Umesh Sripad

Alex and I met when he joined IKEA in August of 2020. His natural leadership and communication skills are easy to see, and we quickly placed him in the role of Tech Lead.

Over the course of just a few months he not only excelled at the role but defined it. Forming a Tech Lead chapter and organizing monthly meetings, Alex helped to guide technical decisions and agile practices for the US Digital organization.

He also did not take the leadership role within his team lightly. Alex designed automation and standards for every application he owned to help coworker efficiency and guarantee quality. He also consistently mentored teammates - even offering weekly individual sessions to teammates who needed extra support.

Combined with his manager's review that he unfailingly delivers high quality, fully tested, complete, and timely Java code, Alex was offered an out of cycle promotion to Senior Engineer. In this role he has also excelled, collaborating with solutions architects and global teams to design solutions to to some of IKEA's biggest challenges.

Outside his professional duties, Alex also organized coat drives and became involved in Ikea's DEI efforts.

Bhagyashri Padmawar

I had the pleasure of working with Alex Meddin during my time at IKEA. Alex grew steadily and quickly in the company and took on more and more responsibility and successfully led a team of engineers and delivered some amazing work. We had opportunities to consult each other on a few projects and I was always impressed by his domain knowledge, technical depth, sophistication, and most importantly his willingness to help.

I have seen Alex go out of his comfort zone and dive into cross-domain technologies he is not used to working with when he consulted me for the Picking App designed to be used by IKEA store co-workers. He was able to maintain the same level of knowledge, and sophistication he would demonstrate on technologies he is comfortable and experienced with. One of the many reasons I believe he was able to do this is his commitment to quality and excellence which I see in everything he does.

Being the team player he is, Alex took initiatives and efforts to boost collaboration by hosting bi-monthly meetings for tech leads. He also took initiative to bring more diversity to the engineering team at IKEA. He is a great communicator and leader and it shows in everything he does.

I highly value the time I spent collaborating and learning from Alex. If you have an opportunity to add Alex to your team, do not miss out on it. I have no doubt he will bring a lot of knowledge, leadership, and a lot of positive energy to the team.

Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to discuss Alex’s qualifications further.

Christian Bouwense

Alex Meddin is a bright, enthusiastic, and passionate software engineer. I had the pleasure of working with Alex for over a year at the IKEA US Digital Hub. During our professional time together, I was always thrilled whenever our lines of work overlapped.

Beyond being a highly valued member of the team, his initiatives to strengthen the IKEA infrastructure continue to be vital to the ongoing success of IKEA’s online presence. If I ever had a question about anything “backend”-related, Alex was the one I would go to.

I have always been struck by Alex’s kind nature; it permeates everything he does. He is easy to get along with, and refreshingly approachable while maintaining a professional manner.

I confidently recommend Alex to any endeavor, engineering or otherwise. I am sure that he will be a great addition to any organization, and would be happy to make professional acquaintance with him again.

I am available and happy to discuss should you have any further questions about Alex’s qualifications. Please feel free to contact me.

Veronica Carden

I am eagerly writing this letter of recommendation on behalf of Alex Meddin, a dear friend and colleague of mine. I have known Alex for the last three years and have had the pleasure of working with him and becoming a dear friend. Being the founder and director of a non-profit organization I have had the privilege of working with hundreds of volunteers and I am often asked to provide words of recommendation. I generally oblige with no hesitation but as I prepare to write words about Alex I hesitate because I'm not sure that I have the proper vocabulary to articulate how special Alex is. He is brilliant, curious, compassionate and brave. He enters the world of those of us lucky enough to be around him and strategically leaves us better and brighter.

I grew especially close with Alex in the summer of 2020 in our home city of Philadelphia- our Nation was reeling from the devastating effects of COVID, police brutality, poverty and inequality (just to name a few). During the summer of 2020 I was afraid- afraid of what my city was becoming, what my country became- afraid and exhausted from daily protests, teargas and an ever-growing National Guard presence on the corners of blocks that I used to call home. I felt myself shrinking and felt increasingly helpless and then I met Alex.

Alex was a volunteer for my community based mutual aid project and 501c3 called Club Sandwich Philly. Club Sandwich is a project of food and friendship- we work to provide life saving resources to vulnerable individuals through the allocation of material resources while simultaneously advocating for policy change to guarantee unlimited access to these resources for all members of the community. Alex entered the space of Club Sandwich and I could immediately feel his determination to provide comfort, hope and stability during a time of endless confusion and suffering. Alex quickly became our most responsible and dedicated volunteer. He asked questions , he listened, he provided advice, compassion and resources.

He quite literally changed the lives of thousands of Philadelphians- including me. I was overwhelmed and exhausted from my tireless dedication to Club Sandwich and I never felt comfortable taking a break until Alex filled a leadership role within the organization. I have never met anyone as responsible and dedicated and I trusted him implicitly with such important work. Through Alex's leadership and commitment Club Sandwich provided material resources to more than 40,000 individuals in a period of 10 months.

He is incredibly smart, in life and in books. He is a great teacher and friend and I am beyond excited for whichever organizations have the privilege to work with him. He brings a commitment that is steadfast and unwavering. He is reliable, responsible, and kind. He is able to be persuasive and still keep you inspired.

I encourage you to see what he is capable of. He has only made those of us around him better and brighter and I assure you that he will do the same for you.