Hi, my name is

Jia Hao Choo.

Full Stack Software Development Engineer

A passionate builder. I enjoy learning and using modern tools and languages to build applications and software that serve the community. Also a huge movie and geography lover!

About Me

I am a Computer Science graduate at University of Toronto (with a minor in Geographic Information Systems). I have a background in software and mobile/web apps development, and I have a strong interest in the intersection of ethics, technology and geography. I am currently working full time as a full stack softwar developer at Esri Canada, specifically in the Ratio.City team! Here are a few languages, tools and frameworks I have worked with in professionally or in projects:
  • AWS Tools (CDK, SAM & SDK)
  • Python, Java, Typescript
  • PostgreSQL, Clickhouse, DynamoDB
  • Pytest, JUnit, Mockito, Jasmine, Karma
  • Spring Boot, FastAPI, Django
  • Angular, RxJS, React, React Native

Experience

Full Stack Software Developer - Esri Canada (Ratio.City)
Jan 2024 - Current
I rejoined the Ratio.City team (now part of Esri Canada) part time during my final semester of university (Jan - Apr 2024). Following that, as my first full time role after graduation, I am currently working as a full stack software developer there. In this role, I am responsible for planning, designing and developing new frontend, backend and data system features, while maintaining and improving existing features.
Teaching Assistant (TLI Program) - Department of Computer Science, UofT
Sep 2023 - Dec 2023
I had the opportunity to work as a teaching assistant for the Technology Leadership Initiative (TLI) program at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. Specifically, the course is CSC207 Software Design. In this role, I provided technical support to students in the program as they worked to create a software MVP that addresses a real world problem in under 12 weeks. Some of the areas I provided support in included clean architecture, design patterns, Spring Boot, testing and cloud infrastructure.
Software Development Engineer Intern - Amazon Web Services
May 2023 - July 2023
At AWS, I worked in one of the Payments team, where I got the opportunity to own the delivery and design process of a new data service from scratch to completion in 12 weeks. My work served as a foundation for the team as they expanded their domain. I wrote a design document based on the business & technical requirements as well as project timeline given. Technically, I delivered foundational components for the service such as ECS/Fargate service platform, auto‐scaling & load testing infrastructure, deployment pipeline, API implementation (with extensive use of dependency injection & interface segregation), as well as monitoring & testing infrastructure.
Full Stack Developer Intern - Ratio.City
May 2022 - August 2022
I worked as a full stack developer at Ratio.City in Toronto in the summer of 2022. I used the Angular framework and Material Design (with HTML, SCSS, TypeScript) to develop software features, improved the web app UI and functionalities. I also spearheaded the for the front end Angular code base testing (achieving over 80% code coverage) as well as integrating Matomo Analytics into the web application. As part of my front-end testing initiative, I also created a workshop for the entire technical team to guide them on various methods and tools for Angular testing as they continued to develop their front-end test coverage.

Education

2020 - 2024
Honours Bachelor of Science (Computer Science Specialist & Geographic Information Systems Minor)
University of Toronto
GPA: 3.93 (Graduated in June 2024 with High Distinction) | Dean's List Scholar from 2021 - 2023
  • 1 of 24 students accepted into Technology Leadership Initiative (2021-22 Cohort), which offers industry-integrated classroom learning, tailored leadership training for technologists, and industry internships.
  • 1 of 23 students accepted into the Munk One program (2020-21 Cohort), which provides students with a focus on innovation and global problem-solving.
  • Accepted into the Multidisciplinary Urban Capstone Project (2023-24 Cohort), and contributed my Computer Science and GIS skills to a team of students from various disciplines to solve a real-world urban problem (see Rerouting the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon project below).

Projects

Rerouting the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon;
ArcPy pandas Python Traffic Modelling Project Management Technical Communications
Rerouting the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon
Using GIS scripting and data analysis to evaluate alternative marathon routes that maximizes sustainability factors and overall participants experience of the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
TDSB Active Travel Planner Webmap
HTML CSS Bootstrap JavaScript Mapbox GL Turf.js
TDSB Active Travel Planner Webmap
Created a web map to facilitate active school commute planning for parents and students by integrating visualizations of relevant features and direct in-map route planning capabilities
TraderAuto+
React (HTML/CSS) AWS EC2, Amplify & RDS Java SQL Github Actions Clean Architecture & SOLID Agile & Project Managament
TraderAuto+
A web application focused on connecting car buyers with lower credit scores with subprime lenders
Power of Policy
Python Plotly Pandas NetworkX
Power of Policy
A python program and visualisation tool that analyses the efficacy of various government policies in reducing COVID-related deaths and cases
Money & Climate Change
Python Plotly
Money & Climate Change
A python program that analyses the relationship between money/capital and climate change
Personal Portfolio Website
JavaScript HTML CSS Bootstrap
Personal Portfolio Website
The previous iteration of my personal portfolio website

Achievements

UTAGA Undergraduate Computer Applications Award
This award was created by UTAGA and is presented to a senior student who has exhibited excellent scholarship incorporating computer applications. I was awarded for my GIS web map project in GGR472 in the year 2023/24.
Beta Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador
Promoted to a beta ambassador in the program as of 2022. Learn Student Ambassadors are a global group of campus leaders who are eager to help fellow students, create robust tech communities and develop technical and career skills for the future.

Get In Touch

My inbox is always open. Shoot me an email to ask me anything or say hi!