Sam Zakharia
Sam Zakharia

Fun info about me:

Bio

Hello! My name is Sam Zakharia, part business-owner part software developer. I discovered my passion for software development in recent years and decided to pursue it by enrolling into an MS-CS program at University of Colorado Boulder. My journey began in Beirut, Lebanon where I obtained my Bachelors of Science in Chemistry at the American University of Beirut, one of the most prestigious universities in the Middle East. Upon gruadation, I moved to the United States to begin the next phase of my life.

I worked in the quality control department of a couple neutraceutical manfucaturors for a few years before deciding to take a leap of faith and start my own business in 2016. I established a highly rated restaurant, called Barbonzai, and expanded to a second location in 2022. During this time, after a few years of running the business, I began dabbling in software development and discovered my true passion. In an effort to formalize my education, I enrolled into an MS-CS program at University of Colorado Boulder.

Since then, I have had various personal projects and the most notable of these is GM-AI, an AI based world builder for fantasy worlds and Dungeons & Dragons players.

I am currently looking for a full-time software development position in the San Diego or Orange County Area.

Skills

  • Programming Languages

    • Dart
    • Python
    • JavaScript

  • Proficiencies

    • MongoDB
    • Flask
    • Google Cloud

Resume

Founder & Managing Partner

Barbonzai, Lake Forest, CA June 2016 - Current

  • Established a successful highly-rated, quick-service restaurant from the ground-up.
  • Responsibilities include:
    • Accounting & tax filings
    • Business development and forward guidance
    • Legal compliance
    • Website development
    • HR duties & SOP development
    • Vendor relations & negotiations
    • Lead weekly team building meetings

Quality Control Chemist II

Best Formulations, City of Industry, CA Mar 2015 to May 2016

  • Developed and Validated USP <561> pesticide assay via GC-MS with little supervision.
  • Perform revolving routine tests for QC lab testing as required: GC, HPLC, FTIR, UV-Vis, TLC etc.
  • Develop fatty acid assay methods for GC.
  • Perform various tasks at the request of management such as: ordering standards, meeting vendors, contacting service reps and researching novel in-house methods for savings on contract testing.

Quality Control Chemist

Captek Softgel International, Cerritos, CA Sept 2013 to Mar 2015

  • Regularly perform GC and UV assays on finished products & raw materials
  • Review CoAs, assign testing & OOS investigations on RMs which fail to meet specifications
  • Basic tests such as: titration assays, pH, viscosity, Karl-Fisher, disintegration, particle size, TOTOX value and various other identification tests per USP/FCC techniques

Quality Control Technician

Naked Juice / PepsiCo., City of Industry, CA Sept 2012 to May 2013

  • Monitor oPRPs and CCPs in a GMP environment & assisted development of new SOPs
  • Complete projects as assigned by management & created spreadsheets to facilitate data entry process
  • Responsible for conducting traces of various products for audits or recalls

Projects

Vault