Logo ABOUT EXPERIENCE SKILLS & AWARDS PROJECTS
RICHARD MAO
Software Engineer, Game Designer

ABOUT ME


Photo of Me

Hi! I'm currently a Software Development Engineer II at Amazon working on Mobile Shopping based in Seattle, WA. I have a particular interest in game development, full stack web development, mobile development, cloud infrastructure, and artificial intelligence.

During my time at UC Santa Cruz, I majored in Computer Science with a focus in Game Design. My education covered a wide range of applicable technologies such as distributed systems, web development, artificial intelligence, and procedural content generation. I also learned the fundamentals of game development through building several games using tools from Game Maker Studio to Unity. My senior capstone game, Kleptonaut, won the Grand Prize at the 2018 Sammy Showcase, an event showcasing all 26 senior games made at UC Santa Cruz.

Since graduation, I've built my career at Amazon across multiple teams. I started in Prime for over two years, working on projects to improve marketer efficiency with global reach in 10+ countries. I then spent nearly four years with AWS Global Services Security, designing and building products to ensure secure operations with AWS partners. Currently, I'm working on Amazon's mobile shopping experience, focusing on accessibility improvements and infrastructure modernization.

Work Experience

Amazon

Seattle, WA
Software Development Engineer II, Mobile Shopping
May 2025 - Current
  • Resolving accessibility issues to improve compliance and usability for Amazon's mobile video player.
  • Coordinating React Native dependency upgrades across 20+ partner teams, modernizing shared infrastructure and reducing tech debt.

Amazon Web Services

Seattle, WA
Software Development Engineer II, AWS Security
Jun 2021 - May 2025
  • Engineered device security tooling to enforce secure coding practices and prevent sensitive data leaks for 10k+ developers and consultants.
  • Led development of a full-stack application to streamline escalation paths for sales engagements, cutting security incident response times.
  • Spearheaded resolution of data handling and infrastructure ambiguities in the CN region, achieving 100% global service coverage.
  • Architected serverless AWS solutions for data processing/analysis pipelines, full-stack applications, and NoSQL databases.
  • Prototyped AI-driven code scanning features using Amazon Bedrock and MCP servers.

Amazon

Seattle, WA
Software Development Engineer, Prime
Apr 2019 - Jun 2021
  • Built data automation pipelines to dynamically render and validate content, accelerating experiment launch times for marketing teams.
  • Created a full-stack service enabling marketing teams to track experiments and generate new ideas.
  • Expanded Amazon Prime's reach by launching the /prime page in CA and JP, serving over 100k users at launch.

Amazon

Seattle, WA
Software Development Engineer Intern, Prime
Jun 2018 - Sep 2018
  • Re-architected a metrics logging system to improve data analysis and visualization for a content management service used by 1k+ internal users.
  • Reduced database schema size by 80% to improve searchability and to optimize effectiveness of metrics logging.
  • Developed a fully scalable backend system to support report generation.

iD Tech Camps

Stanford, CA
Instructor
May 2016 - Aug 2016
  • Personally mentored over 60 kids in programming fundamentals.
  • Developed a fully customized Java curriculum to streamline teaching core programming concepts.
  • Created several sample iOS and Android games to teach kids mobile game design.

Education

University of California, Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, CA
B.S. Computer Science: Computer Game Design
Sep 2015 - Dec 2018
  • Relevant Coursework: Computer Systems/Assembly Language, Data Structures, Abstract Data Types, Web Applications, Game AI, Procedural Content Generation, Natural Language Processing, Distributed Systems.

De Anza College

Cupertino, CA
Jun 2014 - Aug 2017
  • Relevant Coursework: Programming in C++, Network Security, Ethical Hacking.

SKILLS & AWARDS

Languages

  • Javascript/Typescript
  • Python
  • Java
  • Golang
  • HTML/CSS
  • C++
  • C#

Technologies

  • Node.js/Express
  • React/Redux
  • React Native
  • AWS (DynamoDB, S3, Lambda)
  • Serverless Architecture
  • Infrastructure as Code
  • Database/API Design
  • MCP, Prompt Engineering
  • Unity

Awards & Recognitions

  • (2023) AWS Certified Developer - Associate

  • (2018) Kleptonaut: 1st Place Overall at 2018 Sammy Showcase, featured on PCGamer, E3 Sponsored Participant, 700+ downloads

  • (2015-2018) Dean's List

  • (2015) First Year Honors Program Participant

  • (2012) Eagle Scout Rank and Gold Palm

MY WORK

Click on the images for more details.
Additional projects can be found on my Github.


Kleptonaut is a top-down action puzzle game built in Unity3D made for the year long senior capstone. Roles: Lead Producer, Developer<br><a href='https://www.kleptonautgame.com'>Website</a>
PCGTerrain is a terrain generator that uses Perlin Noise and the xxHash hashing algorithm to create the geography of a pseudo-realistic infinite world.<br><a href='PCGTerrain/'>Website</a>
Privacy Protector is a 2D survival arcade game where you play as your mouse protecting your computer from viruses. Role: Lead Developer<br><a href='https://seshelle.itch.io/privacy-protector'>Website</a>
PCGWebsite is an experimental front-end procedural website generator using Tracery.js grammars and Bootstrap/JQuery. Role: Developer<br><a href='PCGWebsite/'>Website</a>
Need2Go is a prototype restroom review site for campus facilities. Made using Node.js/Express, AngularJS. Role: Backend Developer<br><a href='https://github.com/runyanjake/JRAW-CruzHacks-2018'>Repository</a>