Phase 01
Engineering foundation
A decade as a software engineer across government, finance, telecom, and enterprise tech.
1997 — 2002
B.S. Computer Science
James Madison University
Foundation in algorithms, data structures, and software engineering — the technical bedrock that became the basis for everything that followed, and what still lets me read the codebases I design for. Go Dukes.
Education
2002 — 2005
Web Engineer → Senior Developer / Analyst
Obverse · Convergenz · CGH Technologies
Cut my teeth building enterprise web applications across government, military, and telecom. Prototyped a web-based telepathology system for Walter Reed that let Army pathologists worldwide teleconsult in real time — an early taste of designing software around real users' workflows.
Software engineering
2005 — 2010
Project Lead & Technical Architect
Red Hat
Led delivery and architecture across a roster of enterprise clients — Cars.com, the U.S. Mint, The Carlyle Group, GlobalFoundries, Acxiom, Wolters Kluwer, Delta Dental — modernizing legacy platforms, architecting B2B and SOA systems, and managing teams of up to 10. Hands-on across .NET and J2EE, with deep work in performance, integration, and reusable frameworks.
Architecture & delivery leadership
2010 — 2011
Software / UX Architect
Fannie Mae
Cut month-end close time by over 50% through database optimization, and built desktop tools generating 30+ complex financial reports in under an hour. First formal pairing of "software" and "UX" in a title.
Software + early UX
Phase 02
The bridge years
After a decade across so many industries, I wanted my work to have greater impact — to help humankind in some way. That steered me toward life sciences. I joined 5AM Solutions deliberately because they were a consulting firm focused exclusively in biotech.
2011 — 2014
Strategic Account Leader
5AM Solutions · life sciences
First step into biotech. Grew commercial revenue from $300K to $3M/year and led the launch of a cloud-based assay design platform in under four months — exceeding revenue goals by 20%. Began directing end-to-end product redesigns.
Biotech + product strategy
2014 — 2020
Associate Director, Software Eng. / UX
Thermo Fisher · Next Generation Sequencing
Directed UI/UX for the Ion Torrent software ecosystem (AmpliSeq.com, Ion Reporter, Genexus). Spanned clinical and research markets — LIMS, assay design tools, analysis pipelines. Stood up component libraries and design-system foundations while still close to the code. Also coached product and engineering teams on agile and requirements best practices across the division.
Eng leadership → UX
Phase 03
Design leadership
Engineering background, biotech depth, design craft — finally converging.
2020 — 2024
Head of UX Design & Research, Genetic Sciences
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Built and scaled an embedded design team from the ground up — described internally as a "break out" transformation. Led UX across multiple business units (HID, CE, qPCR/dPCR, GTS, Microarray), drove the Sketch-to-Figma migration, and shipped landmark work: Diomni Enterprise Software (clinical platform MVP in 3 months), the TaqMan Assay Search Wizard redesign (~$1M funded), and clinical Dx instrument interfaces. Partnered with senior leadership on the division's software technical strategy and roadmap.
Design leadership + design systems
2025
Self-funded sabbatical
Family + craft
A deliberate career break for family priorities — spent staying current with emerging design methods and AI tooling, which now shapes how the work gets made.
Reset + reskill
2026 — Present
Product Design Consultant (Contract)
Independent · biotech & early-stage startups
Product and design services across the biotech sector. Most recent: a full heuristic UX audit and redesign of Alamar Biosciences' NULISA Analysis Software — including hands-on implementation in the Shiny/R codebase.
Diagnose · design · build
