Sudheer Bulusu
Backend Engineer • Distributed Systems
I am a backend engineer with 4 years of experience building distributed systems, workflow orchestration platforms and backend infrastructure for SaaS and consumer products.
Previously, I worked at Thena and Unacademy, where I designed event-driven services, recommendation systems, automation platforms and backend systems serving millions of users.
I am currently pursuing a Master's in Computer Science at UMass Amherst, where I am deepening my understanding of distributed systems, machine learning and large-scale software systems.
Experience
Software Development Engineer II · Thena
Jun 2024 – Nov 2025
Backend systems for a B2B customer support platform: event-driven architecture, workflow automation, and platform infrastructure.
Software Engineer · Unacademy
Jun 2022 – Jun 2024
Backend engineer across three products — Compete (test prep), AirLearn (language learning), and UnacademyX.
Education
Master of Science in Computer Science
Jan 2026 - May 2027 (Expected)
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA
GPA 4.0/4.0 · Distributed & Operating Systems, Advanced Algorithms, Software Engineering, Machine Learning, Neural Networks
Bachelor of Technology in Mechanical Engineering
July 2018 - May 2022
Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar
Bhubaneswar, India
GPA 8.01/10 · Data Structures & Algorithms, Robotics, Advanced Calculus, Linear Algebra & Complex Analysis, Transform Calculus, Partial Differential Equations
Skills
Languages
C++ · TypeScript · JavaScript · Go · Python
Backend
Node.js · NestJS · Express.js · Django · gRPC · Temporal
Data
PostgreSQL · MySQL · Redis · DynamoDB · Elasticsearch · MongoDB · Redshift
Cloud
AWS (ECS, SQS, SNS, Lambda, DMS, RDS, S3, CloudFront, Route 53) · Docker · GitHub Actions
Writing
Elo Ratings Break Down in 1v1 Games — What Goes Wrong and How to Fix It
Codeforces-style rating systems work for large contests. In a two-player quiz, the same math can explode. What fails at n=2, and the techniques that keep rating changes sane.
Jun 10, 2026 · 8 min read
Building a Workflow Orchestration Platform on Temporal
Events + filters as triggers, activities as work units, and Temporal as the durable execution layer — how I designed a fault-tolerant workflow platform meant to sit between systems and agents.
Jun 2, 2026 · 10 min read
Replacing SQL with Redis Bloom Filters for Question Recommendations
What Bloom filters are, why they crush membership checks at scale, and how I used Redis Bitfields to answer “has this user already seen this question?” on a 1v1 quiz hot path.
May 26, 2026 · 9 min read
Selected Work
Distributed Trading Post
Distributed marketplace where buyers and sellers trade through replicated trader services backed by a shared warehouse. Components run as separate processes over TCP so failures and concurrency show up the way they do in real multi-service systems. Three experiments are conducted —
RoomMatch
Roommate matching and housing placement for students — students set lifestyle habits and roommate preferences, get ranked recommendations, form groups, and receive a dorm assignment.