Robert Samuel Clay

Current

• Web Application Engineer at Daylife

Past

• Program Manager Intern at Microsoft
• Curatorial Research Intern at Cleveland Museum of Art
• Program Manager Intern at Microsoft

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Education

• Case Western Reserve University
• The Ohio State University

Recommended

1 person has recommended Robert Samuel

Connections

53 connections

Industry

Internet

Websites

• NewsBlur
• SunRayLab
• My Website

Robert Samuel Clay’s Summary

Hi, my name is Samuel. I'm a recent graduate of Case Western Reserve, now living in Brooklyn. I work as a web engineer at Daylife, part of a team sincerely dedicated to reshaping the landscape for news and how people interact with new models of interaction that we are building.

While a student, I developed four projects:
• SunRayLab - http://www.sunraylab.com - Project social network and collaboration
• CaseLife - http://life.case.edu - Event calendar, group communications, and campus guide
• Scheduler Jones - http://jones.case.edu - Graphical course scheduling and sharing
• The Brain Explorer - http://library.thinkquest.org/C0110299 - 2 year study of the brain

I greatly admire those who spend time thinking about how systems work. I share the same passion in explaining the complex and planning for new designs. I enjoy thinking about interaction on the web, both technical and social, and I build what I consider a natural conceptual model of software into my work.

My plan is to design interactive software, see it through to completion and release, and then write about the eventual impact. If I can accomplish all of these, then I have successfully launched another project.

Robert Samuel Clay’s Specialties:

Designing interactive web software with Javascript, AJAX, XHTML/CSS, and SVG/VML (for Flash-like interaction that is native to the browser).

Architecting back-end software from soup to nuts with Python, Django, Apache, caching (reverse proxy, memcache, data/api calls), and other techniques.

Experience and familiarity with various software methodologies such as Agile Design, SCRUM, test-driven development, and scaling web servers and database servers.

Robert Samuel Clay’s Experience

• Web Application Engineer

  Daylife

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Online Media industry)

  May 2008 — Present (1 year 3 months)

  Working with a team of top-brass engineers, we are creating a new system for publishing and reading news. I work on the front-end team creating a customizable delivery engine for news.

• Program Manager Intern

  Microsoft

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; MSFT; Internet industry)

  June 2007 — August 2007 (3 months)

  Working with user-designers, developers, and testers across multiple teams and two campuses, I worked on designing the community of the MSN user-generated video site Soapbox. Feature specs written include user profiles, groups, contests, and a new tagging system. I also established partnerships between MSN Video and external video companies.

• Curatorial Research Intern

  Cleveland Museum of Art

  (Non-Profit; Museums and Institutions industry)

  January 2007 — May 2007 (5 months)

  I created computer generated weave patterns for 12th Century Iranian textiles and objects based on my academic experience in art history.

• Program Manager Intern

  Microsoft

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; MSFT; Internet industry)

  May 2006 — August 2006 (4 months)

  I worked on Windows Live Favorites--Your bookmarks/favorites in the cloud so that you can access them anywhere you go. Additionally, since your favorites are on the Internet, Live Favorites can tell you about many other websites that may be relevant.
  I wrote six technical specifications in twelve weeks, all of which were presented to the Corporate VP of Windows Live and other executives.
  Additionally, I influenced the growth of the feature-set, user interface, and user experience of the web’s most used international bookmarking service.

Robert Samuel Clay’s Education

• Case Western Reserve University

  B.S.E., B.A. , Computer Engineering, Art History , 2003 — 2008

  Wrote honors thesis in art history on Edward Hopper, entitled "Edward Hopper, Three Studies of Anti-Urbanism, Alienation, and Isolation."
  Senior project in computer engineering is a widely used calendar and group information distribution system called CaseLife - http://life.case.edu.
  Also created, designed, and managed the development of Scheduler Jones, which is a widely used and acclaimed class scheduler and schedule sharing application - http://jones.case.edu.

  Activities and Societies:

  Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Macintosh Special Interest Group, Alpha Phi Omega – Community Service, Residence Hall Association, Peer Helper Network, and writer for The Observer, Case’s weekly newspaper,

• The Ohio State University

Additional Information

Robert Samuel Clay’s Websites:

• NewsBlur
• SunRayLab
• My Website

Robert Samuel Clay’s Interests:

In my free time, I write code, read about various topics such as art history, culture in New York, and entertain my dog Shiloh and guinea pig Arnaud. I also love to travel, driving county roads across the country, multiple times.

Robert Samuel Clay’s Groups:

Alpha Phi Omega--International Co-ed Community Service Fraternity

•    Daylifers

Robert Samuel Clay’s Honors:

Microsoft Student Ambassador Award, 2004-05
Dean’s Honor List – Recognition for earning a high GPA for the Spring 2006, Fall 2006, and Spring 2007 semesters.
National Association of College and University Residence Hall’s Silver Pin Award, 2005
Philips’ Design Excellence Award, 2006 – CaseLife - http://life.case.edu
Alpha Phi Omega National Fellowship Award, Winter 2006
Alpha Phi Omega Sectional Fellowship Award, Spring 2006
Alpha Phi Omega Chapter Fellowship Award, Fall 2005
Ohio Leadership Award, 2003-08
ThinkQuest International Semi-Finalist, 2003 – The Brain Explorer -http://library.thinkquest.org/C0110299.
Case Alumni Association Award, 2003-07

Robert Samuel Clay’s Contact Settings

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