About

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men." - The Apostle Paul, to the Church at Colossae

I am a software engineer living and working in Massachusetts. I work extensively in Universal JavaScript and HTML5 and have experience in many other technologies. Take a look at my GitHub to see my personal projects.

I also enjoy music, have been known to play drums and bass guitar, and enjoy solving Rubik's cubes of all sizes! Feel free to take a look around and contact me with any questions!

Résumé

Languages

  • Proficient in: JavaScript (Universal Server / Browser, TypeScript, React), HTML5, CSS3
  • Experienced with: Rust, Ruby, C# and .NET Framework, Java, Kotlin, Swift, SQL

Software

  • Database: PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, SQLite/SQLCipher, MongoDB, Redis
  • Tools: Docker, Depot CI, Terraform
  • Platforms: macOS, Linux / Unix, Windows

Experience

Hummingbird · Senior Software Engineer · Remote
August 2020 - Present
  • Developed and maintained complex applications using React, Apollo, TypeScript, GraphQL, ElasticSearch, and PostgreSQL.
  • Built a dynamic automation platform trigger editor capable of managing deeply nested data structures using React Hook Form.
  • Built a Liquid/Markdown editor with syntax highlighting, and a custom language service supporting autocomplete and linting.
  • Led frontend migration from Webpack to Vite, reducing build times and improving developer productivity.
  • Prototyped AI/LLM RAG Q&A in Rust using OpenAI Embeddings and an HNSW index.
  • Managed AWS infrastructure across multiple environments using Terraform.
  • Worked with systems designed to protect PII.
  • Implemented custom linting rules to prevent database deadlocks and regex injection vectors.
  • Improved developer productivity with Nix, Navi, and direnv.
Signal Messenger · Desktop Developer · Remote
April 2019 - June 2020
  • Modernized the desktop application by migrating from legacy Backbone.js to React/Redux with TypeScript.
  • Designed and implemented features like a virtualized, fuzzy-searchable emoji picker and inline emoji typeahead.
  • Built a cross-platform sticker creation tool with encryption and native library integrations.
  • Refactored the desktop application to support multiple addressing schemes.
  • Worked with and designed for systems involving distributed state.
  • Worked with SQLite, SQLCipher, and Protobufs.
  • Worked extensively in open source and worked directly with our users.
SHIFT Media · Front End Lead · Boston, MA
September 2017 - April 2019
  • Designed and implemented upload queueing, cross-window Redux store sync for Electron, and SVG-based annotation tools.
  • Mentored junior engineers and presented multiple talks about advanced concepts in JavaScript and React/Redux.
  • Hired as Senior Software Engineer. Promoted to Lead Software Engineer in March 2018.
Candescent Health · Software Engineer · Remote (Waltham, MA)
April 2016 - August 2017
  • Built tools for distributing and monitoring doctor workloads across facilities using Angular and PHP.
  • Open-sourced a Babel plugin for automatic dependency injection in Angular projects.
  • Prototyped Electron applications with native integrations to radiology software.
  • Prototyped new projects with React and Vue.
  • Delivered internal tech talks on modern JavaScript and CSS best practices.
IBM · Staff Software Engineer · Littleton, MA
January 2013 - April 2016
  • Developed high-performance front-end solutions using React, Redux, and the Dojo Toolkit.
  • Automated builds and deployments with Jenkins.
  • Contributed to open source software including the OpenNTF JavaScript Aggregator and the Frontend Maven Plugin.
  • Created a mock browser environment for load testing offline capabilities.
  • Created a shim for testing New Relic Synthetics offline.
  • Hired as Software Engineer. Promoted to Staff Software Engineer in March 2015.
IBM · Smarter Cities Technical Coop · Remote (Raleigh, NC)
August 2012 - November 2012
  • Developed a prototype for an IBM Smarter Cities data visualization product using Dojo Toolkit and OpenLayers.
IBM · Extreme Blue Innovation Lab Technical Intern · Austin, TX
May 2012 - August 2012
  • Led a cross-functional team to create a drag-and-drop mobile app development tool targeting non-technical users.
  • Presented technical project details to multiple IBM executives.
Big Y Foods, Inc · Technology Administrator / Systems Development · Springfield, MA
January 2010 - May 2012
  • Built internal tools with ASP.NET MVC (C#) and Microsoft SQL Server to streamline corporate workflows.
  • Created stored procedures for Microsoft SQL Server to generate reports on various data collected from stores.
Personal Projects · github.com/knpwrs · knpw.rs
  • My personal GitHub profile contains personal projects and contributions to various open source projects. Notable open-source contributions include the MongoDB NodeJS Driver, immer, JSDom, and the Frontend Maven Plugin.
  • instant.bible is a Bible search engine which delivers results instantly as you type. The engine is written in Rust and has native clients written in Swift (FFI), Kotlin (JNI), and TypeScript/React (WASM).
  • Cursor Dance Party is a tech demo of WebSockets and HTML5 Canvas. Users see the cursors of all other connected users as they move around. Survived the front page of reddit.

Volunteer Work

Let's Church · Founder and Principal Engineer · lets.church
January 2023 - Present
  • Founded a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing free technology resources for churches and ministries.
  • Designed and managed infrastructure for video transcription and transcoding, leveraging both cloud servers and bare-metal data centers.
  • Implemented transcript search functionality with ElasticSearch.
  • Built and deployed the Let’s Church website using SolidJS, Prisma, and Pothos, delivering a modern and efficient user experience.
ExcelChurch · Technical Director · Leominster, MA
February 2014 - July 2019
  • Designed and implemented live production setup using ProPresenter, Reaper, Lightkey, and Wirecast.
  • Implemented a MIDI-controlled automation system for seamless coordination of click tracks, backing tracks, lighting, and projection.
  • Oversaw weekly setup and teardown of professional A/V equipment including sound, recording, and projection.
  • Trained and mentored volunteers through hands-on sessions, instructional videos, and written documentation.

Education

University of Massachusetts Amherst · Amherst, MA · 3.7 GPA
2011 - 2013
  • Earned two academic awards for outstanding performance in computer science courses.
  • Achieved Dean’s List recognition for three out of four semesters.
Springfield Technical Community College · Springfield, MA · 3.8 GPA
2009 - 2011
  • Received two annual awards for exceptional academic achievement.
  • Completed directed studies in Computer Science and Mathematics.
  • Achieved Dean’s List honors for all four semesters.

To the extent possible under law, Ken Powers has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this website. This work is published from The United States.