Chris Rimmer

Programmer / architect | work@rimmer.wtf | +44 7990 031337

Experience

• Javascript: Typescript (4 years) | React (6 years) | Preact (6 years) | Node (6 years) | Deno (2 years)
• GCP: Cloud Run (1 year) | Cloud SQL (1 year)
• Postgres (5 years)
• Redis (2 years)
• Linux: Daily-driving, shell scripting, system administration (~10 years)
• Agile philosophy / principles (not the cargo cult kind) (~10 years)
• ISO 3103 (~20 years)

Capabilities

• Conceptual design of new information systems of all types
• Architectural design and maintenance of new and existing information systems
• Rapid prototyping of web-tech-based information systems (including on the desktop)
• Containerisation of existing systems of all types
• Integration of foreign web based, file based, and unix based information systems
• Workflow and process optimisation

Professional experience

2023-Ongoing Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency | Technical Architect

Machine learning | DDD | NodeJS | Deno | IBM zOS | IBM 3270 | Adabas | Natural 4GL

• Prototyped, developed, and deployed a documentation search and retrieval system using a multi-stage LLM-powered pipeline to try and make our tens of thousands of pages of documentation more explorable by architects and developers
• Added web access to legacy mainframe systems, enabling both automated testing and the replatforming of the underlying Adabas / Natural system to Linux on AWS

2023 Adaptive Web Ltd (Freelance, short contract) | Architect + Lead prototype Engineer

Preact | Deno | Postgres | Google Cloud Run | Google Cloud SQL

• Worked with stakeholders to specify requirements of a proposed security-as-a-service product to prototype
• Selected suitable technology with which to build the prototype to test assumptions about hosting infrastructure, performance, and scalability
• Developed a prototype rules-based-security engine in 3 weeks
• Developed an administration panel and UI over the top of the security engine to trial with customers
• Tested and selected a cloud-based hosting environment for the program, using Google Cloud Run as the execution environment and Cloud SQL as the data store to ensure scalability and reliability against potentially unknown and variable load levels of the deployed system
• Validated behaviour of the system when running on multiple executors in parallel to ensure reliability in future scaling scenarios

2021-2022 TK Events UK Ltd | System architect, senior full stack engineer, dev team lead, client technical contact, wearer of many hats

Preact | React | Deno | NodeJS | Postgres | Elastic Stack | Redis | Websockets

• Worked with client account managers and event designers to design and build a self-service interface that our clients' clients could use to manage their content at events. This reduced a process wherein data went through three handoffs between four people at three organisations to zero handoffs, massively reducing both effort and latency involved in building an event
• Got the dev team away from hand-writing HTML by designing and building a set of reusable tools and an accompanying component library containing React implementations of all our virtual venue features as well as several new ones that were made feasible by the departure from hand-written HTML
• Designed and built microservices to handle various small and isolated pieces of functionality for each of several different venue services, including drop-in social video calls (intended to emulate the ad-hoc nature of social rooms etc found in live events), session attendance tracking for CPD points, and synchronisation of our attendee's registration data with our clients
• Designed a self-service event management system with input from stakeholders in all areas of the business, capable of interfacing with several different registration platforms (starting with Swoogo and Cvent), with the intention of automating our entire event build process away
• Coordinated on an ongoing basis with our most demanding clients to meet their needs at our virtual events, designing and modifying venue features and tools based on continuous feedback

2019-2020 PCCW Global | Full stack developer, scrum master

React | Storybook | Redux | Node | Postgres | SAFe

• Designed, developed, deployed and maintained a DSL and associated tools that allowed junior devs and non-technical staff to build configuration forms for complex Broadsoft VOIP features based on ongoing consultation with front-end engineers elsewhere in the team
• Worked with VOIP SMEs, POs, BAs and support staff to design and build a configuration management system for various VOIP hardware platforms
• Developed and deployed our first reusable component library, massively reducing duplication of effort across our six geographically-isolated development teams by providing a single repository for all front-end components they would need

2017-2018 NIO Formula E Race team | Infrastructure engineer, trackside IT specialist

• Developed and maintained automation tools using Windows task scheduler and some batch scripts to handle telemetry extraction from the car whenever it was connected, easing the workload for mechanics and engineers
• Developed and maintained a peer to peer data synchronisation system to improve telemtry data propagation speed from the very bandwidth-limited track environment to HQ and from there to engineers, strategists, and analysts to maximise our responsiveness to highly variable racing conditions
• Designed and built a custom "gaming" computer to power our on-site driver-in-the-loop simulator to accomodate some fairly strange IO and performance requirements
• Fixed a lot of printers

2013-2016 Multiplay UK Ltd (now Unity and Player1 Events) | Junior developer

Django | KnockoutJS | PHP | MySQL | Golang | Azure Cloud | FreeBSD

• Built a benchmarking suite to periodically produce matrixes of deployment times of different VM types across various different Azure regions, which we used in our automated autoscaling hybrid tin + cloud game server hosting platform to optimise our deployment scheduling and minimise player wait times
• Built the automated deployment and provisioning system we used to order, provision, monitor, and deprovision Azure cloud instances based on current demand. Or rather, which we would have used if we actually ended up hosting on Azure.
• Collaborated on a tournament management system that would manage player + team entries into tournaments and handled ranking + bracketing etc to try and maintain a fun competition for our LAN party attendees
• Implemented numerous custom features including a proprietary SSO system for various vBulletin based forums we operated for Telefonica
• Developed an internal portal for use at LAN parties by our attendees to improve access to commonly-used services like our IRC channels, food ordering, LAN news, and more

Unprofessional experience

2023-ongoing | ultra compact battery powered portable desktop computer

I've been working to build a single computer that serves as a primary home machine, LAN party gaming rig, and ground control station for my autonomous RC aircraft. The intent is to achieve near-laptop mobility without losing the repairable and upgradable qualities of a desktop.

I've so far managed to meet all of my design objectives other than power supply density, as the machine can now charge from mains AC, bulk DC, and up to 4x 100W USB C PD ports concurrently, and can power itself and its 4K monitor for up to 8 hours in the field, despite occupying under 6 liters in volume.

This project has so far seen me engage in SMPS and PCB design for the battery charge controller, wiring and fitting for the custom cables I need to meet the packaging constraints, materials analysis and mechanical engineering for the enclosure and thermal management system, and more.

2023-ongoing | (nearly) Fully autonomous RC sailplane

Since all of my other hobbies (game dev, car building, electronic engineering, robotics, etc) are hard work, I started playing with RC aircraft thinking it would be relatively relaxing, then immediately turned it into hard work.

So far I've achieved my goals of full autonomy after takeoff, including various failsafe handlers, using exclusively off-the-shelf parts other than a home-made lithium-ion battery I assembled to achieve the sort of specific energy required for long-range autonomous flight, which was made necessary by the optimisation goals of most hobby RC batteries, which are intended for high power (not high energy) applications like quadcopters

2018-ongoing | PedalBox on Youtube | Building a car

I don't really know what to say here other than that a buddy and I are building an entire car ourselves to our own design basically from scratch. We're re-using off the shelf components like an engine, headlights, etc but the chassis, suspension geometry, bodywork, etc are hand-made by us.

2020 | ZF 8HP transmission control computer

Designed and wrote a transmission control program for the ZF 8HP automotive transmission. Unfortunately as a spare-time hobby project between two geopgrahically isolated non-engineers without test hardware, it never went anywhere but I did learn quite a bit about how to control a gearbox

Most of the project wasn't actually the control program, and was the prototype breadboard circuits and a simulator test harness I could use to validate the design. This test board pretended to be an actual physical transmission, simulating sensor outputs to the computer based on various control signals and real-world behaviour. It didn't model physical effects like hydraulic behaviour or rotating kinetic energy etc so it would have been of limited use for tuning, but was more than adequate to test whether the core behaviour around gear selection and solenoid control was correct.

2016 | The Nerd Herd | Monte Carlo Or Bust charity banger rally

• Decorated a car (full paint job and decals) with team colours in a day
• Took care of team fundraising including somehow managing to get noticed by the actual cast of the show our team and car were themed on
• Prepared the car for a 2,500 mile road trip in unfamiliar territory with no support once we left the UK, though granted it was the European mainland, not Siberia

2016 | Robot Wars Team Doomba | Fighting robot

• Worked with a bunch of friends to design and build a combat robot from scratch in 5 weeks ready for Robot Wars
• Wrote a protocol converter so we could drive our weird chinese motor controllers from conventional RC control signals
• Wrote all control logic for the robot, converting twin-stick inputs in both car-steer and tank-steer control schemes (to suit different drivers' preferences) into control signals for the drive system
• Designed the power system for Doomba's control electronics, propulsion system, and primary + secondary weapon drives
• Accidentally blew up the propulsion control system minutes before it was due in for tech inspection, disqualifying us

Misc

I'm a nerd. I like learning new stuff and building things.

I once built a 2D orbital motion simulator which was supposed to become a full-fledged RTS game, but I was a rookie programmer at the time and so I never managed to build anything else after completing the fun astrodynamics part.

I'm restoring and modifying a 1980s Rover SD1. This project is one of my more active ones and is very much in flux, so the state may change by the time you read this but as of now I've built a turbo manifold for it, selected a set of throttle bodies I can use for an EFI conversion, acquired an appropriately modest turbo, stripped the interior and done a very extensive 5 layer composite soundproofing treatment, 3D modelled new taillights to cast in resin, rewired various troublesome systems, and started designing an air conditioning system.

One day I wondered if I could make basic rocket fuel so I destroyed a wok making rocket candy in my kitchen. I never made a rocket with it, but I did encase an iPhone in the stuff and light it. The iPhone did not survive. If you're curious, it was via the solution method.

I'm also working with a friend on a LAN-party-optimised cooperative multiplayer real time tactical space combat game built with Godot using GDScript. I could talk about this one for hours.