My journey at IE began just three days after arriving in Australia. During my tenure at IE, I contributed as a Senior Front-End Developer on the Toyota website team.

Our team was responsible for maintaining and enhancing the website. My specific responsibilities included:

• Resolving issues.
• Implementing new features.
• Working on enhancements.
• Maintaining and overseeing the ToyotaKit.

Contributions and Achievements

ToyotaKit

ToyotaKit is a component library written in React and Typescript, using Rollup as the bundler and SASS Modules for CSS. It implements Toyota’s design system, including foundational and feature-grade components for use in other projects. The MVC consumer is built with a combination of React and Angular 1, while the headless consumer employs Next.js. Sitecore serves as the CMS platform, providing a GraphQL endpoint. My contributions spanned these projects, including active involvement in Azure DevOps pipelines.

For testing, unit tests are implemented using react-testing-library and jest. The code is well-documented, with multiple stories added to storybook to ensure consumers and designers can easily understand it without needing to refer to the source code. Visual Regression Testing (VRT) is conducted through Chromatic.

The component library meets AA level accessibility standards, enabling keyboard navigation and facilitating interaction with screen readers.

ToyotaKit was one of my most significant contributions at Toyota. I played a key role in its development and custodianship, heavily involved in most, if not all, aspects of it. I participated in numerous tickets and pull requests, both as a developer and as a reviewer. With multiple teams contributing to ToyotaKit, part of my daily responsibilities included assisting them in improving their work and resolving issues.

Although there were dedicated teams for DevOps concerns, I voluntarily contributed to pipeline improvements to ensure a seamless workflow. Some of my achievements in this area included:

• Preventing faulty code from reaching production by adding steps to terminate the pipeline if any part of the code produced errors or warnings.
• Updating the pipeline to terminate if any tests failed or logged errors.
• Adding steps to the pipeline to update the changelog on Chromatic, so consumers could find all necessary information by browsing the storybook without needing to refer to the source code.

As I developed many foundational components for ToyotaKit, even the features developed by other teams depended heavily on the components I created.

Toyota.com.au

After joining the team, I quickly dove into the code, picking up tickets and making immediate improvements to the website.

Range Spinner

The first task I tackled was enhancing the user experience with the range spinner. My improvements allowed users to smoothly interact with it and view a 360-degree image of the vehicle.

OCR

My next major task was to add OCR functionality to the recalls page. Previously, users could enter their VIN in an input field on the page. I enhanced this by implementing OCR with Azure Cognitive Services, allowing users to upload an image of their VIN. The API endpoint I developed in the C# backend could then extract the VIN from the image.

To prevent malicious requests, I protected the API endpoint with Google reCAPTCHA v3. I explored several options for implementing OCR, including:

• Tesseract, which works on the client-side
• Google
• Amazon AWS
• Microsoft Azure

After evaluating the success rates of these services, we decided to go with Microsoft Azure.

Feature Development

I contributed to the development of many features during my time at Toyota. Here are a few notable ones:

Service Pricing Calculator

This was the first feature in the Toyota ecosystem built entirely with ToyotaKit components. I was primarily responsible for its development, though changes may have been made since then.

The Service Pricing Calculator can be found at here.

The service has three steps, each with two screens (six in total). This design allows users to choose between Rego/VIN or Model flow.

Here are some screenshots:

The first screen of Service Pricing Calculator (Rego/VIN flow)

The first screen of Service Pricing Calculator (Model flow)

This image above shows a carousel component that I developed entirely by myself. It includes all the features of a modern carousel component, such as:

• Keyboard navigation
• Scroll snapping
• Arrow key accumulation
• Dragging with a pointer
• Navigation using arrow buttons on the screen
• Programmatic navigation through its APIs

If the URL is still valid, you can take a look at it by clicking this link.

The drop-down component shown in the image below is another component I'm particularly proud of. It boasts AA Level of Accessibility and fully supports keyboard navigation. Key features include:

• When the drop-down is closed, users can navigate the options using arrow keys and page down/up buttons.
• Pressing enter or the down arrow opens the drop-down.
• Pressing escape closes the drop-down.
• When the drop-down is open, pressing page down/up moves the selection by 5 options; when it’s closed, it moves by 3.
• When the drop-down is closed and has focus, pressing the tab key opens it.

Service Drop-Down on the third screen of Service Pricing Calculator

Full-Service Lease

Full-Service Lease is another feature that I primarily developed, using ToyotaKit components throughout.

Additionally, I collaborated with the Lexus team to adapt and reuse my code for a similar feature in Lexus.

You can view it here for now.

Full-Service Lease

Mentorship

Over the course of 1.5 years, I collaborated closely with multiple junior and mid-level engineers, as well as senior back-end engineers eager to learn front-end development.

We interacted daily, and I provided mentorship, assisting them with all aspects of their front-end work.

Recognition

Here is some feedback I've received from managers and teammates regarding my work:

Christian Hagelid (Engineering Director at IE)

I had the pleasure of working with and overseeing Ramin during the 18 month period he worked with us. Ramin is a multi-talented and hard-working engineer. I found him to be detail oriented with a great hunger for learning and growing his skills. He's equally effective working on complex tasks as he is mentoring other team members. I look forward to the opportunity to work with him again.

Richart Hong (Scrum Master & Delivery Lead)

I have had the pleasure of working closely with Ramin as a senior full stack developer on our agile team, and I wholeheartedly recommend him. Ramin consistently impressed me with his technical expertise, dedication to delivering high-quality solutions, and collaborative spirit.

As a team member, Ramin demonstrated a deep understanding of full stack development, tackling complex challenges with ease and precision. His proactive approach and willingness to go above and beyond to ensure project success were truly admirable. Ramin's contributions played a significant role in the successful delivery of several key projects, and his professionalism and positive attitude greatly enhanced our team dynamic.

Beyond his technical skills, Ramin's strong communication and interpersonal abilities were invaluable. He was always approachable, eager to share knowledge, and quick to offer assistance to teammates. Ramin's passion for continuous learning and growth not only benefited him personally but also inspired those around him to strive for excellence.

I have no doubt that he will continue to excel in his future endeavors, and I enthusiastically endorse him for any opportunity he pursues.

Ehsan Gazar (Lead Engineer)

Ramin is not just a tech wizard but also one of the nicest folks to work with. His coding skills are top-notch, and he's always ready to lend a hand. If you want a lead engineer who's both brilliant and friendly, Ramin's your guy. Highly recommend

Vince Leoncio (QA Lead at IE)

I have worked with Ramin throughout his time at IE and the Toyota account. He is not only one of the most friendly and approachable person in the team but very professional and knowledgeable as a full stack developer.

His front end knowledge is exceptional and always willing to help out any other team members that require assistance.

He is honest, trust worthy and always willing to learn and experience new skills where needed and never backed down to a challenge.

He was a great contributor to not only the engineering team but also gels well in full development and services teams where the whole team and client respects him and any contribution or recommendations he would have to offer.

I highly recommend Ramin to any position he decides to pursue and I have no doubt he would be a great asset.

I hope to work with him again and look forward to crossing paths in the future as I do enjoy working with him.

Zexi Liu (Software Enginer at IE)

I am pleased to recommend Ramin, an exceptionally skilled and experienced engineer. Ramin has a remarkable ability to quickly identify and solve complex problems, leveraging his extensive knowledge and expertise. His strong business acumen enables him to think from the client's perspective and provide solutions that are clear and actionable for them. Moreover, Ramin is an outstanding mentor. He can explain concepts both at a high level and in detail, making them easy to understand for others. Therefore, I wholeheartedly endorse Ramin for any opportunity.