Professional Summary

Software engineer and independent consultant with over 30 years of experience in embedded firmware, systems integration and large web platforms. My work brings hardware and software together, from bare-metal microcontrollers on ocean buoys reporting over satellite to educational platforms serving tens of thousands of concurrent users. I work across the whole stack, from circuit board to cloud, and build for reliability, testability and maintenance.

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Technical Skills

Area	Technologies
Languages	C, C++, Rust, Go, JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Perl, Fortran, Shell scripting
Embedded Platforms	AVR, ESP32, STM32, nRF52840, RAK4631, Heltec V3, SenseCAP T1000-E, RP2040/Pico, Raspberry Pi, Embedded Linux; PlatformIO + C++17
RTOS & Bare Metal	Zephyr (BLE, WiFi, LoRa, MCUboot OTA, crash reporting, power management, LVGL displays), FreeRTOS, NuttX, bare-metal firmware, ultra-low-power deep-sleep design
Radio & Networking	LoRa, MeshCore, LoRaWAN + ChirpStack, Cayenne LPP, ESP-NOW, LPWAN (Cat-M1, NB-IoT), Iridium satellite, HaLow
Protocols & Interfaces	I2C, SPI, UART, CAN, MQTT, BLE
Web & APIs	REST API design, Rust/axum and Node/Express back-ends, vanilla JS front-ends, 11ty + Tabler, magic-link authentication, single-file embedded dashboards, real-time monitoring dashboards
Electronics	Embedded CPU design, custom display panels (OLED, eInk), power management, radio systems, solar monitoring
Infrastructure & DevOps	Git, Make, CMake, CI/CD pipelines (Gitea webhooks), Docker Compose, Unraid, nginx, automated testing frameworks, Umami analytics, Linux system administration
Databases	SQL, custom data pipelines, binary data manipulation. SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL and more
AI & Automation	Agent-readable/-controllable instrumentation over telnet & REST, closed-loop testing and fault diagnosis
Approach	Start simple, iterate fast, build for reliability, document along the way

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Work Experience

Principal Consultant, Digital Dimensions

2000 to present, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Independent consulting practice in software integration, embedded systems development and educational technology.

• Architect and deliver end-to-end systems from embedded firmware through to cloud dashboards and APIs
• Design ultra-low-power IoT devices with multi-year battery life for remote and harsh environments
• Build and maintain enterprise-scale educational platforms with custom authentication and analytics
• Develop CI/CD pipelines, automated test frameworks, and build system tooling for client teams
• Create custom real-time monitoring dashboards and single-file embedded web interfaces
• Integrate legacy systems with modern APIs and data pipelines
• Provide hardware-software integration consulting including factory and farm automation

Key clients and sectors: Research institutions, educational providers, industrial automation, agricultural technology, marine science.

Senior Software Developer, NSIP (National Schools Interoperability Program) / Education Services Australia

Melbourne, Australia

Senior software developer for the national program responsible for schools data interoperability across Australian education departments.

• Built example and trial systems for national education data standards
• Imported and managed NAPLAN and SIF (Schools Interoperability Framework) data
• Authored technical requirements documents for state and territory education departments
• Delivered training to department staff and stakeholders

Head of Software Development / Head of R&D, Schoolsnet / Myinternet / Editure

1997 to 2008, Melbourne, Australia

Led software development and research for educational technology companies delivering learning platforms across Australia.

• Head of Software Development, progressing to Head of Research and Development
• Built education software platforms deployed across most of Australia
• Scalable content delivery, assessment, and student engagement systems

Systems Administrator & Software Developer, Melbourne University

1991 to 1997, Melbourne, Australia

Software development and systems administration roles.

• Developed one of the first web mail systems
• Deployed and managed the first Linux mail servers at the university
• Domain management and network administration
• Automated lab computer builds and student login systems

Software Developer, BHP

1991, Melbourne, Australia

Early career role developing communications software.

• Developed Snapchat, a communication tool in Visual Basic that shared images and mouse movement between PCs. The name predates the later product of the same name.

Embedded Software Developer, Exicom Power

1990 to 1991, Melbourne, Australia

C development for embedded battery power charging systems.

• Firmware development in C targeting Motorola 6800 CPUs
• Battery power charger systems for Telstra

Software Developer, PAS Consultants

1989, Melbourne, Australia

• Developed a non-blocking keyboard and printer driver in assembler for DOS PCs.

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Key Projects

Waves In Ice (WII): Antarctic Wave Measurement Buoys

Published in Nature

Designed and developed firmware for wave measurement buoys deployed in Antarctic sea ice, reporting over Iridium satellite and running for months on battery in low temperatures.

• Custom embedded firmware on low-power microcontrollers
• LoRa and Iridium satellite communications for remote data retrieval
• Real-time wave detection and data logging algorithms
• Deployed since 2012 with NIWA, Japan, Unimelb and NYU, and with KOPRI (Korea Polar Research Institute) in 2026
• Custom dashboards for real-time monitoring of deployed buoys
• Results published in Nature, contributing to sea ice research
• Latest generation: wii5.sh3d.com.au

LoRaScope: LoRa / MeshCore / LoRaWAN Analyser

Product: lora.dd.com.au

Designed and build a single-radio spectrum and traffic analyser for the LoRa family of protocols: live capture, packet decode and link health in one tool.

• Decodes LoRaWAN, LoRaBASIC, and MeshCore through one interface, at the radio layer
• Capture store with filter, search, export, and replay; CSV logging to SD
• Hub/node emulation and packet injection for testing nodes in isolation
• Agent-readable and agent-controllable over telnet and REST for closed-loop, AI-driven testing and fault diagnosis

OGLAS: Off-Grid Local Alert System

Product: oglas.au

A custom monitoring product line for off-grid and poorly connected sites: farms, fleets, factories and remote power installations.

• Sensors → Hubs → Local → Cloud pipeline, with custom builds of any link in the chain
• Second-generation firmware built on Zephyr RTOS across nRF52840, ESP32 and STM32, with BLE commissioning, OTA updates, crash reporting and multi-year battery life
• Long-range wireless (LoRa, mesh, satellite) instead of telco dependency
• Local-first, open-format data storage with an optional private cloud copy
• No subscriptions or vendor lock-in; the client owns their data and hardware

LoRa Gateway: Multi-Transport Bridge

Product: lora.dd.com.au/gateway

A rules-based gateway that bridges a local LoRa network to the wider world, forwarding selected data over the transport that suits it.

• Backhaul over LoRaWAN, Iridium/LEO satellite, LTE mobile data, or SMS
• Rules engine for thresholds, schedules, and aggregates to control airtime cost
• MeshCore relaying and a secure remote-access tunnel for off-site management

Profitool: Fortran ERP Modernisation

Migrated a legacy Fortran ERP system from 32-bit to 64-bit, adding modern language features and a testing framework.

• 32-bit to 64-bit architecture migration
• Added SQL database support, regular expressions, and hash maps
• Implemented container support
• Designed and built a full suite of unit testing
• Modern REST API to existing ERP
• Automated build and deployment processes

HealthMap: HIV Health Monitoring Platform

Built a platform to manage and monitor the health of individuals with HIV by connecting them with coaches and health professionals and tracking changes over time.

• Linked patients with coaches and health professionals for ongoing support
• Longitudinal health monitoring and trend tracking
• Secure handling of sensitive health data

Custom Authentication Platform

Built a multi-site authentication system with user management dashboards, custom database views, and flexible authentication methods.

• Unified identity management across multiple web properties
• Custom admin dashboards for user management and database inspection
• Secure authentication flows with role-based access control

Embedded Dashboard Framework

Created a single-file embedded dashboard system: a self-contained HTML file with all SVG, CSS and JavaScript bundled, for small embedded devices.

• No external dependencies; a single self-contained HTML file
• Auto-discovery of device settings and status
• Light controller interfaces, WiFi configuration, system status, and charting
• File management and JSON API integration
• Designed to run on ESP32 and similar constrained platforms

Custom Display & Monitoring Systems

Developed custom display solutions for solar monitoring, industrial data visualisation, and long-running embedded displays.

• OLED, eInk, and LCD display integration
• Touch input and scroll navigation on embedded displays
• Real-time firmware upload and management dashboards
• Ultra-low-power display designs with automatic logging

Educational Software Platforms

~20 years of experience

Architected and built learning management systems, assessment platforms, and analytics tools for educational institutions.

• Scalable platforms supporting large numbers of concurrent users
• Assessment and analytics engines for student engagement tracking
• Content delivery systems with institutional integration
• Custom API layers with full documentation and load management

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Community & Open Source

OSDC: Open Source Developers’ Conference

Founder

Founded the Open Source Developers’ Conference (OSDC), a community-run conference for open source developers in Australia and the region.

• Open source: Released the Waves In Ice (WII5) wave-buoy hardware, firmware, and maths under Apache 2.0, at wii5.sh3d.com.au
• Source: gitea.sh3d.com.au

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Publications

• Kohout, A. L., Williams, M. J. M., Dean, S. M., & Meylan, M. H. (2014). “Storm-induced sea-ice breakup and the implications for ice extent.” Nature, 509, 604-607. nature.com/articles/nature13262. Based on data from the Waves In Ice buoys.
• More than a decade of peer-reviewed publications using the Waves In Ice data, listed at wii5.sh3d.com.au.

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References

Available on request.

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