Rifat Mahfuz

About

Backend engineer with strong performance and security instincts: built a Flask API for readability metrics with clean, testable modular design; optimized SQLAlchemy/Postgres to eliminate N+1 issues (800ms to 120ms). Also implemented an LLM-powered natural-language travel search using Claude Sonnet + Amadeus with RAG and anti-exploitation safeguards, plus multi-tenant isolation via Postgres RLS and Redis caching that cut search latency from ~20s to ~4–5s while reducing storage costs.

Key Strengths

• Performance-focused backend architecture decisions (Flask over Django; regex over heavy NLP)
• Designs maintainable, testable modules using pure functions and separation of concerns
• SQLAlchemy/Postgres optimization (eager loading, indexing, pooling, selective raw SQL)
• Reduced N+1 query latency from ~800ms to ~120ms for 20+ item reading lists using joinedload()
• Practical LLM-to-structured-query system design using Claude + Amadeus APIs
• Applies RAG, robust system prompts, and anti-exploitation safeguards for LLM reliability/security
• Implements secure multi-tenancy with Postgres RLS + automatic tenant scoping and integration tests
• Improved flight search response time from ~20s to ~4–5s via Redis caching and retention strategy

Experience

Education

Awards

• Finalist (Top 10% of submitted projects) at CS409 App Competition - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Skills

Languages