Professional Summary

Software engineer and independent consultant with over 30 years of experience spanning embedded firmware, systems integration, and enterprise-scale web platforms. Deep expertise in bringing hardware and software together — from bare-metal microcontrollers on ocean buoys communicating via satellite, to high-availability educational platforms serving tens of thousands of concurrent users. Proven ability to work across the full stack, from circuit board to cloud, with a pragmatic focus on reliability, testability, and maintainable solutions.

Technical Skills

Work Experience

Principal Consultant — Digital Dimensions

2000 – Present · Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

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

• 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 – 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 – 1997 · Melbourne, Australia

Various roles spanning software development and systems administration at one of Australia’s leading universities.

• 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

Embedded Software Developer — Exicom Power

1990 – 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 — BHP

1989 · Melbourne, Australia

Early career role developing communications software.

• Developed Snapchat communication system in Visual Basic

Software Developer — PAS Consultants

1989 · Melbourne, Australia

• Developed Non Blocking Keyboard and Printer Drvier in Assembler for DOS PCs.

Key Projects

Waves In Ice (WII) — Antarctic Wave Measurement Buoys

Published in Nature

Designed and developed firmware for ocean wave measurement buoys deployed in Antarctic sea ice. The system operates in extreme marine environments with satellite connectivity (Iridium) and long battery life 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 in 2012 to NIWA, Japan, Unimelb, NYU and 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

Profitool — Fortran ERP Modernisation

Migrated a legacy Fortran ERP system from 32-bit to 64-bit, while adding modern language features and a comprehensive 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
• 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 deployment on resource-constrained embedded devices.

• Zero external dependencies — fully self-contained single 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

Community & Open Source

OSDC — Open Source Developers’ Conference

Founder

Founded the Open Source Developers’ Conference (OSDC), a community-driven conference bringing together open source developers across Australia and beyond.

Publications

• Waves In Ice — sea ice wave detection systems. Published in Nature.

References

Available on request.

Last updated: 2026. For consulting enquiries, visit dd.com.au or contact me.