Curt Howard (@meowsus)
29 karma
Software Engineer
Portland, Oregon
A Creative, UX-Focused Full-Stack Software Engineer
About
A highly adaptable and self-aware software engineer with over 20 years of experience building scalable, high-performance mobile and web applications. My passion lies in driving product innovation and engineering team efficiency, with a focus on clear communication and low-ego collaboration.
Skills
Web Development
UI/UX Engineering
Backend Engineering
Mobile App Development
Projects
Workarea Commerce
An enterprise-grade commerce platform written in Ruby on Rails.
Feature.js
Feature.js is a fast, simple and lightweight browser feature detection library.
Wagemage
A CLI for making changes to many GitHub-hosted git repositories.
FauxFetus.net
A pre-Bandcamp experimental music collective website generated entirely by ID3 audio metadata
Experience
Founding Engineer
Ampwall ampwall.com
Oct 2024 to Present
Brought on to help aggressively build out a very ambitious roadmap of features to provide a platform for artists in the DIY music industry
- Full-stack Next.js development
- Zero-to-one, early stage startup work environment
Staff Software Engineer
Convictional convictional.com
Dec 2021 to Aug 2024
Became the head of UI/UX product development with a focus on engineering productivity to increase developer productivity by more than 60%.
- Rewrote & stabilized the entire frontend architecture
- Mentored others through code review and documentation
- Mastered remote work & efficient written communication
Senior Software Engineer
Tophatter tophatter.com
Feb 2020 to Dec 2021
Built a gamified commerce experience for a popular auction-based mobile application.
- Enjoyed a fast-paced, experimental work environment
- Mastered React, React Native, Redux, & TypeScript
- Worked closely with Product & Design teams
Senior Software Engineer
Workarea workarea.com
Aug 2013 to Feb 2020
Built and launched many high-profile commerce websites before creating a highly extensible, full featured, open source commerce platform.
- Cultivated the art of feedback gathering
- Enjoyed end-to-end product development on a very small team
- Mastered writing highly performant, extensible, self documenting code
Software Engineer
I-SITE i-site.com
Jan 2012 to Aug 2013
Built and managed many non-profit mobile and web applications rapidly on a very small team.
Founding Partner
Pepperlillie pepperlillie.com
Jan 2008 to Dec 2012
Built and managed beautifully designed small-to-medium sized boutique websites in this entrepreneurial partnership.
Staff Web Developer
IntuitSolutions intuitsolutions.com
Jan 2004 to Dec 2007
Built and managed the custom storefronts of over 200 customers using eBay ProStores & BigCommerce.
Web Developer
Johnson & Johnson jnj.com
Jan 2003 to Dec 2003
Converted an internal quality assurance website into the company's new content management system.
Web Developer
Merck merck.com
Jan 2002 to Dec 2002
Converted many internal department websites from ColdFusion to static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Education
Volunteer
Puddletown Montessori School puddletownschool.com
Volunteer
Jan 2018 to Sep 2024
Worked with the administrative team to provide maintenance for their parent portal application.
Languages
HTML ⋅ Mastered
CSS ⋅ Mastered
TypeScript ⋅ Mastered
Ruby ⋅ Advanced
Python ⋅ Moderate
Golang ⋅ Moderate
Interests
Pinball
Art
Music
Reading
References
Roger Kirkness (CEO @ Convictional)
I highly recommend Curt on the basis of competence, character, detail orientation, and overall frontend engineering ability. I'm happy to provide a more detailed reference over email, and could not recommend him more highly.
Patti Murphy (Leadership Coach @ Convictional)
Beyond Curt’s technical skills, his ability to lead and collaborate within a team has been one of his most valuable assets. His deep compassion, open heart, integrity, authenticity and humor allows him to seemingly effortlessly build and maintain strong bonds across the team. He shows a natural aptitude for mentoring others and fostering a productive and positive working environment.
Prentice Bjerkeseth (Engineering Manager @ Convictional)
Curt’s the kind of engineer every team needs—smart, collaborative, driven, and experienced. I’d gladly work with him again and recommend him for any opportunity that comes his way.