Alexander J Sheehan
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Summary
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RockstarAlex Sheehan is a back-end engineer with five years of production experience building Python services and APIs for large-scale education platforms. He has significant backend contributions to the Open edX platform—improving SAML auth, enterprise data flows, and caching for learner lookups—and currently develops backend systems at Udacity. With an MEd in Learning Design, he blends technical engineering with deep domain knowledge of educational technology, universal design, and the ethical use of AI in classrooms. Alex has helped lead remote teams as a technical advisor to design data-driven teacher tools and has a track record of shipping B2B features and LMS integrations that support hundreds of thousands of users. Outside of work he pursues hands-on crafts like sourdough baking and fabrication, reflecting a pragmatic, experimental approach he brings to software and learning design.
6 years of coding experience
Github Skills (12)
backend10
data-service10
python10
back-end-development10
webservice10
django10
saml10
apidoc9
api9
database-management8
database8
postgresql8
Programming languages (3)
Github contributions (5)
openedx/openedx-platform
Jul 2020 - Jan 2023
The Open edX LMS & Studio, powering education sites around the world!
Role in this project:
Back-end Developer
Back-end DeveloperContributions:81 reviews, 119 commits, 178 PRs in 2 years 6 months
Contributions summary:Alexander primarily contributed to the backend of the edX platform, focusing on SAML provider configuration and data management. Their work included adding functionality for country mapping, improving data endpoints, and introducing signals for assessment-level reporting to integrated channels. The user also implemented caching for enterprise learner lookups and made improvements to the handling of provider configurations. These changes indicate a focus on authentication, data sharing, and enterprise-level features within the platform.
lmsopenedxbackend-service
openedx/edx-enterprise
Aug 2020 - Jan 2023
Contributions:132 releases, 678 reviews, 219 commits in 2 years 6 months
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