About

I'm Alison, an engineer focused on networked embedded systems and the DevOps/platform tooling that keeps them running in the real world.

Most of my work sits at the intersection of hardware and software: circuit design, RTOS-based MCU firmware, wireless device networking, OTA/update safety, and the CI/CD + backend plumbing that keeps fleets maintainable. I'm self-taught in embedded, formally trained in computer science, and I learn fastest by shipping things that have to run under real-world constraints.

I'm particularly interested in production IoT: reliable devices, predictable power behavior, and update paths you can trust. I'm currently pursuing a master's in cybersecurity and tend to focus more on hardening and resilience than offensive work. For me, security is a design requirement from day one, not a feature that gets added at the end.

What I work on

How I work

A lot of my platform work started as support for embedded projects. I learned GitLab CI/CD to automate firmware builds and tests, which grew into running a Kubernetes (k3s) cluster for build, deploy, and observability pipelines. I like building the systems that support other systems: networks, tooling, and runtime environments that make devices easier to ship and operate.

I work as a systems generalist with a bias toward depth where it matters. Understanding how firmware choices affect networking, backend behavior, deployment, and observability leads to better decisions at every layer. Real devices don't respect neat abstractions, so I pay close attention to the seams: radios and peripherals, scheduling and memory pressure, build pipelines, rollout strategies, and everything that tends to break at the interfaces.

When something breaks, I'm usually more interested in understanding the system than replacing the part. If a car fails, I want enough mechanical and electrical context to fix it. If a server or deployment pipeline misbehaves, I follow it across networking, OS, and application layers until it's stable. If an embedded project needs a better enclosure or RF behavior, I pick up the CAD, materials, or radio fundamentals required to ship something robust.

Outside of engineering

I'm a hands-on maker: CAD, 3D printing, and electronics projects that turn ideas into physical objects. If I'm not working on infrastructure or firmware, I'm usually building or iterating on a device of my own.

I'm open to roles in embedded/IoT engineering and platform/DevOps work focused on CI/CD, Kubernetes, and observability.