About

Work Experience

• Software Engineer, Independent Software Developer

  Jul, 2019 - Present

  In July of 2019 I decided to take advantage of my significant savings to give self-employment a try, and pursue some product ideas of my own. I had (and still have) a list of ideas that is far too long to complete. I first set out to create and teach a Javascript course for kids, for which I created both the curriculum and the learning platform. Most recently I have been working on two projects, Wasatch Lasercraft and Wunderfold. The details of the projects have been listed below. Each project has been built with low cost and scalability in mind – I have used a serverless JAMStack architecture to minimize costs while allowing for a rapid development and deployment cycle.

  • Developed a highly productive workflow for building sites using Gitlab, Netlify, and Firebase

  • Launched multiple successful side projects with paying customers

  • Created several games and other for-fun projects

• Software Engineer/Full Stack Developer, Ancestry.com/Fold3

  Jan, 2012 - Jul, 20197 years 6 months

  Fold3 is a website owned by Ancestry.com which hosts historical and military content such as military images, documents, and stories. My work on the Fold3 was mainly on the frontend and middle layers. During my time I helped to simplify and modernize the Fold3 stack while building clean and innovative interfaces for Fold3's key features of searching, browsing, and viewing documents, and creating user content such as memorials.

  • Architected a Node.js based stack, and migrated the majority of Fold3 content away from a PHP stack

  • Won a $1500 Ancestry award for creating mobile-friendly image viewer and search page

  • Mentored a junior developer into a strong contributor

  • Researched and led adoption of productivity-increasing technologies such as Git, React and Typescript

  • Actively contributed ideas for product direction

  • Rebuilt a highly complex search page (fold3.com/search)

  • Helped make several significant architectural decisions

  • Implemented new login methods via Facebook and Ancestry

  • Major contributor to Ancestry Academy, a project built for Ancestry by the Fold3 team

Projects Experience

• Wunderfold

  Jan, 2022 - Present

  Side business and personal project – Wunderfold is software for a craft known as book folding. I went from an idea to paying customers in eight weeks, and have a loyal following of happy customers. Read more at mortensoncreative.com/#wunderfold

  • Single-handedly designed, built, and launched a product from the ground up in only six weeks

  • Built a product which has quickly surpassed its competitors in reputation as the easiest to use and best of its kind

  • Rapidly growing following – Facebook group currently has over 700 members

  • Created several innovative features which are unique to Wunderfold

  • Established a reputation for listening to customer input and continually improving the product

• Wasatch Lasercraft

  Mar, 2021 - Present

  Side business and personal project - Provides resources and tools for laser-based small businesses, including downloadable software tools that generate customized SVG designs for laser cutters without requiring design skills or software.

  • Created several popular downloadable SVG design generators, which have received overwhelmingly positive reviews from customers

  • Built a tool to help prospective laser owners search and compare various laser models head-to-head

• Let's Code!

  Jul, 2019 - May, 20209 months

  In 2019 I create a programming class for kids, that I developed both the curriculum and the learning platform for. The first version was taught in person, and the second version was going to be fully online and self-paced, but has been placed on the backburner for other projects. You can check out the original course at https://code.mortensoncreative.com, though currently you need a registration code from me to use it.

  • Created a sandboxed code editor and runner for drawing and animating on a canvas using Javascript

  • Created enough curriculum to teach a two semesters' worth of weekly lessons

  • Allowed students to publicly share projects they created using the platform

  • Created simple drawing, animation, and music synthesis libraries for students to use in their projects

  • Built several fun demonstration programs - see mortensoncreative.com/#lets-code

• Ancestry Academy

  Jan, 2014 - Dec, 20152 years

  A video learning platform built by the Fold3 team for Ancestry.com. I was responsible for nearly all development of the frontend and Node.JS middle layer, as well as helping shape the product direction

  • Developed a custom video player with built-in support for education content such as in-course quizzes

  • Created a content administration application for creating course content and structure

  • Responsibly for nearly all client and middle layer architectural decisions and development

  • Created an extremely fast, custom make-based build system for rapid development and deployment

Skills

Education

Awards

References