Based in Wolverhampton, UK

Zubair
Idris Aweda

Full-Stack Engineer|
Building scalable systems in FinTech & beyond. First Class CS graduate from Wolverhampton with a growing interest in human-computer interaction and AI systems research.

Open to Opportunities ↓ Research Interests → Download CV ↗
GitHub LinkedIn freeCodeCamp Email
Scroll

About

Engineer by trade,
researcher at heart

I'm a mid-senior full-stack engineer and first class Computer Science graduate from the University of Wolverhampton, with 3+ years of hands-on experience shipping production-grade systems in the FinTech space. I've maintained 99.9% uptime on payment infrastructure, architected microservices, and led developer-experience improvements across distributed teams.

Beyond engineering, I write technical content that has reached over 443,000 readers worldwide — with articles published on freeCodeCamp, Earthly, Draft.dev, and Section.io. I've taught backend engineering at bootcamps across Nigeria, and spoken at DevFests in London, Scotland, and Bletchley Park.

My emerging research interest lies at the intersection of intelligent systems and human experience — specifically how robotics, AI, and cognitive science can be designed to serve people equitably. I'm actively seeking both engineering roles and research opportunities (MS/PhD programmes) that let me pursue this work rigorously.

Get in Touch Academic CV ↗

Location

Wolverhampton, United Kingdom

Research Interests

Robotics & HRI AI Systems Cognitive Science Distributed Systems AI Ethics Brain-Computer Interfaces

Certifications

JS Algorithms & Data Structures — freeCodeCamp
Intro to Python & ML — Data Science Nigeria
freeCodeCamp Top Open Source Contributor 2021–2024

Technical Stack

Skills & Tools

Languages

PHP JavaScript (ES6+) TypeScript Python SQL HTML5 / CSS3

Frameworks & Databases

Laravel Node.js / Express React.js / Vue.js MySQL / PostgreSQL MongoDB

Tools, APIs & Practices

Docker / CI/CD Git / GitHub Stripe / Twilio / Firebase RESTful API Design TDD / Unit Testing Agile / Scrum / SDLC

Career

Work Experience

Jun 2022 – Oct 2023

Stax Payments

Remote · Full-time

Mid-Senior Full-Stack Engineer (PHP)

  • Architected scalable backend microservices using PHP and Laravel, supporting high-volume transaction processing while ensuring 99.9% service uptime.
  • Reduced developer onboarding time by ~40% by authoring comprehensive internal and public-facing API documentation serving as the engineering team's single source of truth.
  • Optimised database performance by adapting complex data models, ensuring seamless integration of new features without downtime or data integrity loss.
  • Enforced rigorous unit testing and peer code-review workflows, significantly reducing critical bugs reaching production.
  • Collaborated with UX/UI designers to translate wireframes into pixel-perfect, WCAG-accessible interfaces.
PHPLaravelMySQL REST APIsMicroservicesDocker

2021 – Present

freeCodeCamp

Remote · Author

Technical Author & Open Source Contributor

  • Published 15+ in-depth technical articles covering PHP, Laravel, Node.js, security, and algorithms — amassing 443,000+ views globally.
  • Articles translated into multiple languages and syndicated across partner platforms.
  • Recognised as a Top Open Source Contributor from 2021 through 2024.
Technical WritingPHPLaravelNode.jsOpen Source

Jan 2022 – May 2022

AYU Digital Ltd.

Remote · Contract

Software Engineer

  • Engineered an omnichannel notification engine integrating Mailgun, Firebase, and Twilio, automating thousands of daily user communications (Email, SMS, Push).
  • Secured user identity management via robust Twilio-powered authentication and mobile number verification, reducing fraudulent sign-ups.
  • Designed a custom data export algorithm that aggregated relational data into CSV/JSON formats 10× faster than the previous manual method.
  • Implemented PCI-compliant payment processing via Stripe.
PHPStripeTwilio FirebaseMailgunCSV/JSON

Mar 2021 – Jun 2021

Humongous.io

Remote · Contract

Software Engineer

  • Reduced technical debt by refactoring legacy codebases and introducing TypeScript for type safety and maintainability across the full stack.
  • Established automated unit and integration testing protocols, catching regressions early and ensuring a stable launch environment.
TypeScriptJavaScript Unit TestingCI/CDRefactoring

Nov 2020 – Jan 2021

CitonHub

Remote · Contract

Junior Backend Engineer

  • Collaborated with senior architects to modernise core application logic using Laravel and Vue.js, ensuring continuity for legacy users during major platform updates.
LaravelVue.jsPHPLegacy Systems

Work

Selected Projects

A quick look at some of my projects. For full write-ups with problem statements, features, and tech decisions on every project, see the dedicated projects page ↗.

IslamicHub

Live ↗ GitHub ↗

Product · Open Source · Academic

IslamicHub is a free Islamic education and tools platform — accurate prayer times with Qibla finder, Zakat calculator with live gold and silver prices, Islamic inheritance (Fara'id) calculator, and in-depth guides for all five pillars, grounded in Qur'an, Hadith, and all four schools of thought.

Web ★ –

Kueri

Live ↗

Product · In Development

A developer productivity tool being built to streamline database querying workflows. Explore the live preview and follow the build journey.

– Building in public

toRoman

GitHub ↗

Open Source · Package

A lightweight, dependency-free library for converting integers to Roman numerals — and back. Clean API, published for community use.

TS ★ –

OWASP SecBank

GitHub ↗

Academic · Security

A deliberately vulnerable banking application demonstrating the OWASP Top 10 security vulnerabilities — built for learning, analysis, and remediation practice. Presented at DevFest London 2023.

PHP ★ –

Scholar Search

GitHub ↗

Academic · Search

A research paper discovery tool built as a university project, enabling students to search and surface relevant academic literature efficiently.

– ★ –

ColabDev

GitHub ↗

Academic · Collaboration

A collaborative development project to build an OpenDay application.

– ★ –

FootballSite

GitHub ↗

Academic · Web

A football information site built as a university project, showcasing data-driven frontend design with live fixture and results data.

– ★ –

GPCalc

GitHub ↗

Experiment · Utility

A GPA/CGPA calculator utility. Built for fun to help students quickly compute their grade point averages with support for different grading scales.

– ★ –

Node Image Finder

GitHub ↗

Experiment · Node.js

A Node.js CLI tool to get images links from Unsplash

JavaScript ★ –

BrickBreaker Challenge

GitHub ↗

Experiment · AI-Paired

A classic Brick Breaker game built in collaboration with an AI pair-programmer. An exploration of human-AI co-authorship in game development.

JavaScript ★ –

CollectJS Tutorial

GitHub ↗

Open Source · Article Code

Companion codebase for a published technical article on Collect.js — a fluent array and object manipulation library for JavaScript.

JavaScript ★ –
See Full Project Breakdown ↗

Academic

Research & Interests

I'm drawn to research questions at the boundary of intelligent systems and human experience. My goal is to pursue graduate study in an area where rigorous engineering meets meaningful societal impact.

🤖

Robotics & HRI

Human-robot interaction design and trust in autonomous systems.

🧠

Cognitive Science & ML

Bridging computational and cognitive models of intelligence.

⚖️

AI Ethics & Society

Societal impact of automation, fairness, and responsible AI.

🌐

Distributed Systems

Fault-tolerant architectures and consensus in large-scale systems.

🧩

Brain-Computer Interfaces

Neural interfaces and real-time signal processing for HCI.

🔒

Security & Trust

Application security, OWASP, and building trustworthy systems.

Public Talks

2025

Me and AI: Building Securely and Efficiently

DevFest Bletchley Park 2025 · UK

2024

Observability with Google

DevFest Scotland Online 2024

2023

Learn more about contributing to open source

GDSC Ladoke Akintola University of Technology · Hacktoberfest 2023

2023

OWASP Top 10 Security Talk

DevFest London 2023 & Ogbomoso 2022

2023

SQL Mysteries Workshop

GDSC University of Ilorin

2023

Roadmap to Tech Specialisation

Chatham University DSC

Education & Community

Teaching & Mentorship

Lead Laravel Tutor

Engineering Career Expo 3.0

Taught Laravel fundamentals and managed a 30-day community code challenge for early-career developers.

Backend Engineering Facilitator

GDSC University of Ilorin — 3-Month Bootcamp · 2024

Led backend development sessions using Node.js and Express.js, mentoring students through project builds.

Backend Engineering Tutor

GDSC Unilag

Delivered structured backend engineering curriculum, covering REST API design, databases, and deployment.

Python Tutor

Engineering Career Expo 2020

Introduced Python programming to engineering students exploring software development as a career path.

Education

BSc (Hons) Computer Science

University of Wolverhampton, UK

July 2026, First Class

Community Impact

443K+ Article Views
15+ Published Articles
5+ Conference Talks

Word on the Team

Why Should You Hire Me?

Nine recommendations from managers, leads, and teammates across five companies — unedited, and linked to their LinkedIn profiles.

"Idris is an excellent developer who writes well documented, effective code… he is one of the reasons I love my team."

Jason Montilla · Manager, Stax

"Zubair stands out as one of the most proficient Backend Engineers with whom I have had the privilege of working with throughout my career."

Abdulrahman Yusuf · Teammate, AYU Digital

"Idris's strong skills in PHP, Laravel, React, and TypeScript… make him an exceptional candidate for any software development role."

Matt Robinson · Team Lead, Stax

Read All 9 Testimonials ↗

Blog

Latest Writing

I write about backend engineering, distributed systems, developer tooling, and software security. Articles are published on freeCodeCamp and various developer platforms — reaching engineers worldwide.

Loading articles…
More Articles on freeCodeCamp ↗

Beyond the Web

Mainframe & Enterprise Computing

Alongside my work in modern web systems, I've developed a genuine fascination with mainframe computing — one of the most resilient and consequential platforms in the history of software. IBM Z systems underpin a huge portion of the world's banking, insurance, and healthcare infrastructure, and understanding them at a deep level feels like understanding computing itself.

I was one of the top IBM Z Student Ambassador in the world, and served as Secretary / Vice-President of the Mainframe Student Society at the University of Wolverhampton — working to grow awareness of enterprise computing among the next generation of engineers. I've also written and published an introduction to mainframe systems on Medium, covering the Workload Manager (WLM) — a component that manages millions of jobs daily with near-zero human intervention.

I currently serve as a mentee on the Open Mainframe Project Education where I work to try to act as a relatable voice for the student and early-career community, documenting my own learning journey and translating foundational technical workflows into engaging, introductory-level blog series and interactive modules.

Credly Badges ↗ Read: Intro to WLM ↗

Role

IBM Z Student Ambassador

Society Position

Secretary / Vice-President
Mainframe Student Society, University of Wolverhampton

Credentials

View Credly Badges ↗

Published

Introduction to the Mainframe Workload Manager (WLM)
Medium

(Interactive) Introduction to the Mainframe Workload Manager (WLM)

Platform

IBM Z z/OS WLM Enterprise Systems JCL

Outside the Terminal

Things I Love

⚽

Football

I play it, watch it obsessively, and simulate entire careers on Football Manager. FC (the game) is a close second. Whether it's a Sunday five-a-side or a Champions League final, football is football — and I'm always there for it.

🎨

The Arts

Art in every form. I listen to everything — if it hits, it hits, genre be damned. I take quiet pride in the fact that I've been to an art gallery or museum in almost every city I've ever visited. Paintings, sculptures, nature — the mountains, the animals, the endless greenery. And people. Humans, especially women, are very beautiful works of art.

🎤

Teaching & Speaking

I genuinely love teaching. There's something deeply satisfying about watching an idea land in someone else's mind for the first time. I've lectured at bootcamps, spoken at DevFests, and led workshops — and every time, I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

🔴

Marvel Comics

The comics company — obviously. I'm a Thor man at heart, but Deadpool's irreverence and Wolverine's unshakeable grit have a permanent place on my list. The MCU is fine, but the comics are where the real depth lives.

🍳

Cooking & Eating

Self-proclaimed culinary expert. I take food seriously — the making of it, the eating of it, the culture around it. A good meal is one of life's most reliable pleasures, and I intend to keep pursuing it rigorously.

Let's Connect

Open to Opportunities

I'm actively looking for my next chapter — whether that's an engineering role where I can build impactful systems, or a graduate programme (MS or PhD) where I can pursue research in AI, HRI, or distributed systems.

If you're building something ambitious, running a research lab, or simply want to talk shop — I'd love to hear from you.

Reach me directly at zubairidrisaweda@gmail.com

Engineering Roles

Senior / Mid-Senior Full-Stack Engineer

PHP/Laravel, TypeScript, Node.js. FinTech, SaaS, or developer tooling. Open to remote or UK-based roles.

Download Engineering CV ↗

Graduate Research (MS / PhD)

Seeking Research Opportunities

Interested in Robotics, HRI, AI Systems, Cognitive Science, or Distributed Systems. 4+ years professional engineering + 443K+ published technical writing.

Download Academic CV ↗