finlay@portfolio:~$ whoami
FINLAY COOPER
software engineer
finlay@portfolio:~$ cat summary.txt
Software engineering graduate from Western University who takes production systems end to end, from requirements through deployment. TypeScript, React/Next.js, and Node.js/Express — with two systems in daily use today.
finlay@portfolio:~$
finlay@portfolio:~$ which -a *
Tech Stack
finlay@portfolio:~$ cat about.md
About Me
Who's behind the prompt.
$ whoami --verbose
I'm a software engineering graduate from Western University (Dean's Honour List) who takes production systems end to end, from requirements through deployment. Two of the systems I've worked on are in daily use right now: a plant compliance platform I built as the only engineer at BroadGrain Commodities, and the TA-matching platform running in Western's ECE department.
That internship reinforced what I care most about in software development: understanding user needs and iterating based on real feedback. Working directly with plant operators taught me that the best tools fit naturally into existing workflows rather than forcing people to adapt to technology.
I've built my technical foundation through coursework in Algorithms, Operating Systems, Databases, and Web Technologies. From a capstone platform deployed department-wide to freelance client work to a full roguelike built from scratch, I take projects through the full lifecycle — concept, development, and deployment — with a focus on shipping software people actually use.
My Life
[01/04] With my capstone team on Design Day
Key Highlights
- Software Engineering graduate from Western University (Dean's Honour List)
- Experience in full-stack development, cross-platform apps, and cloud deployment
- TypeScript, React/Next.js, and Node.js/Express, with production React Native, MySQL/PostgreSQL, and Unity/C#
- Bilingual — English (native), French (fluent)
- Passionate about hockey, football, chess, weightlifting, and game development
finlay@portfolio:~$ cat education.md
Education
Academic qualifications and achievements.
Western University
Bachelor of Engineering, Software Engineering
Dean's Honour List
Sept 2022 - June 2026
London, ON
Relevant Courses
Extracurricular Activities
- Western Engineering Auto Pilot (WEAP) — C++/ROS2 contributions to the autonomous vehicle path planning pipeline
finlay@portfolio:~$ cat experience.md
Work Experience
Roles, most recent first.
Software Developer Intern
BroadGrain Commodities
·Toronto, ON
Summer 2025
●live- Owned the platform end to end as its only engineer, from requirements through architecture, build, and release — digitization cut compliance reporting time 75% across 3 plants, with 15% more from refactoring
- Drove scoping directly with plant operations managers at each site, translating floor processes and regulatory requirements into system design, then shipped iterative releases into daily production use
- Consolidated a legacy .NET web app and a separate MAUI mobile app into a single React Native codebase shipping to iOS, Android, and web
- Engineered a schema-driven backend factory (Node.js) that auto-generates CRUD controllers, RESTful routes, and validation from a single declaration — collapsing 100+ hand-written files into 3
- Integrated Microsoft Graph API + Azure AD (OAuth 2.0 / OpenID Connect) to automate SharePoint document delivery with token caching, refresh, retries, and exponential backoff
- Migrated all production data to a redesigned normalized relational schema after resolving structural mismatches from the original denormalized database
- Built 10 PDF reporting services (JSReport, Handlebars, digital signatures, multi-photo support) on a four-state approval workflow, replacing paper-based compliance across 8 categories
Freelance Web Developer
Soi Ram
·soiram.ca
June 2026
●live- Delivered a production-grade restaurant website with dynamic theming, fluid clamp() typography, and data-driven menu rendering — managed the full client lifecycle from design to deployment
- Integrated Toast POS ordering alongside UberEats and DoorDash, enabling commission-free direct orders through a unified receipt-style UI
- Designed a retro 80s brand identity with custom typography, mobile-first layout, and SEO optimization
Software Engineering Capstone — GTA Management System
Western University
·London, ON
2025 - 2026
●live- Built and deployed a full-stack platform replacing spreadsheet-based GTA hiring at Western Engineering — now in active department-wide use across 100+ TAs, professors, and committee members
- Owned the entire server side: relational schema design, the Prisma data layer, and the full Express REST API — 78 endpoints across 14 modules with JWT auth, role- and ownership-based authorization, and Zod validation
- Designed the configurable matching engine that replaced manual allocation — scoring every student–course pair on skill match, stated preference, review ratings, and course history, then packing TA hours at the slot level across 4 seniority-based waves with cross-term consistency for full-year courses
- Implemented non-destructive dry-run assignment, letting the committee preview results, tune weights, and re-run without overwriting human-approved decisions, plus drag-and-drop manual reassignment
- Built the front end's reusable, fully-typed Axios data-access layer and generic CRUD components shared across 6+ committee screens, plus a browser-side PDF syllabus importer that fuzzy-matches extracted topics against the skills catalog
Floater Counsellor
YMCA of the GTA
·Toronto, ON
Summer 2024
- Collaborated with diverse teams to deliver engaging activities and ensure smooth operations
- Adapted quickly to new teams and resolved challenges effectively in dynamic environments
- Mentored groups of 8-12 children, fostering teamwork and creating a supportive environment
- Spoke French to ESL campers
Detailing and Maintenance Specialist
Three Lakes Concierge (Formerly Dockside Detailing)
·Muskoka, ON
Summer 2023
- Detailed boats, cars, and property interiors; pressure washed decks, furniture, and exteriors; polished windows and screens ensuring top-quality finishes and customer satisfaction
- Assisted with marketing efforts by creating and distributing promotional material to expand client reach
- Trained new employees on detailing techniques and operational procedures
finlay@portfolio:~$ ls -l ~/projects
Featured Projects
Personal builds, outside of client and course work.
Fracture Protocol - Roguelike Arena Shooter
April 2026
- Top-down roguelike arena shooter in Unity/C# — 3 boss encounters, 12 elite enemy types, and a 32-modifier progression system with rarity tiers and diminishing returns
- Coroutine-driven boss AI with concurrent behaviors (fire patterns, drone phases, respawn timers), phase transitions at 66%/33% HP, and 0.8s visual telegraphing
- Modifier dispatch system using string IDs queried at runtime — dynamic effect composition across 5 rarity tiers without hardcoded branches
- Serialized run state across 4 boss scenes (11 fields) for full power allocation persistence; managed Git version control in a 2-person Unity project
CloudCopier - Cross-Device Clipboard Sync
2024 - 2025
- Cross-platform clipboard sync (Windows–iOS): C# Windows client, Node.js server (API keys, Docker), and Swift/SwiftUI iOS app
- Supports all common file formats (text, images, docs, media, etc.), offline queuing, and secure self-hosting
- Format normalization, deduplication, and rate-limited polling with retries for reliable cross-platform sync
- Set up CI/CD for auto-builds and redeploys to a cloud platform on push
Quizzly - Networked Trivia Game
2025
- Multiplayer trivia game built in C++ with a Qt desktop GUI
- Client–server architecture over sockets for real-time multiplayer quiz sessions and synchronized game state
- Object-oriented design covering question rounds, player connections, and scoring
finlay@portfolio:~$ mail -s 'hello' finlay
Get in Touch
Open to new grad roles and freelance work.