Alex Baker

I am a software engineer working at Apple. I graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with Master of Science in Computer Science in May 2021 as well as a graduate certificate in Data Science & Machine Learning. I received my Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with a second major in Finance as Valedictorian in May 2020 from Washington University in St. Louis, completed in three years.

I started programming in Java in my junior year of high school, and I have loved it ever since. I have also learned HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and am moderate in C, C++, Rust and Python. Additionally, I am comfortable with Linux and its various principles.

To grow my computer abilities I have worked in several different capacities. In the summer of 2020, I worked as a cloud consultant intern in the national security division of AWS, and am now professionally certified Solutions Architect. Before then, in the summers of 2017, 2018, and 2019 I worked at Springfield Underground doing a variety of IT work. There I gained experience in networking, server management, and software design. One of the most important things I learned while working there was taking an idea from the drawing board to completion. I worked as a Teaching Assistant in the Computer Science department at WashU for six semesters, my entire undergraduate career. I enjoyed working with students and learning how to clearly express technical ideas and work with a variety of experience levels. I also worked as the Senior Web Designer at Cubic LLC where I helped run a student-owned business designed to help connect local residents with extra storage space to students leaving for the summer. Besides honing my web development skills, I have also appreciated the opportunity to grow my leadership and teamwork skills while working with the business.

Personally, I have also undertaken several projects. My largest project was 131 List, named for CSE 131 at WashU, where I designed a management website that was expanded to several computer science classes at the University during COVID-19. Over 1000 students have used the website, which allows students to form waiting lists as they wait for help during class. This has expanded my knowledge of the cloud and specifically AWS, as it uses a completely serverless model using tools such as AWS Lambda, DynamoDB, S3, among others.

As I move forward, I am continuing to look for new ways to improve my skills, such as becoming even more proficient with Java and Linux, discovering more ways to utilize the resources of the cloud, and continue exploring the world of computer science to solve new and interesting problems.