# Zubair Idris Aweda

> Full-stack software engineer based in Derby, UK, with 3+ years shipping production systems in FinTech (PHP/Laravel, Node.js, Vue.js, TypeScript) and a First Class BSc (Hons) in Computer Science from the University of Wolverhampton (July 2026, 90.44% average). Technical author with 443K+ readers on freeCodeCamp, former IBM Z Student Ambassador (Superstar tier), and conference speaker. Open to engineering roles, graduate mainframe roles, and MS/PhD research in robotics, human-robot interaction, AI systems and distributed systems.

Contact: zubairidrisaweda@gmail.com · GitHub: https://github.com/Zubs · LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zubairidrisaweda/

Availability: remote (global), hybrid or on-site in the UK, and open to relocation. Preferred focus is backend, or full-stack with a strong backend lean.

## Pages

- [Home](https://zubs.github.io/): About, skills, AI-driven development workflow, graph database (Neo4j) certifications, work experience, talks, teaching, education and contact
- [Projects](https://zubs.github.io/projects.html): Detailed write-ups of 20 products, open-source packages, academic projects and experiments
- [Engineering](https://zubs.github.io/engineering.html): Professional and academic stack, availability, writing, speaking and teaching
- [Research](https://zubs.github.io/research.html): BSc dissertation comparing manual and automated detection of OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities, with findings
- [Mainframe](https://zubs.github.io/mainframe.html): IBM Z ambassadorship, Mainframe Student Society leadership, LFX mentorship, Credly badges and JCLcheck
- [Testimonials](https://zubs.github.io/testimonials.html): Nine recommendations from managers, leads and teammates across five companies

## CVs and papers

- [Engineering CV (PDF)](https://zubs.github.io/Zubair-Idris-Aweda-ATS-Resume.pdf): Industry and full-stack roles
- [Academic CV (PDF)](https://zubs.github.io/Zubair-Idris-Aweda-Academic-Resume.pdf): Graduate research applications
- [Dissertation (PDF)](https://zubs.github.io/Detecting%20and%20Mitigating%20OWASP%20Top%2010%20Threats_%20Design,%20Implementation%20and%20Security%20Evaluation%20of%20a%20Database-Driven%20Web%20App.pdf): Detecting and Mitigating OWASP Top 10 Threats (module grade P81)
- [Dissertation defence slides (PDF)](https://zubs.github.io/Detecting-and-Mitigating-OWASP-Top-10-Threats.pdf)

## Experience

- Stax Payments, Mid-Senior Full-Stack Engineer (PHP), Jun 2022 – Oct 2023: Laravel microservices for high-volume payments at 99.9% uptime; API documentation that cut onboarding time by about 40%
- freeCodeCamp, Technical Author and Open Source Contributor, 2021 – present: 15+ articles, 443K+ views, Top Open Source Contributor 2021–2024
- AYU Digital, Software Engineer (contract), Jan – May 2022: Omnichannel notifications (Mailgun, Firebase, Twilio), Twilio verification, PCI-compliant Stripe payments
- Humongous.io, Software Engineer (contract), Mar – Jun 2021: TypeScript migration and automated testing
- CitonHub, Junior Backend Engineer (contract), Nov 2020 – Jan 2021: Laravel and Vue.js modernisation

## Featured projects

- [JCLcheck](https://jclcheck.xyz): Live JCL validation SaaS with a hand-written lexer, parser, AST and rule engine, a 3270-style workbench and an npm CLI with SARIF output ([source](https://github.com/Zubs/jclcheck), [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/jclcheck))
- [OWASP SecBank](https://github.com/Zubs/owasp-sec-bank): Dissertation artefact; one banking app built twice, vulnerable and hardened (Vue 3, Express 5, PostgreSQL)
- Miteno: WhatsApp-ordering storefront for a UK clothing brand, built spec-first with an AI coding agent
- [IslamicHub](https://islamichub.xyz/): Open-source Islamic education platform with Zakat, prayer times and inheritance calculators
- [Kueri](https://kueriapp.netlify.app/): AI-native desktop database client (Electron, Vue 3, Gemini), in progress
- [FootballSite](https://github.com/Zubs/footballSite): Laravel football match tracker with live API sync, graded 100/100
- [ColabDev](https://github.com/Zubs/ColabDev): University open day app built by a team of eight; led the development team; highest mark of the year (96)
- [ScholarSearch](https://github.com/Zubs/scholar-search): Academic search engine over arXiv (FastAPI, Elasticsearch, Vue 3)
- ACO Agent: Unity agent using hand-written Ant Colony Optimisation route planning, plus a Gemini assistant and MobileNet image classification (6CS014 Complex Systems)
- Robot Navigation: Line following, maze solving and behaviour-tree obstacle avoidance for simulated robots in CoppeliaSim (Python)
- Parallel Computing in C & CUDA: pthreads, OpenMP and CUDA coursework including GPU Sobel edge detection and a GPU password cracker (6CS005 High Performance Computing, 100%)
- [toRoman](https://github.com/Zubs/toRoman): Zero-dependency TypeScript Roman numeral library on npm ([playground](https://zubs.github.io/packages/toroman/))

The [Projects page](https://zubs.github.io/projects.html) has the full list, including smaller experiments.

## Mainframe series

- [Mainframe 101: An Interactive Series](https://zubs.github.io/mainframe-series/): Beginner-friendly interactive modules on IBM Z
- [Introduction to the Mainframe Workload Manager (WLM)](https://zubs.github.io/mainframe-series/introduction-to-the-mainframe-workload-manager-wlm/)
- [Batch Processing and the Job Entry Subsystem (JES)](https://zubs.github.io/mainframe-series/batch-processing-and-the-job-entry-subsystem-jes/)
- [Designing and Developing Applications for z/OS](https://zubs.github.io/mainframe-series/designing-and-developing-applications-for-zos/)
- [Introduction to Mainframe Programming Languages](https://zubs.github.io/mainframe-series/introduction-to-mainframe-programming-languages/)
- [Introduction to Mainframe Scripting Languages](https://zubs.github.io/mainframe-series/introduction-to-mainframe-scripting-languages/)
- [Mainframe Communications](https://zubs.github.io/mainframe-series/mainframe-communications/)
- [Mainframe Interaction](https://zubs.github.io/mainframe-series/mainframe-interaction/)

## Certifications

- [Neo4j Certified Professional](https://graphacademy.neo4j.com/c/c2e5a167-a80b-47aa-8f06-17d567706378), Neo4j, Oct 2026
- Neo4j GraphAcademy, Oct 2026: [Neo4j Fundamentals](https://graphacademy.neo4j.com/c/990c97d0-bc94-419a-bce9-7590c99fecb1), [Cypher Fundamentals](https://graphacademy.neo4j.com/c/c0e54fdd-6b68-41c0-9215-2f0852d14881), [Graph Data Modeling Fundamentals](https://graphacademy.neo4j.com/c/c83bfa8c-27ba-41af-b519-6538b3f65656), [Importing Data Fundamentals](https://graphacademy.neo4j.com/c/00bfbd6a-e676-46b5-836e-4e2dd8962ef2), [Neo4j & Generative AI Fundamentals](https://graphacademy.neo4j.com/c/ac3053a6-3d39-47c3-9e2a-0793418a761d), [Using Neo4j with Python](https://graphacademy.neo4j.com/c/04968111-e534-4c78-a798-e07e9877c722)
- Unlearn, Oct 2026: [Turbo Mode: Optimizing Productivity with AI Tools & Agents](https://unlearn.dev/c/a2f3a4d8-d8ab-43d1-ad44-e7824713ffb2), [The Future Proof Dev: An Intro to AI for Web Developers](https://unlearn.dev/c/a2f1cf73-b71f-4ed9-ba81-a273b7787f7f)

## Optional

- [freeCodeCamp articles](https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/author/Zubs): Backend engineering, Laravel, Node.js, security and algorithms
- [Medium](https://zubairidrisaweda.medium.com): Mainframe and enterprise computing writing
- [Credly badges](https://www.credly.com/users/zubairidrisaweda): Verified IBM Z credentials
- [Site source](https://github.com/Zubs/Zubs.github.io)