Dylan Simon
New York, New York, United States
Summary
🤩
Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolDylan Simon is a versatile software engineer with 19 years of experience spanning kernel development, compiler design, databases, filesystems, web/video tech, and cognitive neuroscience. He combines deep systems-level expertise with a researcher's mindset—holding a BS in Computer Science from Caltech and a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from NYU—and aims for a top-to-bottom understanding of every system he touches. An active open-source contributor, he has improved the PureScript compiler, hardened the minimalist uzbl browser against XSS risks, and smoothed complex package builds in Spack, demonstrating both language- and infrastructure-level impact. He gravitates toward strongly-typed and functional languages, favors socially responsible projects, and excels at diving into unfamiliar codebases to deliver pragmatic fixes and optimizations. Based in New York, he blends practical engineering with behavioral modeling insights that inform robust, well-architected solutions.
19 years of coding experience
Bellarmine College PreparatoryDoctor of Philosophy (PhD), Cognitive Neuroscience, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Cognitive Neuroscience at New York UniversityCalifornia Institute of Technology
Github Skills (44)
asynchronous10
webbrowser10
transaction10
compiled-language10
type-check10
postgresql10
python10
package-management10
mysql10
async10
purescript10
browser10
c1110
scala10
c1710
Programming languages (27)
Github contributions (5)
mauricio/postgresql-async
Oct 2013 - Feb 2015
Async, Netty based, database drivers for PostgreSQL and MySQL written in Scala
Role in this project:
Back-end Developer
Back-end DeveloperContributions:16 commits, 1 PR, 6 comments in 1 year 3 months
Contributions summary:Dylan primarily contributed to the back-end functionality of the PostgreSQL and MySQL database drivers. Their work included implementing features like `AsyncObjectPool.use` to manage connection pools efficiently and adding support for the PostgreSQL interval data type. Furthermore, the user refactored and improved thread safety within the connection classes and added transaction support. They also addressed several bugs and optimized existing code related to array encoding/decoding.
driversmysqldatabase-accesssqlscala
spack/spack
Jun 2021 - Jan 2023
A flexible package manager that supports multiple versions, configurations, platforms, and compilers.
Role in this project:Software Engineer (Package Manager Developer)
Software Engineer (Package Manager Developer)Contributions:6 reviews, 17 commits, 20 PRs in 1 year 7 months
Contributions summary:Dylan primarily contributed to the `spack/spack` repository by addressing build and packaging issues for various software packages. They fixed compiler compatibility problems, updated package versions, and adjusted build configurations to ensure successful installations. Their work included modifying package definitions, dependency management, and incorporating patches, focusing on improving Spack's ability to manage a wide range of scientific software effectively. The user also addressed issues related to parallel installation and configuration of specific software packages.
compilerspythonradiussplatformslinux
Find and Hire Top DevelopersWe’ve analyzed the programming source code of over 60 million software developers on GitHub and scored them by 50,000 skills. Sign-up on Prog,AI to search for software developers.