Talal Al Ammar

• Built a custom graphical playground to evaluate graph layout
algorithms for a research project. Performance was a key
factor—handled 100+ nodes and 500+ edges in real time by
leveraging Sigma.js instead of traditional SVG/HTML rendering.
• Created internal tools for a 3D printing company, including data
migration between e-commerce stores, invoice extraction from
uPayment and MyFatoorah, integrations with Zoho (accounting)
and Notion (order tracking), a point-of-sale and order
management system, image conversion/compression utilities,
and other automation scripts that streamlined daily operations.
• Built a React Native app for an architecture client to evaluate
artificial lighting in rooms. Combined React Native with a custom
Swift module to process camera frames in real time, enabling
light level detection and livability scoring. Showed comfort
digging into native code when performance required it.
• Exploring a custom 3D slicer in Zig to address gaps in existing
tools. Current slicers are slow, manual, and lack automation; this
project aims to add batch-processing, expose APIs, and explore
advanced algorithms (including AI-assisted) for tasks like
auto-support generation and semantic-aware model cutting (e.g.,
separating arms, legs instead of random cuts). Also focused on
building a fast, responsive interface that can be embedded in
other apps for interactive 3D experiences.

• Took the lead on setting up proper DevOps practices where
nothing existed before. Replaced manual edits and deployments
with Git workflows and automated CI/CD, making deployments
reliable, repeatable and stress free.
• Raised the security level by moving secrets to 1Password,
automating distribution, and helping close down and patch
dozens of legacy servers. Later consolidated even more by
moving workloads into Kubernetes to shrink the attack surface.
• Brought in monitoring with Prometheus and Grafana. What used
to take hours to debug now takes minutes, and many issues are
caught early before they cause downtime.
• Maintained a set of ad-hoc Node.js services that had grown
without much focus on maintainability, reliability, or security, and
later migrated them into 15+ well-structured Go microservices
running on Kubernetes. Deployments are now automated and
stable with zero downtime, and core services like email/SMS,
payments, and auth became more robust with proper logs,
retries, and error handling. The new architecture is easier to
develop, maintain, and secure, and allows work to be shared
cleanly across the teams
• Set up Notion as a central knowledge base and standardized API
docs with Swagger and Insomnia. Onboarding/offboarding is
smoother, debugging is easier with predefined payloads, and new
devs can get up to speed with a single link instead of
back-and-forth emails.
• Mentored 6 people, from juniors to peers, across DevOps and
development. Helped them adopt Git and other modern tools,
guided tech choices and best practices for both code and security,
and supported them with onboarding, task management, and
project planning. Played an active role in encouraging initiative
and helping the team grow beyond just executing assigned tasks.
• Contributed to data centralization by writing SQL queries,
helping shape table structures, and giving input on schema
design. Worked with the team on how data should be organized
and accessed, making it easier to manage and more reliable for
reporting and future development. While not my primary focus, I
actively participated in database discussions and implementation
when needed.

• Developed internal applications including a job portal and a
faculty evaluation system, both actively used by staff and faculty.
• Maintained and extended internal integrations written in
JavaScript to keep connected systems reliable.
• Built foundational UI components in Vue.js for a form automation
system, enabling forms to be defined through UI configuration
and significantly speeding up form creation.