate cleaner energy
• Created an inspirational video utilizing Sony Vegas Pro for the company's new product introduction
• Created a financial model utilizing Microsoft Excel to help the company understand its spending in the Intellectual Property area

Honors, Awards, and Activities

Delta Upsilon, Demosthenean Chapter (2010-2013)

• Elected as Secretary - Jobs include setting up composite photos and recording meeting minutes and action items
• Managed fraternity's web site and co-managed the fraternity's Facebook presence

Bucknell University Pep Band (2009-2012)

• Play snare drum. Participated in football games, basketball games, soccer games

Interests

Tennis, Frisbee, Skiing, Drums

Senior Design Project

For our senior design class, my group (called Clearwater Computing) came up with the idea to create a scanning solution that would make scanned documents easier to organize and locate.

Here is the executive summary:

Current scanners simply do not meet the demands of current users. They are frustrating, hard to use, and generally only barely manage to accomplish the tasks that users would expect from the device. Scanners like this may have been tolerable in the desktop era, but with stronger mobile computing today than ever before conventional scanners tethered to one computer are becoming cumbersome.

We at Clearwater Computing intend to revolutionize the industry by introducing a bold new scanner that will be simple to use and unobtrusive in the home. Scanning and storing documents and photos will be effortless, reliable, and secure. Mobile devices will be able to quickly access files that have been scanned into our system without complicated setup. Our scanner will include automatic document analysis to ensure that users can locate their documents as quickly as possible. In case the automatic tags are not what the user expects for the given document, the scanner will prompt for other tags to help improve organization of the system. Overall, the Clearwater Computing scanner and virtual filing cabinet is a product that will revolutionize the scanning industry and demand attention in the marketplace.

To this end we created a .NET based web site that allowed device users to scan documents with the tablet on the device, and to later be able to access their documents on a convient, easily searchable website. For more information, please look at the following PowerPoint presentation.

Powerpoint Presentation

BlackJack Networked Game

In my Computer Networks class, we were tasked with creating any program that utilized a client-server model. Partially inspired by the fact that one of our group members was an exchange student from Brazil, we created a BlackJack game with an international chat feature. By utilizing the power of Microsoft's free translation service, we were able to create a BlackJack game written in C that can be played by people all over the world. It features the ability to drop and join games, as well as the creation of multiple game instances on one server. Check out a few screenshots!

Wall-Evader Robot

Working with two other classmates and utilizing a FPGA, we were able to create a robot that could utilize a light sensor to detect obstacles and react by turning around. Getting the robot to move proved to be the easy part, reading the data from the light sensor in serial proved to be very difficult, but we were able to accomplish it in the end. Feel free to check out the following video and the source code we wrote to get it to work!

Source code