hi, while im originally from Colorado, I am currently in sri lanka so obviously not in your timezone. im 1 of 2 people on this site who have completed the MySQL level 3 exam, if that means anything, its really hard and not for the faint hearted.
I dont know CanvasExpress.
But PHP/MySQL/Putty/Linux I know like the back of my hand. which is generally in plain view when my hands are on the keyboard.
While my favorite editor in shell is nano(not a VI person), I generally login using WinSCP and edit the files using Sublime Text on windows which gives me a bit more control of the edit process, and I find it much faster.
For MySQL i can just use the CLI mysql client or something like HeidiSQL to remote in if I feel like using a GUI, not really fussed about it.
Beside this one of my other strong points is security, if you are getting input from webpages etc it is important that the database and the application is protected against SQLi in the least.
You have obviously taken your time to write the project description and I found it very entertaining to read, almost felt like Ethan Hunt, was waiting for the "this message will self destruct" line, it's written in a serious but cool way.
Anyway I am so happy to have also had the pleasure of talking to you in person on chat, and all the best with the project.
Ishan.