Self-employed software engineer and systems architect with more than 40 years of commercial technology experience. Works directly with client leadership to analyze operational bottlenecks, architect resilient data pipelines, estimate project scope, and engineer end-to-end production software.
Has engineered and delivered custom software solutions for more than 200 client organizations across North America, ranging from federal contractors and financial institutions to high-availability real estate platforms and insurtech quoting engines.
Technical Toolkit & Systems Architecture
Core Languages: PHP (OOP & CLI), Visual C++, MariaDB / MySQL, Perl, JavaScript (ES6+), jQuery, HTML5, CSS3, Shell Scripting.
Infrastructure & Hosting: Linux (AlmaLinux/CentOS), Apache, Nginx, Plesk Obsidian, AWS (S3/EC2), Dedicated Bare-Metal Servers.
Telephony & Voice Engineering: Asterisk PBX, Avaya IR / TSAPI, Conversant, Web Audio API, MediaStream Recording, OpenAI Whisper API.
APIs & Protocols: COMPULIFE Life Quotes, XRAE Underwriting, Twilio SendGrid (RFC 8058), MLS Grid / RESO Web API, Google Maps & Geocoding APIs, Stripe.
Professional Experience
Directs systems architecture, backend data pipelines, automated cron maintenance, and managed Linux hosting infrastructure for commercial web applications and Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) platforms. Actively maintains high-availability production environments hosting custom web platforms, automated daily ingestion pipelines, and dedicated SendGrid email infrastructure.
Flagship Production Platforms
- LifeQuote.Tech (Insurtech Quoting Engine): Architected an automated multi-carrier life insurance quoting engine for Midwest Life Brokerage Associates and 300+ affiliate agencies nationwide. Slashed manual quoting turnaround from 20 minutes down to under two seconds; integrated live COMPULIFE rate engines, XRAE risk underwriting, and spoken voice intake using the OpenAI Whisper API and browser MediaStream audio recording.
- Chicago MLS Pro (chimls.pro): Engineered an end-to-end real estate portal platform ingesting live Midwest Real Estate Data via MLS Grid. Automated hourly data syncing, Cook County / Google address normalization, multi-resolution image processing pipelines pushing to AWS S3, and automated subscriber alerts with RFC 8058 one-click unsubscribe compliance.
- Chicago Filming Locations (chicagofilming.com): Created a municipal tracking platform that queries the City of Chicago Open Data Portal daily, geocodes filming permits, maps street closures, and distributes automated morning call sheets to industry subscribers.
Notable Engagements & Enterprise Clients
- Joe Kelly Worldwide, Inc. (2006–2015): Architected high-concurrency e-commerce systems, real-time credit card processing pipelines, and high-volume digital audio download repositories for radio and television broadcast producers.
- Museum of Broadcast Communications (2013): Re-engineered dedicated Linux/Apache server infrastructure, slashing page load times six-fold while maintaining indexed archives of thousands of Encyclopedia of Television assets.
- Client Roster: Cisco Systems, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Citigroup, Eli Lilly and Company, The Hartford, Avaya, Allina Health System, and Dunlop Tire Corporation.
Engineered mission-critical enterprise telephony and IVR applications on the Avaya IR platform for federal agencies and large-scale public institutions. Core engagements included developing the OSHA national workplace accident incident reporting system (with speech recognition and database-driven routing by ZIP code), architecting call triage routing algorithms for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and programming automated multi-tenant telephone survey engines supporting up to 99 simultaneous surveys without recompilation.
Programmed Unix-based voice response systems on AT&T Intuity Conversant hardware. Authored functional technical specifications, transaction logging tools, and operational manuals for major institutional and retail accounts:
- Institutional Finance: Multilingual mutual fund inquiry system for AGF Management Ltd. (Citigroup) and automated corporate bond quotation for Standard & Poor’s.
- Retail & Order Processing: High-volume automated fulfillment systems for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Prince’s Paisley Park Retail.
- Enterprise Authorization & Global Deployment: Centralized real-time check verification network across 92 Meijer hypermarkets, and Spanish speech recognition IVR implementations in Costa Rica.
Senior Programmer/Analyst, Cityline (1989–1990): Hubbard Broadcasting affiliate. Developed low-latency QNX-based real-time audiotext services orchestrating a 64-channel automated telephony switch for KSTP-TV (ABC-TV affiliate).
Computer Educator (1987–1989): Delivered foundational computing, systems literacy, and programming curricula for the IBM Job Training Center, Des Moines Public Schools, and Kirkwood Community College.
