Steven vanZyl
Software Engineer at Liberty Mutual Insurance
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Summary
👤
Senior🎓
Top SchoolSteven vanZyl is a full-stack software engineer with 11 years of experience building web, mobile, and game applications across startups and studios, now based in Cambridge, MA. He blends practical product work—from shipping features at Gopuff and Demiurge Studios to enterprise projects at Liberty Mutual—with sustained open-source contributions, including UI and Flatpak improvements to the Qt Matrix client Quaternion and enhancements to the Doom Emacs ecosystem. A former game developer turned backend-focused engineer, he brings a pragmatic, user-facing sensibility to backend systems and tooling. An avid learner and FOSS advocate, Steven often surfaces developer ergonomics improvements (keybindings, minimap, build scripts) that quietly boost productivity for others.
11 years of coding experience
3 years of employment as a software developer
Bachelor of Science - BS, Computer Science, Bachelor of Science - BS, Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Github Skills (14)
webclient10
c-language10
matrix10
cprogramming-language10
emacs10
qt10
chat-application10
clientside10
spacemacs10
emacs-lisp10
evil-mode9
ui-design9
elixir7
org-mode7
Programming languages (28)
Github contributions (5)
quotient-im/Quaternion
Jun 2018 - Oct 2018
A Qt-based IM client for Matrix
Role in this project:
Full-stack Developer
Full-stack DeveloperContributions:14 commits, 5 PRs, 1 push in 4 months
Contributions summary:Steven primarily contributed to the user interface and application features of the Qt-based IM client. Their work included implementing an "About" dialog, integrating Git information, and refactoring the dialog structure. They also added functionality for direct chat initiation, enhanced the room settings, and introduced user search capabilities within the application. Furthermore, they made changes to Flatpak build scripts.
chat-applicationchatc-plus-plusqt5matrix
doomemacs/doomemacs
Apr 2020 - May 2021
An Emacs framework for the stubborn martian hacker
Role in this project:Full-stack Developer (Emacs Configuration)
Full-stack Developer (Emacs Configuration)Contributions:1 review, 20 commits, 10 PRs in 1 year
Contributions summary:Steven primarily contributes to the configuration and improvement of the Doom Emacs framework. Their work focuses on enhancing the user experience and functionality through modifications to keybindings, module configurations, and the addition of new features like the minimap module. The commits demonstrate a strong understanding of Emacs Lisp and the Doom Emacs ecosystem, as well as familiarity with external packages and integrations. These changes aimed to provide a more streamlined and user-friendly development environment.
vimemacs-configurationmartianemacsemacs-lsp
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