Florin Balint

Software Engineer

About Me

Hi and welcome to my site! I am a professional Software Engineer with more than 7 years of experience.
I have a Master degree in Computer Engineering and have worked with various programming languages, tools and frameworks.
I currently live and work in Switzerland.


Professional Skills

Programming / Markup languages
Go
Java
Bash
C++
Python
HTML
CSS
Javascript
TypeScript
Dart
SQL
Tools and frameworks
Linux
Git & Mercurial
Google Cloud Platform
Google Kubernetes Engine
Docker
Angular
Angular Dart
GRPC
Bazel
Protobuffers
Apache Kafka

Work Experience

Software Engineer Ⅲ (Ⅱ initially) at Google Zürich, Switzerland
Generic SWE, Google Shopping
March, 2023 - Present
Added advanced Data Source management functionality into Google's Next version of Merchant Center.
The functions are used by large merchants who spend >20 billion USD on Google Shopping advertisement.

Worked with Data pipelines gathering merchant usage metrics by aggregating offers data (>200 TB daily) into a readily available dated table format.

Web developer (Frontend & Backend), Google Assistant / Duplex on the Web
March, 2022 - March, 2023
Project automating common / repetitive website workflows (checkout for example).
Created a dashboard for analyzing and debugging client runs.
Integrated an A/B testing tool into our systems for experimenting with 2 or more workflows for each website domain.

Infrastructure developer, Core / Google Cloud Platform
February, 2019 - March, 2022
Worked on an internal development & production platform that works on top of Googles Borg.
We extended it with Open Source solutions, while running on Google Kubernetes Engine as a Borg replacement.
Implemented an automated mechanism for setting up the production of a new server, including the release processe, configuration, monitoring and access management.
Teaching Assistant at Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
Oct, 2017 - Jan, 2019
Teaching students Object Oriented Programming and Fundamental Algorithms laboratory classes. Thought and assessed the knowledge of students in core Software Engineering concepts.
Java developer at Tora Trading Systems, Cluj-Napoca
Java developer
Sep, 2015 - Dec, 2018
Working on a compliance server, as part of a bigger distributed OEMS trading application.
I added a flexible limit setting for risk management in free-text format, based on an explit set of keywords (for example: "exposure < 0.05 and bid > 500").
Worked on a very low latency Market Data distribution service that was connecting to the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The server needed to handle a very high throughput in one instance (>14000 QPS) at <7μs latency, in just one server instance. I added lock-free concurrent queues and managed to bring the latency down to <3μs (capable of handling >333000 QPS).

Software developer intern
Mar, 2015 - Aug, 2015
Learned typical programming pitfalls, design patterns and some tips around multithreaded programming in Java.
Software developer intern at Accesa.eu, Cluj-Napoca
Jun, 2014 - Sep, 2014
Learned C# and worked with MVC, Entity Framework,Team Foundation Server on a web based resource management service that was used internally.

Education

Master's Degree, Computer Networks and Distributed Systems
from Technical University of Cluj Napoca, 2016 - 2018
Learned the most common engineering topics (mathematics, physics) and then focused on software developemnt, while also learning about the hardware details behind computers.

Dissertation : High performance concurrent data structures
Bachelor's degree, Computer Engineering
from Technical University of Cluj Napoca, 2012 - 2016
Followed up my bachelor's with more specialized courses.

Thesis : Clique based social graph clustering

Honours and awards

University
  • 2nd place, Catalysts Coding Contest Cluj, 2018
  • Participation, KPI-Open Kyiv, 2017
  • Silver Medal, South-Eastern Mathematical Olympiad for University Students, 2014
  • Silver Medal, Ariel International Mathematics Contest, 2014
  • 2nd place, "Traian Lalescu" national Mathematics contest, 2013
  • Silver Medal, South-Eastern Mathematical Olympiad for University Students, 2013
  • Silver Medal, Ariel International Mathematics Contest, 2013
Highschool
  • 1st place, Olympiad of Mathematics, County phase, 2012
  • Bronze medal, Olympiad of Mathematics, National phase, 2011
  • 1st place, Olympiad of Mathematics, County phase, 2011
  • 2nd place, Olympiad of Physics, County phase, 2011
  • Multiple 1st place prizes at regional (Transylvania) Mathematics contests

Hobbies

In my free time, I sometimes do programming for learning, fun or as a mental challenge. I read books and listen to audio books & podcasts to maximize my learning time. I also don't shy away from other mental challenges such as chess.

I like to keep myself healthy and in shape. I engage in physical activities like weight training, running, and hiking. I also read about nutrition and implement it by eating healthy.

If I want to just relax, I listen to music or watch a football match (ideally high level, i.e. UCL / World Cup) on TV.
More recently, I've been getting into digital photography as a creative hobby. This also makes me go to the Swiss Alps more often.


Contact

Email

florin.balint93@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/florin.balint.37
https://www.linkedin.com/in/florin-balint-9939ab99
https://github.com/templateflip