Shai Sachs has considerable experience developing web applications, and managing web development projects. Mr. Sachs manages all of the development and project management work for Lightulb First. He is an active participant in a number of online communities, including the community for non-profit technologists in Boston, the Harvard and Boston entrepreneurship communities, and the progressive blogosphere.
Mr. Sachs's key skills include PHP/MySQL and J2EE development, the Rails framework, the Drupal content management system, digital library systems, and metadata standards and transport systems.
Currently, he is leading a number of projects for Lightbulb First, including site redesigns for the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association, specifications development for a social networking site, and a variety of projects for TechPresident.
Before establishing Lightbulb First in February, 2007, Mr. Sachs worked as the Director of Research and Development at Isovera, Inc. and Akaza Research, LLC. Mr. Sachs's experiences at those companies include two open source projects: the Dewey digital library cataloging system, developed for a PHP/MySQL platform, and the OpenClinica clinical trials data management system, developed for a Java J2EE/PostgreSQL platform. Other significant experiences include the development and management of a members bill payment system for the Harvard Club of Boston, a health news review system for the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making, a number of scientific digital libraries including BiosciEdNet and EcoEdNet.
Volunteer experience includes the lead development role on the website for the First Parish in Cambridge, Unitarian Universalist and the website co-chair role for the Principles Project collaborative statement-writing project.
Mr. Sachs received an M.S. in Computer Science in 2003 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an A.B. in Computer Science, magna cum laude with highers honors, in 2001 from Harvard University.