Freelance software developer with 13 years of professional experience, specialising in web development, mobile apps, and interactive digital products for research, education, and health. I hold a PhD in cognitive psychology, which gives me a research-informed perspective on UX, accessibility, and user engagement, particularly for young audiences and mental health applications. At the University of Sussex, I lead an award-winning software team in the Department of Psychology, where I've delivered 60+ projects including e-learning platforms, gamified apps for children, online mental health interventions, and large-scale interactive experiences (one reaching 33,780 participants across 133 countries). I also take on freelance contracts, with international clients across the UK, Japan, France, Germany, and Italy. Tech stack: PHP/Laravel, JavaScript/TypeScript, React, React Native, Vue.js, Python/FastAPI, Swift (iOS), Unity3D/C#, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Linux server administration. Portfolio: _Website not available. Sign in: https://www.twine.net/signup_

James Alvarez

Freelance software developer with 13 years of professional experience, specialising in web development, mobile apps, and interactive digital products for research, education, and health. I hold a PhD in cognitive psychology, which gives me a research-informed perspective on UX, accessibility, and user engagement, particularly for young audiences and mental health applications. At the University of Sussex, I lead an award-winning software team in the Department of Psychology, where I've delivered 60+ projects including e-learning platforms, gamified apps for children, online mental health interventions, and large-scale interactive experiences (one reaching 33,780 participants across 133 countries). I also take on freelance contracts, with international clients across the UK, Japan, France, Germany, and Italy. Tech stack: PHP/Laravel, JavaScript/TypeScript, React, React Native, Vue.js, Python/FastAPI, Swift (iOS), Unity3D/C#, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Linux server administration. Portfolio: _Website not available. Sign in: https://www.twine.net/signup_

Available to hire

Freelance software developer with 13 years of professional experience, specialising in web development, mobile apps, and interactive digital products for research, education, and health.

I hold a PhD in cognitive psychology, which gives me a research-informed perspective on UX, accessibility, and user engagement, particularly for young audiences and mental health applications.

At the University of Sussex, I lead an award-winning software team in the Department of Psychology, where I’ve delivered 60+ projects including e-learning platforms, gamified apps for children, online mental health interventions, and large-scale interactive experiences (one reaching 33,780 participants across 133 countries).

I also take on freelance contracts, with international clients across the UK, Japan, France, Germany, and Italy.

Tech stack: PHP/Laravel, JavaScript/TypeScript, React, React Native, Vue.js, Python/FastAPI, Swift (iOS), Unity3D/C#, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and Linux server administration.

Portfolio: Website not available. Sign in: https://www.twine.net/signup

See more

Experience Level

Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
See more

Language

English
Fluent
German
Intermediate

Work Experience

Senior Web Developer at University of Sussex
January 1, 2015 - Present
Lead developer in the Department of Psychology, building software for research, education and mental health. 60+ projects delivered including web apps, mobile apps, interactive experiments and data platforms. Set up in-house software team, coding mentorship program, and UX design workshops. Winner of British Psychology Society technical support award.
Freelance Developer at Self-employed
January 1, 2014 - Present
Freelance web and app development for international clients across UK, Japan, France, Germany and Italy. Projects include React dashboards, Laravel web apps, iOS/Android apps, Unity3D interactive experiences, and bespoke research software. £340k in revenue generated.

Education

PhD Cognitive Psychology at University of Surrey
September 1, 2009 - June 1, 2012
An investigation of the influence of language on colour perception. Methods: Statistics, EEG, Colorimetry, Psychophysics.
MSc Psychological Research Methods (Merit) at University of Exeter
September 1, 2007 - June 1, 2008
BSc (Hons.) Psychology (2.1) at University of Nottingham
September 1, 2003 - June 1, 2006

Qualifications

British Psychology Society Technical Support Award
January 1, 2023 - January 1, 2023
Winner of the BPS award for technical support for psychological research, recognising the software team at the University of Sussex Department of Psychology.

Industry Experience

Education, Healthcare, Non-Profit Organization
    Colourspot – Gamified Assessment App for Children

    iPad game providing colour vision assessment for children using statistical models, built for the University of Sussex.

    Tech: Unity3D, C#, GLSL, iPad

    • Child-friendly UI with tap-based interactions, real-time feedback and progress indicators
    • Custom GLSL shaders for controlled, accurate colour presentation across devices
    • Statistical model analyzes tap patterns to detect colour vision deficiencies in real-time
    • Published in peer-reviewed journal (Behavior Research Methods)

    https://www.twine.net/signin

    WSCA Toolkit – Mental Health Assessment Platform

    Self-assessment platform for schools and colleges to measure Whole School and College Approach to mental health, built for the University of Sussex / NIHR.

    Tech: PHP, Laravel, Filament, MySQL, Livewire

    • Multi-panel Laravel/Filament application for schools, researchers, and administrators
    • Schools complete Implementation Self-Assessment Tool (17 criteria) and Outcomes Self-Assessment Tool (12 criteria)
    • Weighted scoring, time-series visualisation, admin panels, and CSV data export
    • Active use across UK schools as part of NIHR-funded research programme

    https://www.twine.net/signin

    Wyrd Interactive – Quantum RNG SaaS Platform

    Subscription-based API platform providing real-time quantum random numbers for consciousness research. Freelance project.

    Tech: Laravel 11, Rust, Redis, QuestDB, Grafana, Docker, TailwindCSS, Alpine.js, Three.js

    • Laravel backend with Sanctum API auth and Redis message bus for real-time streaming
    • Rust daemon for hardware RNG integration with TruRNG/Quantus cards
    • QuestDB time-series database with Grafana dashboards
    • Full Docker Compose stack for development; systemd-managed daemons in production
    • Production deployment via Laravel Forge with automated Rust daemon rebuilding
    Landecker Digital Memory Database

    Searchable archive of digital memory projects from Holocaust memorial organisations worldwide, built for the University of Sussex.

    Tech: PHP, Laravel, PostgreSQL, Meilisearch, Vue.js, D3.js

    • Meilisearch-powered full-text search across digital projects, assets, organisations, and individuals
    • Interactive network visualisations: globe view, force-directed graph, chord diagram
    • Video testimony segmentation and annotation tools for researchers
    • Custom curation features including personal collections and collaborative tagging
    PGR Review System – Okta & MS Graph Integration

    Web application for managing postgraduate research annual reviews, built for the University of Sussex.

    Tech: Laravel 13, Vue 3, Inertia.js, MariaDB, Okta SSO, Microsoft Graph API, HashiCorp Vault, MinIO

    • Replaced manual spreadsheet-driven process for 500+ annual postgraduate reviews
    • Integrated Okta SSO for university-wide authentication via Laravel Socialite
    • Integrated Microsoft Graph API for email delivery through university infrastructure
    • Formal state machine workflow with role-based document access control
    • Per-document AES-256 encryption via HashiCorp Vault
    • Coordinated with university IT for OAuth client registration and security review
    The Perception Census – Award-Winning Interactive Platform

    Large-scale gamified online platform studying perceptual differences, built for Sussex & Glasgow Universities with Collective Act.

    Tech: PHP, JavaScript, WebGL

    • 33,780 participants from 133 countries, the largest study of perceptual differences ever conducted
    • WebGL for precise visual stimulus rendering; designed for reliability under high load
    • Branching pathways and adaptive content delivery based on user responses
    • Won CR Annual Awards 2024 for ‘Creative effectiveness’; featured in Royal Society report

    https://www.twine.net/signin

    Legacies of British Slavery – Legacy System Modernisation

    Migration and modernisation of a production web application documenting British slave-ownership, built for UCL.

    Tech: PHP, MySQL, ORM, PHPUnit

    • Migrated a production application (millions of visitors/year) from legacy PHP with hardcoded SQL to modern ORM
    • Audited and resolved SQL injection vulnerabilities while maintaining zero downtime
    • Introduced PHPUnit test framework covering core query logic
    • Managed the full delivery lifecycle: discovery, scoping, risk management, and client sign-off

    https://www.twine.net/signin

    RADAR – AI Evidence Retrieval Platform

    AI-powered evidence retrieval and synthesis platform for UK domestic abuse services, built for the University of Sussex.

    Tech: Python, FastAPI, PostgreSQL, pgvector, Claude API, Playwright

    • Designed and built semantic search across 487 trusted sources using pgvector
    • Integrated Claude API for automated literature screening with audit trails
    • Automated ingestion pipeline aggregating from PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and GOV.UK API
    • Playwright-based web scraping with change detection for monthly re-runs
    • Launching August 2026 as first unified evidence spine for UK domestic abuse services