Anshudeep Mathur

Hello, just call me Anshu.
I'm a `tinkerer` who loves to design + build complex systems that are simple to use. I have a particular interest in `search systems`, `networks` and `data visualisation`. I am presently based in Ottawa, Canada

I currently work at `Shopify` as a software engineer. In the past, I've held positions relating to data analysis and data warehouse development at BlackBerry, and done a fair bit of web development on a contractual/ad-hoc basis.

Contact: anshudeep.mathur@gmail.com | anshuweb.com | LinkedIn | sprine @ GitHub

Technical skills over time `★ = actively practiced. Bolded = I think I'm good at this.`

                                                                    Blender
                                                                 three.js
                                                              ★ Remix + TS 
                                                          ★ Prototyping
                                                    GCP infrastructure
                                                ★ d3.js
                                          data analysis in Python
                                         ★ reshaping and transforming data
                                        event streaming using spark
                                      scala
                                  react
                                ruby on rails
                             spark
                    ★ elasticsearch
                sas text miner
              oracle text
            oracle pl/sql and etl
    ★ python
  ★ sql
★ web dev + css

------------▴--------------▴------------------▴------------------▴------- today
            2011           2015               2020               2023

Work experience

Staff Engineer @ People Analytics

Shopify, Ottawa, Canada (Remote) – (September 2015 - Present)

The engineering role at this scope (Staff) changes rather frequently for me. Some patterns that stand out:

Prototyping and curiosity to explore new spaces continues to be the most important aspect. That's mainly how I learn. While most ideas remain sketches (in Excalidraw, Figma, Sketch, whiteboards or on paper) and abandoned code branches (an attempt, usually a script or data visualisation of some sort, sometimes a Jupyter notebook), some threads do end up being useful and introduce a block that connects. These moments are rare, especially when working with driven and like-minded people, but can help significantly.
Because of my area of work over the past years in People Analytics, I've learned the (current) shape and ideas behind some highly sensitive internal systems. Data flows everywhere, and wrangling it (and surrounding code) often feels more like moulding a lump of clay than dealing with hard technology. It can also sometimes be similarly exhausting.
The breath of responsibilities, expectations, doubts and mental models evolve constantly. Having an understanding manager or lead who travels alongside never hurts.
Technologies (in no particular order): Python scripting, Pandas, LLM, DuckDB, BigQuery, SQLite, GitHub Actions, GCP, d3.js, Remix, TypeScript, CUE lang, Ruby.
Soft skills experience: stakeholder (and expectation) management, planning, company building, first-principles thinking, building Talent systems

I have also held the following roles at Shopify:

Senior Data Engineer, People Analytics. April 2019 - September 2022.
Senior Data Engineer, Data Apps. August 2017 - April 2019
Data Engineer, Shopify Plus. September 2015 - August 2017

Data Analyst + Data Architect

BlackBerry, Waterloo, Canada – (Jan 2011 - September 2015)

Support, design and develop data pipelines for business critical applications and dashboards that impact decisions made within all departments of the Quality organisation.
Perform ad-hoc data analysis and investigations, as well as debugging Oracle PL/SQL and SQL performance issues.
Responsible for developing and implementing a longer-term plan for migrating ETL processing from the current dimensionally-modelled Oracle database into a non-relational storage structure.
Provided Python, Elasticsearch and Git tutorials for members of the Analytics team. This allowed many SAS and SQL-intensive processes to be migrated to Python while retaining (or improving) the execution time and supportability.
Performed various experiments in order to research and evaluate solutions for building a data mining platform from scratch - the tests covered everything from designing easy user interfaces to the technical considerations. The findings had a direct impact on the design and implementation details of a cross-functional Six Sigma project, leading to significant cost savings and efficiencies.

I have also held the following roles at BlackBerry:

Analyst, Voice of the Customer. August 2014 - August 2014.
Quality Manager, Enterprise. May 2014 - August 2014.
Database Application Analyst. September 2012 - May 2014.
Database Systems Developer. Jan 2011 - Sept 2012.

Past Web design and development projects

Pamela Gough Election 2010 & 2014 Websites. This was the official website of Pamela Gough's election campaign for Public School Trustee in the Toronto municipal elections.
Fancy Free Island. Fancy Free Island Cottage is an historic Victorian lake house on a private island in spectacular Big Rideau Lake, available for rentals from June to October. It is on the Rideau Canal system, a UNESCO World Heritage Site waterway that runs from Ottawa to Kingston, Ontario. Check out the website for details, including the island's fascinating history dating back to the 1870s. Summer 2009 (live till April 1st, 2019).
Redesigned The Riverwood Conservancy Web site, Volunteer Worked with staff at the Riverwood Conservancy to completely re-architect their previously static Web site and convert it to use a content management system. Trained and instructed staff in a 6-hour session, as well as providing brief documentation and support, on how to use the CMS tool and integrate their own content correctly. The Riverwood Conservancy’s Web site has been featured on TYPOlight’s showcase and has received praise from its Board of Directors. Winter 2007 – Summer 2009 (live till April 2014). http://www.riverwoodconservancy.org
Wireless Networking & Mobile Computing Research Lab. University of Guelph. Fall 2008.
The Illuminated Plant Cell. Built this free online resource for biology students and researchers providing them state-of-the art information on advances in modern plant sciences. Article contributors include leading International scientists. Winter 2007/2008.
The Plaxton Lab Website. Queen’s University. Winter 2008.
Biomedical Photonics Lab Site, University of Manitoba. Summer 2007.
Paleoclimate and Geobiology Research Group, University of Toronto April 2007.
Website and Layout Design of the Jarvis Jargon. Jarvis Collegiate Institute, Toronto. School–year 2004–2006.
Designing, creating and maintaining the ITC Alumni Webpage, Volunteer Forged a web-forum for alumni of the International Training Course, Biological Research Center, Szeged Hungary. Worked with a team of four former ITC fellows to bring the original idea to life. A Symposium resulted from this site, which was held 19th - 21st October 2006 in Szeged, Hungary and involved more than 300 scientists from around the globe. The page is now officially sponsored and supported by BRC, Szeged, Hungary. January 2004 – Summer 2007.
The Gradinaru Lab Website. University of Toronto. November 2006.
MEDCRT Website and Layout Design. University of Toronto. Summer 2006
Nano-Microscopy Biological and Medical Physics Lab. University of Toronto.Summer 2005
Laboratory of Plant Development & Interactions. University of Guelph. July 2004. https://mathurlab.github.io/
Joint Project for Siemens JoinMultimedia Europe-wide contest, Munich, Germany. A meticulous compilation on “Natural Resources” for the Siemens JoinMultimedia 2003 Europe-wide Competition in collaboration with three other batch mates. Project entered under the name of FET PAAC (Fossile Energie Träger, Peter, Alex, Anshu, Christian). Resulted in 1st place in the competition shared with teammates. Earned a position in Siemens JoinMultimedia “Hall of Fame” 2003. Summer 2003.
PubMed Extractor. A site developed to keep track of publications by parsing RSS feeds based on predefined search queries.
iPad and iPhone web applications developed using Sencha Touch. HCI project to develop an iPhone application for the Guelph-Humber student website.
Naive Bayes RSS classification system written in Python. Developed during DCCT*4160 - Distributed Information System Architectures course.
Ad-Hoc Search Engine written in Python. Group project for the DCCT*4090 - Information Storage and Retrieval Systems course.
Chat system created using jQuery
PL/SQL procedure to obtain book information from Amazon using the ISBN number

Education

BAComp - Applied Computing, with a focus on Wireless Technologies.
University of Guelph-Humber, Toronto, Canada. 2006 - 2010.