Ethan Smith
Software Engineer
Akron, OH · esmith@project802.io
esmith.project802.io · github.com/Binary12Spy · codeberg.org/binaryspy
Summary
Systems-leaning software engineer with deep ownership of a flagship industrial platform. Focused on IPC, shared memory, hardware integration, and platform modernization — including a ground-up Rust rewrite of TunnelWatch core. Known for gatekeeping architecturally sensitive code paths, shipping high-quality work ahead of estimates, and taking on senior-scope initiatives independently.
Technical Skills
Experience
- Led architectural refactor of a legacy memory-mapped file system — replaced unsafe concurrent access with IPC and process separation, eliminating Memurai dependency. Delivered in ~2.5 months against a 7-month estimate; saved ~$22.7K in dev time and $24K/year in recurring licensing. Inspire Award recipient.
- Sole engineer on a ground-up rewrite of TunnelWatch core in Rust; greenlit by leadership to own design and implementation while maintaining the production platform in parallel.
- Architectural steward for high-risk areas of the TunnelWatch platform (shared memory, IPC, core system behavior); trusted by Product Owner and Engineering Manager to gate changes affecting source-of-truth and data flow integrity.
- Designed and shipped core backend logic for a net-new, patent-pending platform feature — owned the most technically complex portions (Delphi internals, IPC coordination). Passed QA without a single developer return.
- Resolved a P1 production defect outside business hours; reproduced, diagnosed, and validated a fix before sprint kickoff, delivering day one of the sprint.
- Root-caused and fixed a field defect (device retraction bug) that had consumed two sprints of senior engineering time; validated fix delivered within 24 hours.
- Following a cross-product security incident, independently identified a systemic vulnerability in the shared Assisted Access mechanism and self-initiated a cryptographic replacement using JWT/Ed25519 with per-site binding, nonce binding, replay protection, and scope enforcement. Delivered full documentation, threat model, and a live-demo POC; presented to engineering leadership and PLM — received unsolicited praise from PLM representative for enterprise-level depth.
- Tasked with designing a cross-site authentication and centralized management platform for TunnelWatch, enabling enterprise customers to manage multi-site deployments from a single system; navigating challenges including offline-capable account resolution and distributed database design for a historically offline-first, on-prem product.
- Maintain a Tech Debt Inventory providing org-wide visibility into systemic risk; regularly consulted by ELT and cross-functional teams on TunnelWatch architecture.
- Built and maintained test automation using C#, Python, and Selenium across multiple product lines.
- Engineered custom hardware interfaces for automated testing: magnetic gate interfacing, vehicle presence simulation, and tunnel hardware emulation.
- Developed TCP/IP and low-level debugging proficiency supporting Revision C logic card work; knowledge applied directly to subsequent systems engineering role.
- Developed internal tooling and process improvements adopted across the QA team.
- Resolved escalated technical issues across complex industrial control systems; built deep product knowledge that later anchored QA and engineering work.
- Mentored teammates and contributed to internal system documentation.
Projects
Firmware in C on FreeRTOS for an ESP32-based controller that automates inductive vehicle detection loop triggering for industrial gate systems. Manages four loop channels via GPIO, hosts an on-device WiFi access point, and exposes a REST API for integration with external automation tooling.
Research writeup and planned proof-of-concept for a modern cooperative scheduling model built around a formalized Yield Contract — programs declare and certify their yield behavior at install time, recovering cooperative efficiency while eliminating its historical failure modes. Targets a bare-metal kernel in Rust/C++. Read →
Architectural research and proof-of-concept proposing a redesigned web stack — a minimal versioned core, swappable userland layout libraries, and capability-based security. Backed by a working demonstration in which a host oblivious to layout loads two different layout libraries and swaps one for the other unchanged. Read →
Education
High School Diploma · Christian Liberty Academy
Interests
3D printing · home automation · photography · biking · video games