[SECTION_01 // ABOUT]

Matt Smith

Software Generalist

UVic Software Engineering Grad 2026

I value ownership, accountability and trust.
I value measuring twice and cutting once.
I value failing fast.
I value calculated risks.
I value simplicity as a default and complexity when necessary.
I value questioning everything, knowing when to make a decision and maintaining the ability to adapt.

I have a very broad approach to engineering. I've determined that the more I can explore, the more data I have to inform my decisions and the easier it is to learn new things. My pursuit of guitar, cinematography, surfing and woodworking have all helped me become a more effective engineer. I'm constantly learning how to learn.

I'm in the pursuit of building tools that people genuinely love using and delivering value to communities through organization, education, public safety, and healthcare.

[SECTION_02 // PROJECTS]

Autonomous Firefighting UAV

Fire detection and navigation using computer vision ML models

As Head of Software for the UVic AERO team, I lead a team of 5 developers building flight software that operates our wildfire-response drone to find, navigate, and extinguish fires while collecting data for analysis. The vehicle uses a YOLO-based computer vision model that we trained and operates on a Raspberry Pi to spot fires and guide the vehicle. As the team lead, I run weekly software meetings, pair-program with the members, review all pull requests, and keep our project management process on track.

PythonOpenCVArdupilotDockerRaspberry Pi

Team Website

Life Manager Web App

Full stack web app for managing tasks, finances, and more for family life

After wrestling with scattered lists, spreadsheets and apps, I decided to build an all-in-one life management platform for my family to help us stay organized and maintain maximum visibility over our lives. This web app lets our whole family track and assign tasks, manage budget plans, meal prep and more, with the idea to build in new features as we need them. This was the perfect project to develop my full stack skills as I designed and built the UI, API, database, and hosting setup myself. Currently working on a mobile app to bring extended features and hope to release it early fall 2026.

Next.jsGraphQLPostgresTailwindDockerOracle

GitHub Live Site

Pigment Paint Mixer (iOS App)

Creative tooling for artists to mix and match paint colors

A react native app for artists to take photos of a scene they wish to paint and then build a virtual palette of colors from the image. Each palette color is then broken down into it's fundamental colors (red, yellow, blue, white, black) for the artist to blend into their desired color. The app was a great exercise for building a functional solution for a problem I faced and going through the full design, development and deployment of an ios app.

React NativeNativewindSQLiteExpo

GitHub App Store

[SECTION_03 // WORK EXPERIENCE]

Primer

Full Stack Software Intern - San Francisco, CA

APRIL- AUGUST 2025

Next.jsReact NativeTypeScriptGraphQLPostgreSQLFigma

Took ownership of multiple 0-1 projects across full stack web and mobile, built with Next.js and React Native
Led development of the calendar system to support editable schedules for teachers, parents, and students. Built with TypeScript and GraphQL to optimize database interaction for one of the most used features
Created a schedule-solver for placement of 800 students, 40 classrooms, and 16 virtual teachers across 3 timezones while optimizing complex variables (such as minimizing spread of math level in classes)
Thrived in a high-performance startup environment, extending weeks to over 60 hours to push aggressive deadlines and deliver high-quality software

Schneider Electric

Software Intern - Victoria, BC

APRIL - AUGUST 2023

.NETC#Jira

Developed an electrical monitoring web app to deliver energy reports and fine-tuned my software process for working on safety-critical systems that require excellent attention to detail
Organized a series of meetings with my team to address conflict between the devs and new scrum master, resulting in a helpful understanding of expectations and tighter cohesion

Chatterblock

Web Developer Intern - Victoria, BC

APRIL - AUGUST 2022

PythonDjangoPostgreSQL

Designed and built an admin dashboard using Python Django that tracked and visualized user activities to provide data for more informed business decisions
Trained new developers through presentations, workshops and pair programming sessions to decrease their onboarding time

Searchspring

Internal Application Developer - Remote

MARCH - AUGUST 2021

GoTypeScriptReact

Developed an automated deployment system to centralize product releases from multiple cloud services using Go and TypeScript, reducing deployment time and complexity
Built an internal project management tool with React to handle Jira tickets in a custom kanban dashboard, gathering and implementing requirements from all sub-teams across the company

Tesla

App Developer - Remote

SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER 2020

AngularIonicC

Modernized a legacy design tool by transitioning from a command-line interface to a desktop app using TypeScript and Ionic, improving usability and reducing design iteration cycles by 95%
Collaborated with mechanical engineers to gather requirements and brainstorm new features, ensuring weekly updates met project needs

[SECTION_04 // CONTACT]

Get in touch

Always happy to chat. I'm looking to join a motivated software team in the Victoria area for October 2026.