Bradley Erickson

North Carolina

Software Engineer specializing in real-time data pipeline architecture, stream processing systems, and interactive analytics platforms. 5+ years building scalable Python backends and end-to-end data infrastructure.

Professional Experience

Technical Lead — Assistant Research Engineer

Education Testing Service · Remote · Feb 2023 – Present · Learning Observer

Served as principal engineer and architectural lead for the Learning Observer, an open-source, modular real-time data processing platform designed to make inferences from high-volume learning event streams. Originally joined the project during my MS at NC State, then transitioned to ETS to take over and expand its technical direction.

Core Platform Architecture

Took ownership of and re-engineered the platform’s core event processing pipeline into an async generator-based architecture built on reducer patterns, processing high-volume real-time student event streams into composable, queryable analytics
Designed and implemented a SQL-like query language enabling dashboards to declaratively compose real-time aggregations over reducer-based data stores
Built a pluggable frontend framework supporting dual dashboard architectures (Dash/Plotly and Next.js/React), allowing researchers to develop and deploy new analytics modules independently
Developed open-source Python frameworks for educational data collection and analysis, enabling external researchers to extend the platform without modifying core infrastructure

Google Docs Writing Analytics Pipeline

Engineered a pipeline to capture and restream Google Docs AJAX change-set events in real-time, reconstructing full document state through reducer-based processing and feeding NLP/AI inference layers developed by ETS research scientists
Co-developed a JavaScript event capture library supporting multiple logging frameworks and event schemas for classroom deployment

Deployment & Operations

Deployed platform as an LTI 1.3 application enabling single sign-on launches from Canvas, Schoology, and other LMS platforms across multiple school districts
Implemented CI/CD pipeline with GitHub Actions automating documentation builds, test execution, and deployments — reducing release cycles from days to hours
Collaborated directly with teachers across 4 schools, conducting workshops and iterating on design based on practitioner feedback from live classroom deployments
Led documentation initiative producing comprehensive API references and deployment guides
Mentored 3 graduate students on async Python patterns and system architecture

Full Stack Engineer

Trainer Hill LLC · Personal Venture · Dec 2020 – Present · trainerhill.com · Github

Independently designed, built, and operate a competitive Pokémon TCG analytics platform end-to-end — from data acquisition through production infrastructure.

Architected an automated ETL pipeline that scrapes, normalizes, and aggregates thousands of tournament results from heterogeneous sources into a unified analytical data model
Migrated from MongoDB to PostgreSQL to properly model complex relational data — deck compositions, matchup histories, tournament structures — significantly improving query performance
Implemented Redis caching layer reducing response times for high-traffic analytical endpoints
Built 12+ interactive analytical dashboards and tools using Dash and Plotly: deck performance metrics, meta-game trend analysis, card synergy identification, matchup predictions, and community-focused utilities
Developed a paid game-tracking service enabling competitive players to log, analyze, and improve their tournament performance
Managed production infrastructure on Digital Ocean: PostgreSQL optimization, Redis deployment, automated backups, SSL/CDN configuration, and zero-downtime deployments
Grew platform to 20,000+ monthly page views; monetized through paid services and advertising

Software Engineer Intern

Digi International · Rochester, MN · May 2019 – Aug 2019

Developed ReactJS features for an IoT device management portal in a Scrum environment

Software Developer and Tester

Winona State University · Winona, MN · Nov 2017 – May 2020

Developed and tested IoT management portal features as part of a university-industry partnership
Containerized application deployment pipeline using Docker
Prototyped low-energy Bluetooth device connectivity

Education

MS Computer Science	North Carolina State University	2022
BS Computer Science, BS Data Science, BA Mathematics (Minor Statistics)	Winona State University	2020

Skills

Languages	Python, Javascript, Bash
Web & API	Flask, FastAPI, Asyncio, Dash, React, Next.js, RESTful APIs, WebSockets, LTI 1.3
Data & Visualization	Pandas, NumPy, Plotly, Matplotlib, Shiny, Tableau
Databases	PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis / ValKey, MongoDB
Infrastructure	GIT, Docker, Digital Ocean, Postman, Sphinx
Testing & CI?CD	pytest, GitHub Actions

Publications

Mitros, P., Deane, P., Lynch, C., & Erickson, B. (2024, July). The Learning Observer: A Prototype System for the Integration of Learning Data. In International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (pp. 432-438). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.

Gao, Z., Erickson, B., Xu, Y., Lynch, C., Heckman, S., & Barnes, T. (2022). You Asked, Now What? Modeling Students’ Help-Seeking and Coding Actions from Request to Resolution. Journal of Educational Data Mining, 14(3), 109-131.

Gao, Z., Erickson, B., Xu, Y., Lynch, C., Heckman, S., & Barnes, T. (2022). Admitting you have a problem is the first step: Modeling when and why students seek help in programming assignments. International Educational Data Mining Society.

Erickson, B., Heckman, S., & Lynch, C. F. (2022, February). Characterizing Student Development Progress: Validating Student Adherence to Project Milestones. In Proceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education-Volume 1 (pp. 15-21).