Brad's Site
A site all about me
Bradley Erickson
North Carolina
Software Engineer specializing in real-time educational data platforms and competitive gaming analytics infrastructure. 5+ years building scalable Python backends and data pipelines.
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, R, Bash |
| Web Technologies | Flask, FastAPI, Asyncio, Dash, React, HTML, CSS, RESTful APIs, JSON, WebSockets |
| Data & Visualization | Pandas, NumPy, Plotly, Matplotlib, Shiny, Tableau, Excel |
| Databases | PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis / ValKey, MongoDB |
| Infrastructure | GIT, Docker, Postman, CRON, Digital Ocean, Sphinx |
| Testing & Automation | pytest, GitHub Actions, CI/CD |
| Professional | Teaching / mentoring, collaboration, problem solving, time / project management, communication |
Professional Experience 
Assistant Research Engineer | Education Testing Service
Remote | Feb 2023 – Present
Learning Observer Platform - Educational data infrastructure serving K-12 research initiatives
Python, Asyncio, Redis
- Designed query protocol enabling dashboards to view real-time student data
- Implemented CI/CD pipeline (GitHub Actions) automating documentation builds (Sphinx), test execution (pytest), and deployments—reducing release cycle from days to hours
- Deployed platform as LTI 1.3 application enabling seamless single sign-on launches from Canvas, Schoology, and other LMS platforms
- Mentored 3 graduate students on async Python patterns
- Engineered JavaScript event processing library supporting multiple logging frameworks
- Collaborated with teachers from 4 schools to drive design process
- Built framework supporting dual frontend architectures (Dash/Next.js)
- Developed open-source Python frameworks for educational data collection and analysis, enabling external researchers to extend the platform
- Led documentation initiative creating comprehensive API docs and deployment guides
Key Projects 
Full Stack Engineer | Trainer Hill LLC
Personal Venture | Dec 2020 – Present
Competitive Pokemon TCG analytics platform | trainerhill.com
Python, Flask, PostgreSQL, Redis, Dash
- Architected REST API evolution: migrated from MongoDB to PostgreSQL, improving query performance for complex relational data
- Implemented Redis caching layer reducing response time for frequently accessed endpoints
- Built automated ETL pipeline scraping, normalizing, and aggregating thousands of tournament results from multiple sources with high data accuracy
- Developed 12+ interactive data dashboards and tools using Dash/Plotly providing competitive insights: deck performance metrics, meta-game trend analysis, card synergy identification, and matchup predictions
- Self-managed production Digital Ocean infrastructure: PostgreSQL optimization (indexing, query tuning), Redis deployment, automated backups, SSL/CDN, and zero-downtime deployments
- Scaled platform to 20,000+ monthly page views through SEO optimization and content strategy; monetized via Google AdSense integration
Early Career 
Research Assistant - Writing Observer | North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC | Jan 2022 ‒ Jan 2023
- Built automated data pipeline with Cron handling daily backups of 10GB+ student writing datasets
- Designed and prototyped an asynchronous dashboard to provide grade school teachers with formative feedback on the student writing process using Dash
Teaching Assistant | North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC | Aug 2020 ‒ Dec 2021
- Led TA team supporting 200+ CS students; held office hours and review sessions
Software Engineer Intern | Digi International
Rochester, MN | May 2019 ‒ Aug 2019
- Developed ReactJS features for IoT management portal in 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 university-industry partnership
- Containerized application deployment pipeline using Docker
- Prototyped low-energy bluetooth device connectivity
Tech Support Specialist | VCS Technologies
Winona, MN | Aug 2016 ‒ Aug 2018
- Provided technical support and documentation for small business clients
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).