In beta
Beemoot
Find your next best friend. Get involved in your community.
A social platform for discovering local communities and the people in them. Built in React and TypeScript; currently in beta.
ReactTypeScriptTailwind CSS
beemoot.com
// software engineer
MatthewHahn
$./career --company="Amazon" --years="6" --location="Toronto"
Software engineer at Amazon, based in Toronto. Over 7 years building systems at scale. Computer engineering graduate from Queen's University. Currently building Beemoot on the side.
6+
years at Amazon
BASc
Computer Engineering
2
side projects shipping
./about
Queen's University
BASc Computer Engineering
Class of 2017
// me
I'm drawn to software engineering because I enjoy understanding how things work, both physical systems and the theories that describe them. Programming lets me build, solve problems, and expand my thinking. I like building systems in code, designing them in documents, and evaluating solutions with the engineering method.
I started at Grip Limited, a Toronto ad agency, where I helped rebuild their ad platform from the ground up into a serverless product on AWS: 1.5 years of full-stack work across Python, TypeScript, React, DynamoDB, and Lambda. From there I joined Amazon in 2020, where I've spent six years working on systems behind worldwide marketplaces. Today I'm the technical lead for the Amazon Author page, working with a team of engineers on books discovery. The scale has changed how I think about reliability, operational readiness, and code that nobody has to debug at 3am.
Outside of work, I'm building Beemoot and writing here about what it's like to take something from zero. I've also been a drummer my whole life, playing in jazz, brass, and musical pit bands, and was a member of Queen's Music Club through university.
// recognition
- 1st PlaceQueen's IEEE Student Papers Competition, 2017
- FinalistProfessional Engineers Ontario Kingston Chapter Student Papers Competition, 2017
- Dean's ScholarQueen's University Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, 2017
- Advisory BoardQueen's Electrical and Computer Engineering Corporate Advisory Board member
./work
Work Experience
Amazon
currentSoftware Development Engineer II·Toronto, ON
Building software at scale across Amazon's infrastructure. Joined as SDE I in 2020, promoted to SDE II. Six years of shipping production systems used by millions of customers.
- →Tech lead for the Amazon Author page across all worldwide marketplaces, one of Amazon's highest-traffic surfaces. Leading a team of engineers on the Author Follows team in Amazon Books.
- →Leading the migration of Amazon's Author page from a legacy framework to a modern component architecture; shipped the first component and authored the architecture spec adopted by the team.
- →Built an internal LLM-based AI agent that cut manual code-review verification from hours to minutes. Authored the team's AI development strategy.
- →Previously SDE on Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). Designed a new inventory routing path through sort centers that unlocked meaningful cost savings across the US fulfillment network.
- →Promoted from SDE I to SDE II in ~2.5 years.
AWSJavaTypeScriptDistributed SystemsLLM AgentsBedrock
Grip Limited
Software Engineer·Toronto, ON
Rebuilt Grip's proprietary ad software from the ground up into a fully serverless, scalable architecture on AWS.
- →Full-stack development across Python, TypeScript, React, and DynamoDB
- →Designed and implemented a scalable NoSQL schema on AWS DynamoDB
- →Wrote 30+ Python REST API endpoints on AWS API Gateway and Lambda, covering the business logic of Grip's ad builder
- →Implemented OAuth 2.0 authentication and authorization using AWS Cognito
- →Implemented real-time web chat using WebSockets with AWS IoT Core as the message broker
- →Automated CI/CD pipelines for web application deployment using Bash, Git, and Docker
- →Contributed to a native macOS client written in Objective-C
PythonTypeScriptReactAWS LambdaAPI GatewayDynamoDBCognitoAWS IoTDockerObjective-C
./shipping
What I'm Building
In development
Vault
A single place to store all of your favourite things, and share with friends.
A personal catalog of the things you care about, with a record of how long you've loved each one. Built in React and TypeScript.
ReactTypeScriptTailwind CSS
viewmyvault.app./projects
Engineering Projects
From university, the deepest technical work I can share publicly. Day-to-day work at Amazon isn't linkable.
2017
featured
Drone Detection System
Award-winning final year engineering project. C++ program that analyzes radio signals to detect drones operating nearby, capable of detection up to the maximum physical range of the drone controller.
Wrote C++ code for signal data processing, MATLAB scripts for signal analysis, and Python scripts for raw data parsing. Won 1st place at the Queen's IEEE Student Papers Competition.
C++PythonMATLABSignal Processing
2016
featured
Garnet Language Compiler
Built a complete compiler for Garnet, a new programming language based on Ruby. Implemented all phases: scanner, parser, semantic analysis, and code generation in S/SL and PT Pascal.
S/SL is the same technique used in IBM's COBOL compilers. The methods used in GNU C, Python, and Ruby compilers. A strong exercise in the fundamentals of software engineering.
S/SLPT PascalCompiler Design
2016
featured
Game AI with Neural Networks
Neural network that reads in-game player actions and predicts engagement, frustration, and challenge levels, trained on a dataset of Mario players.
Tested multilayer perceptron with backpropagation using 1–5 hidden layers with varied inputs in MATLAB. Outputs help game developers understand user demographics and adjust gameplay accordingly.
MATLABNeural NetworksMachine Learning
2015
QBNB: House Renting Service
Full-featured AirBnB-style rental platform for Queen's alumni. Built with two teammates as a third-year database course project.
Features: login, registration, add/manage accommodations, booking requests, ratings, comments, admin tools. Developed full ER schema from scratch using phpMyAdmin.
PHPMySQLHTMLCSS
2015
Arduino Robotic Arm
Constructed an Arduino-controlled robotic arm for circuitry exploration and embedded programming. Capable of moving and grabbing objects in 3 dimensions using servos.
ArduinoC++Electronics
2015
Hangman++
Group project with 6 team members. Full-featured hangman game with a complete dictionary, three difficulty levels, multiple custom game modes, and a fully designed UI with dynamic themes.
C++GitAgile
2014
Solar-Powered Digital Sign
First-year engineering design project. Portable, programmable, solar-powered digital sign that can be transported by a single person and reprogrammed in the field. Donated to a local organization.
ElectronicsSolarHardware