Michael Squance’s CV
With 9 years of experience as a full-stack Ruby on Rails developer, I bring a proven track record of delivering scalable solutions across several industries and technologies. My expertise spans working with diverse platforms, third-party systems, and programming languages, alongside a solid background in data analysis, AI, and machine learning.
Employment
Senior Ruby Developer
STEM Learning Ltd (Dec 2023 – Present)
Senior Ruby Developer at STEM Learning, leading the development and maintenance of the Teach Computing platform, a core resource for the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE). The platform supports educators by providing curriculum resources and tracking teacher progress through programs, leveraging various third-party service integrations.
Key achievements include implementing new admin interfaces to enhance operational efficiency and integrating a headless CMS to streamline content management. Additionally, I mentored and trained a junior Ruby developer, fostering their growth and contributing to team expertise.
As part of a small, agile team of two developers, a QA specialist, and a product manager, I engaged in a wide range of responsibilities, from stakeholder discussions to providing support. I also led a website development training course for internal staff and completed a 16-week training program on Microsoft Dynamics, broadening my technical expertise.
Science & Technology Director (Feb 2021 – Nov 2023
Head of IT Developement (Jan 2017 – Jan 2021)
Terravesta
Managed the software development & latterly, the research and development departments.
All software developed using Ruby on Rails, Angular, Neo4j
- HarvestHub, which managed supply-chain logistics and crop catalogue, consisted of two Angular applications for staff and customers, presenting each with different interfaces backed by a Ruby on Rails RESTful API.
- Physis data management platform for scientific research, which was utilised in several European research projects and included the development of an Android App for in-field data capture.
- Team Space which provided HR functions, with integrations to Google Workspace through REST APIs.
- Developed Gem for shared functions to simplify maintenance
Scientific Computing Officer (August 2016 – December 2016)
Aberystwyth University
System administrator of IBERS High-Performance Computer, virtual server systems and data repository. Provided training and support for computational issues, including research and methodology development. Worked with a graph database (Neo4J) to develop an RNA analysis model.
Modeller/Computational Biologist (November 2014 – August 2016)
Aberystwyth University
Managed, developed and administrated several bespoke Ruby on Rails web-based applications, including the Miscanthus breeding system and CRM database. Developed data handling tools, including a bespoke Android App and a Python API wrapper. Analysed marker data for trait associations for the future development of genomic selection. Participated in collecting in-field observations used in the marker-trait associations.
Education
PhD Biological Sciences, IBERS, Aberystwyth University
October 2010 – October 2014
Title: Computational Modelling of the Relationship between Miscanthus Genotype, Phenotype and Environment
My project developed new machine learning-based methodologies to create models to improve the efficiency of the Miscanthus breeding programme. My work combined phenotype and environmental data with markers and analysed using the random forest and other machine learning algorithms to detect markers-trait associations.
BSc (Hons) Artificial Intelligence & Robotics (1st), Aberystwyth University
September 2006 – July 2010
Skills
Programming Languages
Ruby
Typescript & Javascript
Java
PHP
Python
Terraform
R
HTML/CSS
Frameworks
Ruby on Rails
Angular
WordPress
Technologies
Git
Docker
Databases (MySQL/Neo4j)
Nginx & Linux server admin
RESTful & GraphQL API Services
AWS – Amazon Web Services
Heroku
Microsoft Dynamics
Presentations
2023 Agritech Week
‘Good OMENZ’ – Scaling of agricultural innovation session (Talk)
Diversification with Miscanthus – Farming resilience and how greater crop diversity can contribute to on-farm session (Talk)
2018 Miscomar Conference
Physis: Welcome to the next-generation science data management platform. (Poster)
2014 Bioenergy Conference
Machine learning approach for efficient marker-trait association on the energy
crop Miscanthus (Poster)
2013 National Institutes of Bioscience Conference
A computational approach for flowering time prediction and QTL analysis on the energy crop Miscanthus (Talk)
2012 Monogram Conference
Computational modelling of Miscanthus flowering time (Poster)
Publications
Exploring the Bioethanol Production Potential of Miscanthus Cultivars (2021)
Breeding Strategies to Improve Miscanthus as a Sustainable Source of Biomass for Bioenergy and Biorenewable Products (2019)
The anti-fecundity effect of 5-azacytidine (5-AzaC) on Schistosoma mansoni is linked to dis-regulated transcription, translation and stem cell activities. (2018)
Collecting wild Miscanthus germplasm in Asia for crop improvement and conservation in Europe whilst adhering to the guidelines of the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity (2018)
Endophytic bacteria in Miscanthus seed: implications for germination, vertical inheritance of endophytes, plant evolution and breeding (2016)
Progress in upscaling Miscanthus biomass production for the European bio-economy with seed-based hybrids (2016)
Radiation capture and conversion efficiencies of Miscanthus sacchariflorus, M. sinensis and their naturally occurring hybrid M . × giganteus (2016)
Understanding the value of hydrothermal time on flowering in Miscanthus species (2011)