After a long career in the arts, Matt picked up the bug to program after joining a startup in a non-tech role. However, working with the online community at Code Year simply didn't provide the velocity of progress he was looking for. It was that drive to improve that led him to enroll in General Assembly's Web Development Intensive. The following are some of the projects he has completed both there, and since. Matt is an incessant builder and hopes to update both the functionality of this portfolio and ship many new projects in the years to come.
When I noticed that my favorite barbershop in Brooklyn didn't have a responsive website from my iPhone, I was incredulous. I asked the owner what he thought and we came up with a new design after pouring over vintage Photography, Travel, and Furniture books with my friend and designer, Lea Jafiarova. To acheive the elegant UI, we utilized bells and whistles afforded by open-source libraries like Font-Awesome and Bootstrap. Rather than host an expensive server, the site uses Google Docs and Google Forms as a back-end and CMS. Check it out and book an appointment online!
HavenLife.com is an in-house startup owned by Mass Mutual that allows a consumer to purchase term life insurance online or simply weigh their financial needs through an innovative calculator. The web application is entirely written in javaScript as a node.js app with a MongoDB back-end. I worked as a front end engineer primarily binding data to the dom with an open source library called Bindster in addition to a variety of other client-facing tasks from email distribution to testing.
After discussing potential opportunities to develop a new project with Lead Developer Anthony Schneider, we came to agree upon the possibilities afforded by a Node stack. This application, called Dropchart, would render graphs instantly in the browser based on text files and json objects. On this project I performed as the junior lead, customizing Bootstrap for maximum effectiveness and tweaking the javascript to render properly. The stack utilizes Google's API for chart making and we both think it's a sweet tool compared to opening Excel.
I was approached about putting a back-end on the site of a prestigious manhattan dance school. I chose to use Rails and a CMS package called Refinery. Admins are now able to add blog posts and videos. In a future version I will be adding an application section for prospective students.
Craving a new challenge, Matt sat down with friend and GA classmate Harrison Powers to cook up Dossier. The idea was to be able study up on the faces of people you are likely to meet an event, or even after, to avoid any embarassment over forgetting or to have a conversation starter. Everyone loves having their name remembered, so we used authorization through Facebook and LinkedIn to create this useful little app. While you're logged in, a user can also toggle their RSVP's and play some memory games.
Along with Kat Santiago, Matt developed Goin' Places in order to share itineraries easily and follow each other’s trip progress. Their idea was partially inspired by Github's approach to code, as Goin' Places hopes to create an open and crowd-sourced travel application for all.
The court was invented to help people find solutions to their problems by sourcing social media. It features some AJAX touches and OmniAuth authentication allowing the site to send tweets on behalf of the users.
Rock climbing is gaining in popularity in New York City, and it has swept up the author of this page with it. This app seeks to help members find each other and communicate. Authentication was made from scratch through Rails and the site features geocoding to help locate other logged in members of the app.
When Matt isn't working out some code, he's probably trying to sneak in a breath of fresh air outside. He usually brings his camera and you can find his work on Instagram or iShotMattLucas.com.
Matt's travel photography has received notice and been published online and in print. NYSkiBlog asked him to contribute a regular column. You can read about his outdoor adventures all year long.
Why not test your memory?