Builder of secure systems. Author of dangerous books. Teller of stories. Citizen of the Pacific Northwest.
I've spent over two decades at the intersection of security, infrastructure, and open source — building systems that protect data, scale to millions of users, and survive the kinds of audits that keep most engineers up at night.
I wrote the PHP Cookbook for O'Reilly and serve as Release Manager for PHP 8.3 and 8.4 — the runtime behind roughly 77% of the web. I've built enterprise security programs from first principles, led teams through a $4.4B IPO, driven DoD IL5 cloud authorization for defense software, and designed end-to-end encrypted systems adopted by programs in both the public and private sectors.
I hold three degrees — two BS covering Physics, Mathematics, and Political Science from the University of Oregon and an MBA from Portland State — and write a monthly security column for PHP Architect. I believe the best engineers are the ones who can explain why something matters, not just how it works.
Built an enterprise security program from scratch and led the infrastructure, data, reliability, and security teams that formed the backbone for a successful public offering.
Led infrastructure engineering for defense-grade software. Drove cloud authorization to Impact Level 5 for deployment into classified government environments.
Designed a zero-knowledge encrypted storage system and pioneered Lambda@Edge for cryptographic web app delivery while the service was still in beta.
Serving as Release Manager for two major PHP versions — coordinating contributors, managing release cycles, and ensuring stability for the web's most critical runtime.
Led engineering on high-profile enterprise WordPress projects — including the TechCrunch.com redesign — for major media publishers, entertainment companies, and research organizations.
Building Canton-native developer tooling and validator infrastructure for the Canton Network — a privacy-enabled blockchain for institutional finance. Projects include Cantool and Tributary.
I'm always interested in hard problems, good stories, and people who care about doing things right.