Product Engineer · Independent Researcher

Rosalind R. Gash

rrgash@protonmail.com

I am a Product Engineer and independent researcher whose work spans software product development, learning sciences, critical disability studies, human-directed artificial intelligence, and higher education access.

In software, I take ambiguous business problems from concept through product decisions, UX, architecture, full-stack implementation, integrations, testing, deployment, and production hardening.

My current self-directed project, Adaptive Digital Academic Practice, examines how chronically ill, invisibly disabled, and energy-limited scholars use AI tools, automation, and digital workflows to sustain research while preserving interpretive control.

Product Engineering

I build and ship complete software products rather than working only from predefined tickets. My strongest work starts with the underlying user or business problem, turns it into a practical product and technical plan, and carries that solution through production.

Education SaaS

Scholium

A multi-tenant platform for homeschool co-ops, microschools, course providers, and learning centers. It connects enrollment, attendance, grades, records, progress reports, transcripts, billing, parent access, payments, imports, and administrative workflows.

I designed, built, launched, and production-hardened the product end to end, including product decisions, workflow design, architecture, full-stack implementation, Stripe integration, testing, deployment, and ongoing iteration.

Trade & finance SaaS

Qorva Global Trade

A workflow platform for solo and small import/export operators, with landed-cost planning, shipment tracking, duty estimates, HS-code reference and search, purchase orders, document workflows, reconciliation, reporting, and accounting-oriented exports.

The product combines my International Business background with hands-on product engineering, including domain modeling, UX and workflow decisions, search behavior, financial tooling, integrations, and production deployment.

Monitoring SaaS

PingBuoy

A website-monitoring product covering uptime checks, dead-link detection, SSL certificate expiration, alerts, analytics, status information, and subscription workflows.

I took PingBuoy from product planning through architecture, implementation, security work, payment integration, deployment, debugging, and production readiness.

View PingBuoy Demo

How I work

End-to-end product ownership

My work spans React, Next.js, TypeScript, JavaScript, PHP, Python, PostgreSQL, MySQL, REST APIs, Docker, Git, Stripe integrations, deployment, and AI-assisted engineering workflows.

I use AI as an engineering tool while retaining responsibility for architecture, review, verification, debugging, security, and final product decisions.

Research Interests

My interests focus on how higher education might better support academic work under conditions of fluctuating capacity, chronic illness, invisible disability, and limited physical energy.

The ADAP Framework

Adaptive Digital Academic Practice is a preliminary framework for thinking about AI-supported academic workflows as adaptive scaffolds for energy-limited research, writing, coding, and qualitative analysis. I am continuing to refine the framework through ongoing research.

Guiding questions

How do chronically ill and invisibly disabled scholars adapt academic work around fluctuating capacity?
How can human-directed AI workflows reduce procedural cognitive demand without replacing scholarly judgment?
What kinds of digital scaffolding make advanced research more physically sustainable?
How might higher education move beyond static accommodation models toward more adaptive forms of participation?

Higher Education Access

Doctoral participation, academic labor, institutional constraint, and support for scholars with episodic or invisible disabilities.

Learning Sciences

Technology-mediated learning, adaptive scaffolding, distributed cognition, and knowledge production under constraint.

Critical Disability Studies

Chronic illness, fluctuating access needs, energy limitation, and accessibility beyond compliance-centered models.

Human-Directed AI

AI-supported research workflows that preserve interpretation, authorship, accountability, and human control.

Current Project

The following work is self-directed and has not been submitted for peer review. It serves as a foundation for my continuing research and methodological development.

Unpublished working manuscript

Adaptive Digital Academic Practice: Disability, Structural Constraint, and Epistemic Entrepreneurship in Graduate Research

Five-chapter working manuscript · Self-directed project

This manuscript combines disability studies, higher education access, qualitative methodology, and human-AI workflow design. It began as a thought experiment and developed into a practice-based research agenda about how digital tools may support energy-limited academic work.

Preliminary internal analysis

Human-in-the-loop qualitative workflow

Python pipeline · Public disabled-scholar narratives · Approximately 232,000 words

As part of the ADAP project, I built a modular Python pipeline that uses LLMs to extract structural themes from qualitative text while keeping human interpretation at the center of the process. In an internal comparison, the workflow suggested reduced procedural cognitive demand while preserving substantial agreement with traditional manual coding.

Status note: This project has not been submitted for peer review. I am continuing to develop it while keeping its claims appropriately bounded to the evidence and methods used.

Academic Preparation

Education & Coursework

Computer Science & Mathematics Studies Rust College, Holly Springs, MS · GPA: 3.4 / 4.0

Completed 2 years of foundational computer science and mathematics coursework as a non-traditional post-baccalaureate student.

MBA & Master in International Trade ENEB / Universidad Isabel I, Spain · Graduated 2023

Postgraduate programs focused on strategic management, international business, trade frameworks, finance, and data-driven operational logic.

BS in Sociology The State University of New York at Oneonta · Graduated 2000

Applied Systems Work

My software background centers on end-to-end product engineering. I translate business and user problems into production systems across education administration, international trade and finance, website monitoring, and internal business operations. I typically own product decisions and workflow design as well as architecture, implementation, integrations, testing, deployment, and production hardening.

Product Engineering

0→1 SaaS development, full-stack applications, database-backed systems, REST APIs, payments, third-party integrations, deployment, production debugging, and AI-assisted engineering workflows.

Research Preparation

Qualitative research interests, thematic analysis, literature synthesis, disability studies, and higher education access.

Honors & Distinctions

Academic Excellence Cum Laude Certificate, MBA — ENEB / Universidad Isabel I
Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, Rust College
Honors Residential Scholar, Rust College
Merit-based institutional scholarship, Rust College
Performance scholarship, Rust College A'Cappella Choir