The Topcoder Community Advisory Board (CAB) is an honorary position held by a panel of community members who have a special interest in the growth and health of Topcoder. They are the liaisons between the community and the Topcoder staff, bringing community ideas and concerns to the forefront and helping to guide new features and platform enhancements.

The CAB has early access to upcoming features and meets with staff to brainstorm and speak for the community. The goal is to ensure the community has a strong voice about the future of Topcoder. Now, let’s meet the past teams below!

Class of 2017

sky_ - Development

I’ve been an active member for 4 years. Topcoder is my full-time job, and I participate in development and UI prototype tracks. I am happy to be a CAB member to improve our development community. In my spare time, I play with my cats and enjoy my Porsche :).

birdofpreyru - Development

I am a 31 years old Russian guy living in Spain. Mostly self-trained software developer with background in computational Physics and Chemistry (got my PhD in 2012). Quite fresh, but active member of the Topcoder community, competing in Development track, and sometimes in Data Science challenges.

thomaskranitsas - Development

I started at Topcoder in late 2015 when I was competing in algorithmic competitions on various web platforms but then I found Topcoder and I was immediately thrilled with the way Topcoder challenges work. I stopped competing in algorithms and started working on challenges in various tracks, mainly CODE, F2F, UI PROTOTYPE. Since then I work full time as a copilot. In my free time I play the guitar and if weather permits, I do paragliding.

ravijune - Design

I joined Topcoder during December 2014 to learn about Interaction design (UI/UX) and the community has given me an immense knowledge in a very short span of time. I’ve realized TC has a great passion for the community and clients, so after a couple of months of joining Topcoder, I decided to quit my job to be a full time competitor at Topcoder as it sure has made my world light-up.

fo0rc0d3r - Design

I’m a Computer Engineer from Barcelona. I can say that I know about both worlds, design and development, though for now I still prefer design because that’s not my speciality so I can improve and learn with every contest. During my time here and having the opportunity to go to TCOs I’ve met interesting people, all great workers and I’m proud to be amongst them :)

ltaravilse - Data Science

I’ve been participating on Topcoder for almost a decade and have been a problem setter since 2013. I’m the director for Argentina’s Training Camp that receives contestants from all over Latin America to help them improve their competitive programming skills. This year I’m starting my PhD and I’m looking forward to help the Topcoder community grow by being a CAB member.

Class of 2016

Darak - Design

I have been participating in Topcoder Design competitions for 5 years. I heard about it from a developer I’ve met to discuss a project. While I was just a beginner at that time, I learned a lot on Studio. I had the chance to work on a variety of projects from logo and mobile designs to 3D and After Effects projects. After so much time I am still excited to work on every project, find UX solutions and improve my UI. It’s been a great adventure.

chekspir - Design

I’m a Systems Engineer and Graphic Designer from Venezuela but have been living in Colombia for 4 years. Topcoder has been the best place to improve my skills as UI/UX Designer and I’m so happy to be part of the community and this family. Topcoder is one of the most important things in my life, over my work and my hobbies. I love camping, mountain biking, and traveling. You can read more about me and my trips on my blog.

callmekatootie - Development

I’m 27 years old and currently live in Bangalore, India. I began my career working for an ERP giant for 3 years. After participating in contests on Topcoder, I decided to take it up full time. I know Python, Nodejs, Golang, Ruby and anything Javascript but I mainly work with AngularJS. I taught myself all of these only by participating in contests thanks to Topcoder. Topcoder has always been the go-to platform for me to pick up on the latest trends.

besabestin - Development

I have worked in different UI prototype competitions, with each one having different taste and level of complexities and it has now been around 3 years since my first contest. The blazing passion in the community keeps me going.

scott_wu - Data Science & Algo

I’m currently a student at Harvard University. Previously, I worked as a software engineer for Addepar, and before that I was a USACO/IOI competitor. I’ve been a member of Topcoder since 2010 and look forward to taking a more active role within the community!

Class of 2015

The 2015 CAB was made up of the Chairman, Deacon, Scribe and three liaisons from each track (Design, Development and Data Science).

Ghostar - Deacon

I’ve been an active Topcoder member for a relatively long time. I started with component design and review and went full time with that in 2005. Since then I’ve done work both as a competitor and more recently as a copilot, starting with the Topcoder UML Tool and one of the first iterations of Cockpit / TC direct. I’ve also helped as a reviewer for a couple TCOs and one of the last TCCC competitions.

Egor - Chairman

I am a software developer with Yandex in St. Petersburg, Russia and a Topcoder Open 2012 and Google Code Jam 2010 champion. I am living with my wife Kate and our two sons, Dmitry and Petr.

mahestro - Scribe

I started at Topcoder back in 2007 when I was finishing my university studies. I became a good software engineer in school, then with the practice I had at Topcoder as a design competitor over the years, I became wiser and more enthusiastic about the community. I have to confess my “vedette” is web and mobile projects (design and development), which is a good thing because I get to mix up creative designs into useful applications.

Nickolas - Data Science Liason

I graduated with honors from Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Ukraine, spent six years working as a banking software developer and studied at Yandex School of Data Analysis. Two years ago I moved to Seattle area, Washington, USA, to join Microsoft. Since joining Topcoder in 2005, I’ve been a true addict of programming competitions.

talesforce - Development Liason

I’ve been in the industry for 12+ years taking up varied roles from being a developer, designer, architect, solution designer, to leading small modules and projects, to handling several large accounts with multiple distributed teams. Topcoder gave me a chance to reinvent myself in 2012 and explore my passions again. For the next two years, I topped the charts in several categories including mobile, force.com and design.

iamtong - Design Liason

After completing a degree in Computer Engineering, followed by years of experience working in web and graphic design, stumbling onto the Topcoder community has proven to be the turning point in all areas of my life. I am always delighted to be able to provide my input and any assistance to new and existing members, briefs, or clients.

CAB’s Commitment to the Topcoder Community

CAB members have a term of 12 months, during which time they spend time performing the following responsibilities:

• Attend monthly meetings with Topcoder staff

• Review new ideas and features and provide feedback to Topcoder staff

• Regularly communicate with the members and prioritize all wants/needs of the community

• Recap meetings in a blog post and in the CAB forum

• Maintain active voice in the CAB forum