Kia Farhang
About Kia Farhang
Kia Farhang is a Senior Software Engineer specializing in GraphQL Platform at The New York Times, with a diverse background in software development and journalism. He has held various roles at notable organizations, including USAA and DataStax, and has contributed to significant projects that enhance system visibility and application performance.
Current Role at The New York Times
Kia Farhang serves as a Senior Software Engineer on the GraphQL Platform at The New York Times. In this role, which began in 2022, Kia focuses on enhancing the functionality and performance of the GraphQL services utilized by the organization. This position involves collaborating with cross-functional teams to implement solutions that improve system visibility and user experience.
Previous Experience in Software Development
Prior to joining The New York Times, Kia Farhang worked at several notable organizations. Kia was a Software Developer at USAA from 2018 to 2021, contributing to various software projects. Following this, Kia held positions at DataStax, first as a Software Engineer on the Front-end Team and later on the Platform Team from 2021 to 2022. Kia's experience also includes a role as a Full Stack Developer at San Antonio Express-News for ten months in 2017.
Background in Journalism
Kia Farhang has a background in journalism, having studied at the University of Minnesota where a Bachelor's degree was achieved in this field from 2012 to 2014. Kia also worked as a Reporter for The Desert Sun Publishing Company from 2015 to 2016 and served as a State Government Reporter for the Associated Press in 2015. This experience in journalism complements Kia's technical skills in software development.
Education and Technical Skills
Kia Farhang studied Computer Science at The University of Texas at San Antonio from 2018 to 2020, achieving Non Degree Seeking status. This technical education, combined with practical experience, has equipped Kia with skills in software engineering, particularly in GraphQL and front-end development. Kia also completed a year of study in Journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2011.
Key Projects and Contributions
Throughout Kia Farhang's career, several key projects have been undertaken. Notably, Kia designed and implemented a custom observability effort that improved system visibility for tracking error rates and latency. Additionally, Kia led the migration of a gateway application from Apollo Server to Apollo's Rust-based router stack, and mentored an intern in developing a regression test suite using Node with Jest. These contributions demonstrate Kia's ability to enhance software systems and mentor emerging talent.