Systems Engineering & Physical Computing Research
Kernel-level systems engineering, network forensics and protocol analysis, database virtualization, and the physical computation layer: kinetic systems, industrial instrumentation, and reservoir computing.
Trajectory
Twenty years of cross-disciplinary systems work: from modifying Linux kernels for distributed computing, to network forensics for L1–7 protocols, to building embedded measurement rigs and kinetic control systems for industrial thermal processes. Deep physics foundation. Currently modeling dynamical systems and physical reservoir computing, building toward physical/algorithmic co-design.
Engineering Experience
Independent Systems & Research Consultant · Jul 2012 – Present Berkeley, CA · Hybrid / Remote
Concurrent engineering practice spanning embedded instrumentation, kinetic systems, and industrial measurement. Overlapped with research residencies at Manylabs and Chabot Space & Science Center; mechatronic work executed with the prototyping rigor of industrial R&D.
- Kinetic & Mechatronic Systems: Sensor-driven kinetic assemblies with real-time closed-loop motor control. Mechanical design and CAD (Fusion 360), embedded programming (C, Python, microcontrollers), and analog sensor integration for physically responsive electromechanical systems.
- Industrial Instrumentation: Embedded measurement and control for thermal and energy-sector clients. Analog frontend design (LTSpice), signal conditioning, real-time data acquisition (LabVIEW), and thermal-dynamics profiling (Python, C).
- Physical Computing R&D: Iterative hardware/software design for scientific instrumentation; laboratory testing protocols, data analysis, and materials characterization.
- Machine Learning Trajectory: Early deep-learning workflow exploration via FastAI; current independent study in NumPy-based dynamical systems simulation and generative model internals (EBMs, diffusion) toward neuromorphic and physical computing substrates.
Consulting Design Engineer, ALL Power Labs · May 2019 – Aug 2019 · Contract Berkeley, CA
- Designed, tested, and deployed a thermal measurement and monitoring system for integration into a large-scale industrial pyrolysis reactor. Analog frontend and PCB development using EDA tools (KiCad) alongside LTSpice circuit simulation.
- Planned software architecture for integration into a larger data-analytics pipeline.
Principal Platform Design Engineer, VCE · Jun 2011 – Jun 2012 · Full-time San Jose, CA · On-site
- Architected fully integrated compute/storage/network platforms for enterprise deployment (EMC, Cisco, VMware stack).
- Owned cross-subsystem integration and hardware-to-orchestration validation loops.
Senior Solutions Architect, Wholem IT · May 2010 – Sep 2010 · Contract Greater Seattle Area · Hybrid
- Directed the enterprise migration of an entire institutional IT infrastructure to Google Workspace. Built the transition roadmap and coordinated execution across all critical pillars: identity/security, DNS, databases, email, and filesystems.
- Required cross-departmental diplomacy and director-level leadership; delivered cohesive, institution-wide cutover with zero downtime.
Pre / Post-Sales Enterprise Network Engineer, F5 Networks · Oct 2006 – Jun 2010 Seattle, WA · On-site
- Network Forensics & Protocol Analysis: Used Wireshark and custom tooling for deep L1–7 packet and protocol analysis. Reproduced complex customer network pathologies in the lab, isolating root cause across routing, TCP/IP, SSL, and application-layer behavior.
- Systems Prototyping: Built complex, multi-vendor lab environments (Cisco 6500, VMware ESX, LanForge packet generators) to mirror production failure modes for WAN optimization appliances.
- Automation & Performance: Developed test automation and instrumentation for Alpha/Beta feature validation. Generated product-supportability roadmaps and fed strategic feature priorities back to engineering.
Senior System Architect & Engineer, University of Washington · Jul 1997 – Jul 2005 Seattle, WA · Full-time
- Kernel & Distributed Systems: Modified Linux kernel headers and source in C to maintain compatibility with the OpenMosix distributed process-migration patch. Debugged race conditions and memory-model issues across a clustered Unix environment.
- Cluster Architecture: Architected and built a research-grade Unix compute cluster and network infrastructure from the ground up for research workloads. Developed load-gathering tools (Python), TCP/IP state-tracking utilities, and automation frameworks for cluster software deployment and performance regression testing.
- Virtualization: Deployed and managed Xen and VMware virtual-desktop environments for research users.
Cofounder & Lead Architect, Election Verification Network · Jul 2003 – Jul 2010 Seasonal / National
- Architected and deployed a nationwide incident-reporting system in partnership with Verified Voting and CPSR (Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility).
- Responsible for end-to-end system design, database schema, network topology, and operational security.
Selected Projects & Research
CA-as-Reservoir · github.com/ceremona/CA-as-Reservoir Investigating cellular automata as discrete physical reservoirs for temporal computation. Characterizing memory capacity and nonlinear dynamics at the edge of chaos; exploring implications for analog and unconventional computing substrates. Implemented in Python with custom readout and statistical analysis.
Dispersion Trading Simulation · Spring 2025 Built a quantitative modeling framework in Python for options dispersion analysis.
Ongoing Graduate-Level Study · 2024 – Present Independent deep-dive into neuromorphic architectures, generative model internals, and first-principles ML framework mechanics.
Tools & Methods
Languages: Python, C, C++, Shell
Systems & HW: Linux kernel internals, Microcontrollers, Embedded systems,
Networking (L1–7), Virtualization, Kubernetes, Signal conditioning
Modeling & ML: NumPy, SciPy, LTSpice; early FastAI exposure
Design & Analysis: CAD (Fusion 360), EDA (KiCad), LabVIEW
Domains: Reservoir computing, Kinetic systems, Network forensics,
Instrumentation, Performance analysis, Industrial thermal systems,
Data acquisition, Institutional systems migration
Education
- MS Statistics (coursework focus), [Institution], [Dates]
- MA Philosophy of Science, [Leibniz University], [Dates]
- BS Physics, [Institution], [Dates]