I am a research software engineer that happens to have an academic background in chemistry. My speciality is in architecting, implementing, and maintaining user-facing applications that are typically used by scientists and researchers. I currently work at TU Delft, where I work on OpenSim Creator, an open-source GUI for building OpenSim models.

🌟 Portfolio

This portfolio represents a small subset of those projects because some of my work has been internal or commercial. Download a copy of my CV here.

OpenSim Creator is an open-source self-contained GUI for creating and editing OpenSim models. It is developed with C++, OpenGL, and OpenSim.

  • Enables users to create OpenSim models without having to write code or XML
  • Standalone installers on Windows, Mac, and Linux
  • High-performance C++ and OpenGL. Runs smooth (>60FPS) on a low-end laptop

Jobson is an open-source platform for transforming command-line applications into a job service. It is developed with Java, Typescript, and React.

  • Enables implementors to create web services around their applications by writing a simple YAML job specification
  • Provides an easy-to-use UI for end-users
  • Written in portable java. The webserver is only officially supported on Linux, but users have reported success using it on Mac and Windows.

I also work on various small side-projects, such as:

  • eink-harmonograph, a C++ Arduino project for drawing harmonographs on an eink screen
  • libdeflater, a Rust (❤️) library for zlib compression
  • ta-rust, a Rust application for hosting command-line games through a browser
  • xdc, python bindings to XSens DOT's Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) interface
  • plateyplatey, a Typescript angular UI for editing lab plates (sourcecode)
  • fo2dat, a Rust application for extracting Fallout 2 DAT archives
  • presentation-combiner, a C#/F# WPF UI for combining powerpoint slides

My gallery page contains various pieces of design work I have produced. Examples of things I have worked on:

👔 Experience

Open Source Developer

Technische Universiteit Delft
May 2020 - Present

I work as an open-source software developer at TU Delft. I work in the BioMechanical Engineering department on OpenSim-related projects. My primary project is OpenSim Creator, which is a C++ GUI for creating OpenSim models interactively. Primary responsibilities:

  • Designing, developing, and shipping 3D tooling UIs (OpenSim Creator) with C++ and OpenGL
  • Performance-engineering legacy C++ codebases
  • Organizing and administrating shared compute resources

Software Developer

PetaGene Ltd.
November 2018 - May 2020

I worked as a software developer at PetaGene, which is a small (<10 employees) startup company that produces genomic compression software. Primary responsibilities:

  • Developed low-level compression systems in C and C++
  • Shipped those systems to large enterprise customers with multi-petabyte datasets
  • Adopted PetaGene's C/C++ codebase to work in a browser (wasm)
  • Developed a web UI for PetaSuite Protect in Typescript + React
  • Developed devops. Things like Jenkins build pipelines, development environments, end-to-end system tests, etc.
  • Helped manage external developers

Software Developer

University of Cambridge
November 2016 - November 2018 (2 years)

I worked in the Institute of Astronomy on the European Space Agency's Gaia project (BBC). My team mostly focused on writing highly-scalable data processing pipelines that needed to handle >1 PB of data per batch.

  • Developed Jobson, a Java+Typescript platform that enabled us to transform our data processing applications into web platforms for research use
  • Developed Java+Scala codebases that utilized MapReduce and Spark to process large (>1 PB) datasets
  • Developed SQL-like DSLs using ANTLR to enable scalably extracting data from the cluster "as if" it were a relational database.
  • Developed large-scale data pipelines with Luigi

Automation, Data, and Standardisation Scientist

Unilever
November 2015 - October 2016 (1 year)

Used data science and robotics to accelerate practical chemical research. My main focus area was in creating Oracle SQL queries, Pipeline Pilot pipelines, and Tableau dashboards on top of Unilever's existing data systems. I also worked on integrating those systems with lab equipment to increase data collection volume.

Web Designer & Developer

Crown Informatics
February 2015 - October 2015 (9 months)

Developed customer-facing webapps and dashboards that were deployed to NHS hospitals nationwide. Full-stack development, but with an emphasis on frontend development. Technologies: Javascript, Ruby, IBM Notes, PostgreSQL, angularjs, highcharts.

PhD, High-Throughput Organic/Analytical Chemistry

University of Liverpool
Feb 2011 - April 2015 (4 years)

Synthetic and analytical research into porous organic cage compounds. Used robotic platforms (Chemspeed/Eppendorf) to automate the synthesis and analysis of porous organic materials. Primary focus was on conducting analytical experiments to validate computational methods. Supervisor: Andrew Cooper FRS.

Other Experience

  • OEE Software Development, Henkan Ltd., Dec 2010 - Feb 2011
  • Nuffield Research Placement, University of Nottingham, Jun 2009 - Sep 2009
  • Warehouse Operative, NHS, Jul 2006 - Aug 2006
  • Nuffield Placement: Civil Engineering, Mouchel Parkman, Jun 2005 - Aug 2005

📖 Education

PhD in Chemistry

University of Liverpool, 2011-2015, Supervisor: Prof. Andrew Cooper FRS. [thesis]

MSc. (hons.) in Nanoscience

University of Nottingham, 2010-2011, Grade: Merit. [dissertation]

BSc. (hons.) in Chemistry

University of Nottingham, 2007-2010, Grade: First.



📰 Publications

Gaia Data Release 2

Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2018, 10.1051/0004-6361/201833051, PDF

Gaia Data Release 2: Processing of the photometric data

Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2018, 10.1051/0004-6361/201832712, PDF

Porous Organic Cages for Gas Chromatography Separations

Chemistry of Materials, 2015, 10.1021/acs.chemmater.5b01112, PDF

Separation of Rare Gases and Chiral Molecules by Selective Binding in Porous Organic Cages

Nature Materials, 2014, 10.1038/nmat4035, PDF

Supramolecular isomers of metal-organic frameworks the role of a new mixed donor imidazolate-carboxylate tetradentate ligand

Dalton Transactions, 2012, 10.1039/C2DT12055K, PDF

Other Gaia Publications

I am an author on these papers because of how the European Space Agency works, rather than because I made any contribution. I only contributed to the above papers (and, even in those cases, minorly because Gaia is a huge project).

  • Gaia Data Release 2: Photometric content and validation, link
  • Gaia Data Release 2: Kinematics of globular clusters and dwarf galaxies around the Milky Way, link
  • Gaia Data Release 2: Observational Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams, link
  • Gaia Data Release 2: Mapping the Milky Way disc kinematics, link
  • Gaia Data Release 2: Observations of solar system objects, link
  • Gaia Data Release 2: The celestial reference frame (Gaia-CRF2), link