Steve Yohanan <steve@yohanan.org>

⋅ Senior engineering leader with extensive experience in tech, including early-stage startups
⋅ Hands-on, mission-focused, user-centered, product-minded, data-driven, design-conscious
⋅ Deliver ambitious, innovative product initiatives through deliberate, informed improvements
⋅ Experience in roadmapping, budgeting, and strategic planning (technical, product)
⋅ Drive hiring, mentoring, and promoting of exceptional software engineers
⋅ New York / Brooklyn based; comfortable with onsite, hybrid, or remote

Skills and Expertise

Engineering Leadership ⋅ Startups ⋅ Agile Methodologies ⋅ Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) ⋅ Roadmapping ⋅ Product Development ⋅ Mobile Application Development ⋅ User Experience Design (UED) ⋅ Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) ⋅ Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) ⋅ Haptics (Touch) ⋅ Affective (Emotion) Computing ⋅ Research Design

Experience

Director of Engineering, Mobile | Engineering Lead, Consumer Experiences
Latch · Full-time
2016–2023; New York, New York, USA
Software engineering lead managing the technical teams of Latch’s Consumer Experiences business unit. Latch's focus is making spaces better places to live, work, and visit. Technical lead of the Consumer native mobile app; built the Android version from ground up; grew and retained the mobile team, including iOS; oversaw the mobile platform.
» Mobile Application Development ⋅ Agile Methodologies ⋅ Product Development ⋅ User Experience Design ⋅ Java ⋅ Kotlin ⋅ Android ⋅ MVVM ⋅ RxJava ⋅ iOS ⋅ SQL ⋅ Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) ⋅ Internet of Things (IoT)

Senior Software Engineer | Technical Lead, Android
Amplify Education; Mobile Division · Full-time
2013–2016; New York, New York, USA
Software engineering lead at an educational technology company developing the Amplify Mobile Learning System, an Android ecosystem designed for K–12 classrooms.
» Mobile Application Development ⋅ Agile Methodologies ⋅ Product Development ⋅ User Experience Design ⋅ Continuous Integration ⋅ Test-Driven Development ⋅ Pair Programming ⋅ Java ⋅ Android ⋅ SQL

Doctoral Research Scientist
SPIN Research Group; Dept of Computer ScienceUniversity of British Columbia · Full-time
2004–2012; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Inventor and chief architect of the Haptic Creature, an animal-like social robot designed to communicate with humans solely through touch. Managed all aspects of the robot’s creation: look and feel, behavior, software, mechatronics, user testing. Supervised a cross-functional team of more than a dozen individuals.
» Human-Robot Interaction ⋅ Haptics ⋅ Affective Computing ⋅ Interaction Design ⋅ Rapid Prototyping ⋅ User Research ⋅ Experimental Design ⋅ Statistics ⋅ Linux ⋅ Java ⋅ Java Swing ⋅ Python ⋅ C (Programming Language) ⋅ PIC Microcontroller

Lecturer
Dept of Computer ScienceSt. Edward’s University · Full-time
2002–2004; Austin, Texas, USA
Developed and taught an assortment of Computer Science courses at a private university.
» Advanced Object-Oriented Programming ⋅ Human-Computer Interaction ⋅ User Experience Design ⋅ General Problem Solving ⋅ Analytical Thinking ⋅ Mentoring

Senior Software Engineer
Various Startups · Contract
2000–2001; Austin, Texas, USA
Software engineer for front-end at several early-stage startups.
» Application Development ⋅ User Experience Design ⋅ Rapid Prototyping ⋅ Linux ⋅ Java ⋅ Java Swing ⋅ Python ⋅ Jython ⋅ SQL

Senior Software Engineer
Enetica · Full-time
2000; Austin, Texas, USA
Software engineer for front-end at seed-stage startup creating a platform for robust deployment of distributed web applications.
» Application Development ⋅ Project Management ⋅ User Experience Design ⋅ Rapid Prototyping ⋅ Linux ⋅ Java ⋅ Java Swing ⋅ JavaBeans ⋅ Java Message Service (JMS) ⋅ SQL ⋅ Java Code Conventions

Senior Software Engineer
IBM · Full-time 
1999–2000; Austin, Texas, USA
Software engineer for front-end of Tivoli Job Scheduling Console, a multi-tier application uniting disparate workload (job) scheduling products.
» Application Development ⋅ UNIX ⋅ Java ⋅ Java Swing ⋅ JavaBeans ⋅ SQL

Senior Software Engineer
OTPI · Full-time
1998–1999; Austin, Texas, USA
Software engineer for front-end at seed-stage startup creating productivity tools targeting entrepreneurial and small business markets.
» Web Application Development ⋅ Project Management ⋅ User Experience Design ⋅ Rapid Prototyping ⋅ PHP ⋅ SQL

Senior Software Engineer
Novo Media Group · Full-time
1996–1998; San Francisco, California, USA
Software engineer at early digital agency developing web applications for multinational clients.
» Web Application Development ⋅ User Experience Design ⋅ UNIX ⋅ Java ⋅ Java AWT ⋅ C (Programming Language) ⋅ C++ ⋅ PHP ⋅ Perl ⋅ SQL

Software Engineer
SGI (Silicon Graphics, Inc.) · Full-time
1993–1996; Mountain View, California, USA
Software engineer for the Indigo Magic Desktop User Environment, SGI’s pioneering UNIX desktop user interface.
» Application Development ⋅ Project Management ⋅ User Experience Design ⋅ Usability Testing ⋅ UNIX ⋅ C (Programming Language) ⋅ C++ ⋅ X11 ⋅ Motif

Education

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Computer Science
University of British Columbia; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Thesis – The Haptic Creature: Social Human-Robot Interaction through Affective Touch

Master of Science (MS) in Computer Science
University of Wisconsin; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Thesis – Webjumper: An Icon-based Framework for Managing Bookmarks on the World Wide Web

Bachelor of Science (BS) in Computer Science
University of Wisconsin; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Minor – Electroacoustic Music

Patents

Graphical Method and System for Accessing Information on a Communications Network
U.S. Patents 5,737,560 and 5,877,767 and 7,032,185

Method and Computer Program Product for Accessing a Web Site
U.S. Patent 6,072,491

Publications

A complete list of my publications is available at <yohanan.org/steve/academia>.

Portfolio

A selection of my previous projects is available at <yohanan.org/steve/projects>.