About
Sessional Instructor - Computer Science - University of Manitoba.
Researching how to improve the security and privacy of online banking applications for older adults and their close others/caregivers through tranparent yet subtle behavioural nudging.
I'm currently a Sessional Instructor in the Computer Science department at the University of Manitoba. I recently completed my Masters Degree, working with Dr. Celine Latulipe in the HCI Lab. Prior to that, I was a Software Engineer at Google for 5 years where I worked on a low-level distributed consensus application (Chubby). I've got a passion for everything computer science related, but I have a particular affinity for older adult support in interfaces, network security, and distributed/networked computing. That being said, I'm always excited to learn new skills and concepts wherever I can!
- Age: 32
- Degree: Masters
- Email: zach.havens@umanitoba
- City: Winnipeg, MB
Resume
Summary
Zach Havens
Curious and enthusiastic educator, always looking to spark that aha moment!
Teaching Experience
Sessional Instructor, Computer Science
Sept. 2023 - Present
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB
- COMP 1000: Introductory Programming: Think Like a Computer - F'25
- COMP 1010: Introductory Computer Science 1 - F’23, F’24, W’25
- COMP 1012: Programming for Scientists and Engineers - S’25
- COMP 1020: Introductory Computer Science 2 - W’24
- COMP 2280: Introduction to Computer Systems - W’25
- COMP 2450: Software Development 1 - W'26
- COMP 3010: Distributed Computing - S’24, F'25
Education
Master of Science in Computer Science
Sept. 2021 - Feb. 2024
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB
- Advisor: Dr. Celine Latulipe
- Focus Area: Older Adult Privacy in Online Banking
- Thesis: Proxy Accounts and Behavioural Nudges: Investigating Support for Older Adults and their Financial Delegates
Bachelor of Computer Science Honours (Co-op)
Sept. 2011 - May 2016
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB
- Cumulative GPA: 4.22 / 4.50
- Awarded the Program Medal for Highest Standing in an Honours Program, Faculty of Science
- Degree specializations in HCI & Computer Graphics, Networks and Security
Professional Experience
Software Engineer
August 2019 - August 2021
Google Inc., New York, NY
- Drove integration or safe encryption of Paxos database formats
- Aided in design and implementation of end-to-end checksum coverage
- Owned and led improvement of scaling and usability in an end-to-end load test framework
- Part of a group designing and implementing new low-dependency APIs for distributed consensus primitives
Software Engineer, Tools and Infra.
September 2016 - August 2019
Google Inc., New York, NY
- Worked directly with developers to improve release processes and increase release stability
- Designed and implemented an end-to-end load testing framework for an eventually-consistent proxy service
- Provided strong cultural leadership and expertise around testing and other development best practices
- Mentored new team members from onboarding through to independent project leadership
Software Development Engineer Intern
May 2015 - August 2015
Amazon, Seattle, WA
- Performed a full refactoring of our web UI to use AngularJS
- Educated team members on the new AngularJS-based UI to facilitate development
- Integrated new services and security measures into the service
Research Papers
Publications
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Proxy Accounts and Behavioural Nudges: Investigating Support for Older Adults and their Financial Delegates.
Zach Havens and Dr. Celine Latulipe, Graphics Interface, '24
-
Designing behavioural nudges to encourage financial propriety of older adult proxies.
Zach Havens, Masters Thesis, '25
Previous Masters Projects
Graduate Course Research
- Human-AI Interaction: Exploring Input Modalities for Collaborative Storytelling (w/ Raquel Thiessen)
- Computational Geometry: Convex Hulls: Comparing Theoretical and Practical Runtimes (w/ Danika Passler Bates)