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 Node / Browser, TypeScript, React), HTML5, CSS3 (SCSS)
  • Familiar with: Rust, Ruby, C# and .NET Framework, Java, Kotlin, Swift, SQL

Software

  • Database: PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, SQLite/SQLCipher, MongoDB, Redis
  • Server: nginx, Apache httpd
  • Tools: Docker, Git, Jenkins, Travis CI
  • Platforms: macOS, Linux / Unix, Microsoft Windows

Experience

Hummingbird · Senior Software Engineer · Remote
August 2020 - Present
  • Worked with React, Apollo, TypeScript, GraphQL, PostgreSQL, Ruby on Rails, and Sidekiq.
  • Worked extensively with ElasticSearch.
  • Implemented an automations platform trigger editor with React Hook Form capable of editing deeply-nested data structures.
  • Implemented a Liquid template / Markdown template editor with combined syntax highlighting and autocomplete.
  • Prototyped AI/LLM 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.
  • Migrated frontend build from Webpack to Vite.
  • Improved developer productivity with Nix, Navi, and direnv.
Signal Messenger · Desktop Developer · Remote
April 2019 - June 2020
  • Worked with React, Redux, Electron, and TypeScript with legacy and modern features.
  • Worked with SQLite, SQLCipher, and Protobufs.
  • Worked with and designed for systems involving distributed state.
  • Implemented features with keyboard accessibility in mind.
  • Progressively ported features from Backbone and JavaScript to React/Redux and TypeScript.
  • Implemented virtualized, fuzzy-searchable emoji picker and inline emoji typeahead with fuzzy search.
  • Implemented sticker creator for Signal Desktop utilizing native libraries for conversion and encryption.
  • Implemented protocols with low-level encryption primitives.
  • Refactored the application to support different addressing schemes.
  • Worked extensively in open source and worked directly with our users.
SHIFT Media · Front End Lead · Boston, MA
September 2017 - April 2019
  • Worked with React, Redux, Electron, and modern JavaScript (TypeScript, Flow, JSX).
  • Designed and implemented WebSocket communication layer with sagas.
  • Designed and implemented generic upload queueing system with sagas.
  • Designed and implemented SVG-based annotation tools.
  • Designed and implemented cross-window Redux store sync for Electron.
  • Designed and implemented complex, application-wide drag and drop functionality.
  • 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
  • Worked with React, Redux, Vue, Angular, Node, PHP, MySQL, and Docker.
  • Used Flyway for database migrations across multiple client environments.
  • Designed and created a dashboard for monitoring doctors and their workloads across multiple facilities.
  • Prototyped Electron applications with native integrations.
  • Open-sourced a Babel plugin for automatic dependency injection in Angular.
  • Presented multiple tech talks on modern JavaScript and CSS best practices.
IBM · Staff Software Engineer · Littleton, MA
January 2013 - April 2016
  • Worked with React, Redux, Dojo, and OpenSocial, continually integrating bleeding-edge web technologies.
  • Focused on modular, high-performance code capable of running in varying environments with varying content security policies.
  • Developed front-end request layer mimicking Dojo’s request API providing automatic reauthentication with no changes required to client code.
  • Automated builds and deployments with Jenkins.
  • Conducted technical interviews for intern and new hire candidates.
  • Contributed Less Compilation to OpenNTF JavaScript Aggregator.
  • Prototyped PostCSS / AutoPrefixer support for OpenNTF JavaScript Aggregator.
  • Created a mock browser environment for load testing Verse’s offline capabilities.
  • Created shim for testing New Relic Synthetics offline.
IBM · Smarter Cities Technical Coop · Remote (Raleigh, NC)
August 2012 - November 2012
  • Worked with the Dojo Toolkit, OpenStreetMap, and OpenLayers.
  • Developed a prototype for an IBM Smarter Cities data visualization product.
IBM · Extreme Blue Innovation Lab Technical Intern · Austin, TX
May 2012 - August 2012
  • Led a team of software developers and business people to create a mobile application development solution targeted at non-technical users.
  • Worked with an agile scrum process using Rational Team Concert to manage tasks.
  • Worked with several technologies including Java, JavaScript, and HTML5.
  • Project features an intuitive drag and drop interface which allows non-technical users to create their own applications out of functional building blocks.
  • Presented technical project details to multiple IBM executives.
Big Y Foods, Inc · Technology Administrator / Systems Development · Springfield, MA
January 2010 - May 2012
  • Worked with ASP.NET MVC (C#) and Microsoft SQL Server.
  • Created stored procedures for Microsoft SQL Server to generate reports on various data collected from stores.
  • Created an internal web application to help corporate employees better manage their daily tasks. Application features on-call phone listing and a time-off request form where corporate employees could find coverage if they needed time off.
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
  • Incorporated a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to providing free technology resources to churches and Christian ministries.
  • Implemented video processing on cloud servers and on bare metal in multiple data centers to transcribe and transcode videos.
  • Implemented transcript search with ElasticSearch.
  • Implemented website with Astro, SolidJS, Prisma, and Pothos.
ExcelChurch · Technical Director · Leominster, MA
February 2014 - July 2019
  • Designed and implemented live production setup using ProPresenter, Reaper, Lightkey, Wirecast, and dedicated production hardware.
  • Designed and implemented an RTMP streaming relay in the cloud with Docker, Nginx, and Stunnel.
  • Set up electronic drums to trigger sounds with Superior Drummer and set up external MIDI controller running through the drums to control click tracks, backing tracks, lights, projection, and recording.
  • Performed weekly setup and teardown of professional A/V equipment including sound, recording, video, live streaming, and projection.
  • Provided hands-on training, recorded instructional videos, and wrote documentation for other volunteers.
  • See full setup diagram.

Education

University of Massachusetts Amherst · Amherst, MA · 3.7 GPA
2011 - 2013
  • Received Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science.
  • Received two awards for outstanding performance in individual classes.
  • Made the Dean’s List three out of four semesters.
Springfield Technical Community College · Springfield, MA · 3.8 GPA
2009 - 2011
  • Received Associate’s of Science in Engineering and Science Transfer (Focus on Computer Science).
  • Received two annual awards for outstanding overall performance.
  • Completed two directed studies (one in Computer Science and one in Math).
  • Made the Dean’s List 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.