Ruben Martinez Jr.
AboutHi! I'm Ruben. I'm a developer, designer, and photographer, who's passionate about building cool stuff. I currently work at OkCupid, in New York City, where I work on the Web Core team, empowering other developers to be productive with the data, tools, and abstractions to do their jobs best. I've had the opportunity to work on several major projects at OkCupid, including reworking the Desktop and Mobile Web platforms into a Single Page App, converting major bits of application logic to TypeScript, and rewriting OkCupid's messaging system using React and GraphQL. Previously, I worked at Slack, building data visualizations for our enterprise customers to understand how best to take advantage of the Slack product. Prior to that, I designed and built the Progressive Web App for WELL Health Inc, a Techstars-funded startup dedicated to improving the patient healthcare experience. I oversaw the rollout of WELL from zero to several hundred thousand MAU. I graduated from Bowdoin College in 2015 with a degree in Computer Science and Visual Arts. That summer, I was selected to attend WWDC as a Student Scholar. I also wrote a book on building Swift apps for WatchOS v1. For more information about me, feel free to reach out to me via any of the links listed in the sidebar.
ArtOkCupid, New York, New York — Senior Software Engineer
October 2021 - Present
Slack, New York, New York — Senior Software Engineer
April 2020 - October 2021
I work on the frontend team creating insightful data visualizations for our enterprise customers.
OkCupid, New York, New York — Senior Software Engineer
June 2018 - April 2020
I worked on the web and iOS teams at OkCupid, helping come up with new and interesting ways for people to get to know each other online. I got the opportunity to work on several major projects, including reworking the web experience into a Single Page App, and rewriting OkCupid's instant messenger using React.
Well Health Inc, San Francisco, CA — Lead Frontend Eng
September 2015 - June 2018
Designed and built a HIPAA-compliant encrypted messaging web app with real-time push notifications & offline support, that allows hospitals and clinics to communicate securely and reliably with their patients.
All-Star Code, New York, NY — Lead Instructor
June 2015 - August 2016
Introduced a class of 20 high school students to web & mobile app development, robotics and physical computing, while teaching them to use languages like Python, JS, and C.
Apress Media, Brunswick, ME — Writer
February 2015 - June 2015
Co-authored a book on teaching Swift development of Apple Watch apps using WatchKit 1.0.
Education
Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME — B.A.
August 2011 - May 2015
Computer Science major with a Visual Arts minor.
University of Texas Brownsville, Brownsville, TX — A.S.
August 2009 - May 2011
Majored in Biology and Chemistry.
Projects
Recal — React Component
Built a ~6kb reusable React/Preact Calendar component using CSS Grid. Reached #12 on the global trending repositories on GitHub.
Piggy — Mac App
Developed a Mac menu bar app for viewing up-to-date cryptocurrency prices and Coinbase wallet data.
Muzee — iOS App
Created an iOS app for capturing photos of paintings, correcting skewed perspectives, and viewing them in AR.
Avivore — Chrome Extension
Built an extension that uses Google’s Perspective API to auto-hide "toxic" tweets on Twitter.com in real time.
Recloud — NPM Package
Created a React mixin for memoizing results from API calls given prop or state dependencies.
Archive — Chrome Extension
Developed an extension that allows you to archive websites to the Wayback Machine with just a click.
Flat.Style — JavaScript PWA
Created an offline-ready web app for generating icons with shadow effects given any image using the HTML Canvas API.
GroupCodes — JavaScript SPA
Built a real-time collaborative web-based code editor aimed at students working together on projects.
Infinitweet — Chrome Extension, iOS & Android apps
Created a social media tool for sending “infinitely” long tweets, by converting text into images optimized for Twitter. 3.6k downloads.
DUCK! — iOS app
TouchID/FaceID-secured photo locker, with a responsive layout for iPhone & iPad compatibility. 3.4k downloads.
LittleData — Chrome app
Designed a JavaScript app that used WebAudio API and WebRTC to attempt to translate visual input into a unique, identifiable sound.
Bowdoin Dining — JavaScript SPA, iOS & Android apps
Developed a suite of apps for Bowdoin College Dining used by over 5.6k students and faculty.
WBOR Radio — Chrome Extension, iOS & Android apps
Developed apps to allow anyone to stream WBOR Radio, the Bowdoin College student radio station, from their phone or laptop. 3.8k downloads.
Design
Examples of apps and promotional materials I've designed.