rheffern
Remote: Yes (also open to onsite in Boulder County, CO)
Willing to relocate: No
Technologies: Python, SQL, applied ML, RAG/LLM systems, embeddings, evaluation/guardrails, signal processing, data pipelines, instrumentation, optics/photonics, C++, MATLAB, AWS
Résumé/CV: https://robheffern.palaich.net/cv/
Website: https://robheffern.palaich.net
Email: [email protected]
Applied physicist and engineer, 15+ years. I build ML and LLM systems that turn messy, high-stakes data into something a human can trust and act on; and I want it aimed at patients. Put me on a problem where being wrong has consequences and the thing has to ship, not demo.
Recent: 6 years at Agilent building production ML over instrument telemetry: fleet-wide failure prediction, and a RAG/LLM system for 300+ field engineers taken from prototype to production. I owned the confidence logic for when it answers vs. hands off to a human, the part that matters when being wrong has cost. Cut data-prep time 8x.
I know data from the sensor up, not just after it lands in an S3 bucket: before Agilent I built scientific instruments from scratch (a fiber-based STED nanoscope and an OCT microscope). Earlier: DoD hardware reliability (TS/SCI), precision timing, published detector-physics work.
Best at the seam where software meets the physical world and the answer has to be right: sensor data, ML you can trust, and knowing (and saying) when a result isn't trustworthy. On my own time I build systems that turn large structured knowledge bases into narrative a person actually wants to read; making complicated things legible is the throughline (see website).
Open to full-time or contract. I'm perfect for for health / medical-device / clinical-AI missions.
Remote: Yes (also open to onsite in Boulder County, CO)
Willing to relocate: No
Technologies: Python, SQL, applied ML, RAG/LLM systems, embeddings, signal processing, data pipelines, instrumentation, optics/photonics, C++, MATLAB, AWS
Résumé/CV: https://robheffern.palaich.net/cv/
Email: [email protected]
Applied physicist and engineer, 15+ years. Put me on a messy, physical, high-consequence problem that crosses disciplines and has to ship — not demo.
Recent: 6 years at Agilent building production ML over instrument telemetry: fleet-wide failure prediction, and a RAG/LLM system for 300+ field engineers taken from prototype to production (including the confidence logic for when it answers vs. hands off to a human). Cut data-prep time 8x.
Before that I built scientific instruments from scratch (a fiber-based STED nanoscope and an OCT microscope) so I know data from the sensor up, not just after it lands in a warehouse. Earlier: DoD hardware reliability (former TS/SCI), precision timing, published detector-physics work.
Strongest where software meets the physical world: instrumentation, sensor data, ML that has to be right because being wrong has consequences. I own problems end to end, and I'll tell you when the result isn't trustworthy yet.
Open to full-time or contract. Health/medical-device mission a strong plus.
And yes, Roach is fantastic. The book is a bit dated these days, but still what a great read! Her prose and cadence are just my cup of tea.
Fantastic book and look into Death and what comes after, well, at least for your corpse.
My reading list is ahead of Halloween, so trying to plow through all of these
https://robheffern.palaich.net/booklists/halloween/
Let me know what you think and if you have recommendations or criticisms!
Parliament of Owls, Pounce of Kittens, Murder of Crows - the terms of venery are for animals.
But what about other things?
What do you call a group of Roses, or Snowflakes, or Lawyers?
Well, I couldn't figure it out, so I put it to a vote.
Simple ELO scoring, Endless mode is always on, and there is a Daily Contest for you to compete in (Wordle for wordsmiths, I guess).
I'd love to hear any and all feedback on it.
Remote: Yes (also open to onsite in Boulder County, CO)
Willing to relocate: No
Technologies: Python, SQL, applied ML, RAG/LLM systems, embeddings, signal processing, data pipelines, instrumentation, optics/photonics, C++, MATLAB, AWS
Résumé/CV: https://robheffern.palaich.net/cv/
Email: [email protected]
Applied physicist and engineer, 15+ years. Put me on a messy, physical, high-consequence problem that crosses disciplines and has to ship — not demo.
Recent: 6 years at Agilent building production ML over instrument telemetry: fleet-wide failure prediction, and a RAG/LLM system for 300+ field engineers taken from prototype to production (including the confidence logic for when it answers vs. hands off to a human). Cut data-prep time 8x.
Before that I built scientific instruments from scratch (a fiber-based STED nanoscope and an OCT microscope) so I know data from the sensor up, not just after it lands in a warehouse. Earlier: DoD hardware reliability (former TS/SCI), precision timing, published detector-physics work.
Strongest where software meets the physical world: instrumentation, sensor data, ML that has to be right because being wrong has consequences. I own problems end to end, and I'll tell you when the result isn't trustworthy yet.
Open to full-time or contract. Health/medical-device mission a strong plus.
Remote: Yes (also open to onsite in Boulder County)
Willing to relocate: No
Technologies: Python, SQL, applied ML, RAG/LLM systems, embeddings, signal processing, data pipelines, instrumentation, optics/photonics, C++, MATLAB, AWS
Résumé/CV: heffern.net/rob
Email: [email protected]
Applied physicist and engineer, 15+ years. Put me on a messy, physical, high-consequence problem that crosses disciplines and has to ship — not demo.
Recent: 6 years at Agilent building production ML over instrument telemetry — fleet-wide failure prediction, and a RAG/LLM system for 300+ field engineers taken from prototype to production (including the confidence logic for when it answers vs. hands off to a human). Cut data-prep time 8x.
Before that I built scientific instruments from scratch — a fiber-based STED nanoscope and an OCT microscope — so I know data from the sensor up, not just after it lands in a warehouse. Earlier: DoD hardware reliability (former TS/SCI), precision timing, published detector-physics work.
Strongest where software meets the physical world: instrumentation, sensor data, ML that has to be right because being wrong has consequences. I own problems end to end, and I'll tell you when the result isn't trustworthy yet.
Open to full-time or contract. Health/medical-device mission a strong plus.
Remote: Yes
Willing to relocate: Yes, USA
Technologies: Time series based ML/AI, AR/VR, GraphQL, MySQL, C++ , Matlab, Mathematica, Python, Java, LateX, Atmega micro-controllers, Solidworks, Labview, NI Circuit Design Suite, PTC Vuforia, gas/liquid chromatography (LCs and GCs), Lathes, Mills, MIG/TIG welding, Pneumatic Tools, Micro Soldering, Nano-Optics, Spanish, Italian
Résumé/CV: http://heffern.net/rob/
Email: [email protected]
AI/ML on extremely high precision and accuracy instrument signals for failure prediction, resolution, and monitoring (can tell when your machine fails before it fails)
MS in Bioengineering with a thesis in nanoscopic bio - optics (put nanoscopes on gerbils to watch inside brain cells)
With my background in engineering and experience developing novel tools and designs, I am excited to help you on the bleeding edge to improve the world. My 13+ years of experience in bioengineering, applied physics, and research makes me a good fit for you, and I look forward to discussing the future.
Remote: Yes
Willing to relocate: Yes, USA
Technologies: AR/VR, Vuforia, GraphQL, MySQL, C++ , Matlab, Mathematica, Python, Java, LateX, Atmega micro-controllers, Solidworks, Labview, NI Circuit Design Suite, PTC Vuforia, gas/liquid chromatography, Lathes, Mills, MIG/TIG welding, Pneumatic Tools, Micro Soldering, Nano-Optics, Spanish, Italian
Résumé/CV: http://heffern.net/rob/
Email: robert.heffern (at) gmail
MS in Bioengineering with an emphasis on nanoscopic bio - optics. AI/Ml on high precision instrument signals for failure mode prediction and resolution. With my background in engineering and experience developing novel tools and designs, I am excited to help you on the bleeding edge to improve the world. My 12+ years of experience in bioengineering, applied physics, and research makes me a good fit for your company, and I look forward to discussing the future with you.
Remote: Yes
Willing to relocate: Yes, USA
Technologies: AR/VR, Vuforia, GraphQL, MySQL, C++ , Matlab, Mathematica, Python, Java, LateX, Atmega micro-controllers, Solidworks, Labview, NI Circuit Design Suite, PTC Vuforia, gas/liquid chromatography, Lathes, Mills, MIG/TIG welding, Pneumatic Tools, Micro Soldering, Nano-Optics, Spanish, Italian
Résumé/CV: http://heffern.net/rob/
Email: robert.heffern (at) gmail
MS in Bioengineering with an emphasis on nanoscopic bio - optics. AI/Ml on high precision instrument signals for failure mode prediction and resolution. With my background in engineering and experience developing novel tools and designs, I am excited to help you on the bleeding edge to improve the world. My 12+ years of experience in bioengineering, applied physics, and research makes me a good fit for your company, and I look forward to discussing the future with you.
John is a crazy good optical engineer if even 10% of what he says is true. You want a 10x optical engineer, you've found him.
Getting a full metrology lab up and running from scratch in under 7 years would make most R1 professors proud. To do so in under 2 years at a commercial lab is actually amazing.
To then build the relationships up with Thorlabs/Edmunds/Ziess is also pretty amazing. I've tried working with all three of their sales reps before. It's like pulling teeth! And that's with bio-optics. Let alone all the crazy regs and laws that would go along with space-based optics at scale. This is very seriously very impressive!
The bit about having a 20-something shadow him for 2 weeks to 'learn metrology' actually made me laugh out loud. To give the SWEs here an idea, it would be like having an 8 year old try to 'learn Linux' in 2 weeks. Whoever told the kid to try to do that is also so out of their depth that they should be fired too. Metrology, especially optical metrology, is a lifetime of learning and work. Even then, you're still mostly winging it into your 60s.
Optics is Captial-H Hard. It's one of the three domains of physics that smart people never touch, and only fools try to make a living out of (the other two being acoustics and fluids). You can spend a lifetime trying to get alignment on a set of elements or you can get lucky and do it in a few hours. I cannot stress enough how difficult non-theoreticl optics is.
Also, take a note here. By the end, SpaceX is trying to get 5-6 people to do the job of just one somewhat older person. Like, even they think the guy is at least a 5x engineer.
Like, this guy is amazing at optics.
Hire him
We've not been able to source any 'failures' outside of some fragments of the space shuttles that fell on people's land.
We're looking to get as many failures as we can before melting down out rings, casting in the debris in appropriate masses and compositions (they still needs to be steel rings at the end), and then reforging/casting the rings for all of us, with enough of an ingot left over to continue the process as 'failures' continue onward.
It's entirely symbolic, but does take effort and time.
I want to buy a Theranos Edison machine and am willing to pay. If you know anyone that has one, parts of one, or anything like that, my email is in my bio and I am very happy to talk to you.
I intend to take a small portion of it, melt it into steel ingots, and include it in 'Order of the Engineer' rings for myself and my colleagues who are also engineers.
We are looking for physical equipment in which engineers screwed up and the general public paid a high price for it, as a reminder to ourselves that our work is meaningful and is one of service to the people we serve with our efforts. If you know of any equipment that may fit that bill, I am looking to pay for that too.
I want to buy a Theranos Edison machine and am willing to pay. If you know anyone that has one, parts of one, or anything like that, my email is in my bio and I am very happy to talk to you.
I intend to take a small portion of it, melt it into steel ingots, and include it in 'Order of the Engineer' rings for myself and my colleagues who are also engineers.
We are looking for physical equipment in which engineers screwed up and the general public paid a high price for it, as a reminder to ourselves that our work is meaningful and is one of service to the people we serve with our efforts. If you know of any equipment that may fit that bill, I am looking to pay for that too.
Remote: Yes
Willing to relocate: Yes, USA
Technologies: AR/VR, Vuforia, GraphQL, MySQL, C++ , Matlab, Mathematica, Python, Java, LateX, Atmega micro-controllers, Solidworks, Labview, NI Circuit Design Suite, PTC Vuforia, gas/liquid chromatography, Lathes, Mills, MIG/TIG welding, Pneumatic Tools, Micro Soldering, Nano-Optics, Spanish, Italian
Résumé/CV: http://heffern.net/rob/
Email: robert.heffern (at) gmail
MS in Bioengineering with an emphasis on nanoscopic bio - optics. AI/Ml on high precision instrument signals for failure mode prediction and resolution. With my background in engineering and experience developing novel tools and designs, I am excited to help you on the bleeding edge to improve the world. My 12+ years of experience in bioengineering, applied physics, and research makes me a good fit for your company, and I look forward to discussing the future with you.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18QwC-ra6p_3Nnjmajn9gLK3w77Z...
It's a bit old, as I've been working a job for a bit, but any help on it would very much be appreciated!
Remote: Yes.
Willing to relocate: Yes, USA
Technologies: AR/VR, Vuforia, GraphQL, MySQL, C++ , Matlab, Mathematica, Python, Java, LateX, Atmega micro-controllers, Solidworks, Labview, NI Circuit Design Suite, PTC Vuforia, Lathes, Mills, MIG/TIG welding, Pneumatic Tools, Micro Soldering, Nano-Optics, Spanish, Italian
Résumé/CV: http://heffern.net/rob/
Email: robert.heffern (at) gmail
MS in Bioengineering at the University of Colorado AMC with an emphasis on super-resolution nano-bio-optics. With my background in engineering and experience developing novel tools and designs, I am excited to help you develop bleeding edge products that improve lives. My 10+ years of experience in bioengineering, applied physics, and research makes me a good fit for your company, and I look forward to discussing the future with you.
Remote: No
Willing to relocate: Yes, USA
Technologies: GraphQL, MySQL, C++ , Matlab, Mathematica, Python, Java, LateX, Atmega micro-controllers, Solidworks, Labview, NI Circuit Design Suite, PTC Vuforia, Lathes, Mills, MIG/TIG welding, Pneumatic Tools, Micro Soldering, Nano-Optics, Spanish, Italian
Résumé/CV: http://heffern.net/rob/
Email: robert.heffern (at) gmail
MS in Bioengineering at the University of Colorado AMC with an emphasis on super-resolution nano-bio-optics. With my background in engineering and experience developing novel tools and designs, I am excited to help you develop bleeding edge products that improve all lives. My 9+ years of experience in bioengineering, applied physics, and research makes me a good fit for your company, and I look forward to discussing the future with you.
Willing to relocate: Yes, USA
Technologies: GraphQL, MySQL, C++ , Matlab, Mathematica, Python, Java, LateX, Atmega micro-controllers, Solidworks, Labview, NI Circuit Design Suite, Lathes, Mills, MIG/TIG welding, Pneumatic Tools, Micro Soldering, Nano-Optics, Spanish, Italian
Résumé/CV: http://heffern.net/rob/
Email: robert.heffern (at) gmail
I recently completed my MS in Bioengineering at the University of Colorado AMC with an emphasis on super-resolution nano-bio-optics. With my background in engineering and experience developing novel tools and designs, I am excited to help you develop bleeding edge products that improve all lives. My 8+ years of experience in bioengineering, applied physics, and research makes me a good fit for your company, and I look forward to discussing the future with you.
Remote: No
Willing to relocate: Yes, USA
Technologies: GraphQL, MySQL, C++ , Matlab, Mathematica, Python, Java, LateX, Atmega micro-controllers, Solidworks, Labview, NI Circuit Design Suite, Lathes, Mills, MIG/TIG welding, Pneumatic Tools, Micro Soldering, Nano-Optics, Spanish, Italian
Résumé/CV: http://heffern.net/rob/
Email: robert.heffern (at) gmail
I recently completed my MS in Bioengineering at the University of Colorado AMC with an emphasis on super-resolution nano-bio-optics. With my background in engineering and experience developing novel tools and designs, I am excited to help you develop bleeding edge products that improve all lives. My 8+ years of experience in bioengineering, applied physics, and research makes me a good fit for your company, and I look forward to discussing the future with you.
I've written mine out as : robert.heffern (at) gmail
I suppose that the way that I wrote out my email address is just a bit more difficult for a computer to parse and scrape, hence my lack of spam. However, it may also be screening out people that want to talk to me, and I would never know.
That said, you have a very impressive gitlab resume! Great work!
Maybe I've obfuscated my email address well enough, but I don't get any recruiter spam from the listing. Now that I look back on that, it's something of a miracle.
That said, I've only been contacted once per the thread. After one email I was ghosted by the company. Not uncommon really.
I'm not really the niche for HN, I'm mostly a bio/medtech and engineering person. I love the discussions here, but my expertise is on the edges of the Gaussian that is HN.
My skills are deep in engineering/physics/biotech, but aren't really in Web-Dev. As such, I've only ever had one person reach out to me via the 'Who want to be hired?' thread in the last two years, and they just ghosted me after one email.
Granted, I'm not really the 'type' for HN and the roles posted in the 'Who's hiring?' threads aren't really in my wheelhouse. But the companies are good to look through and then contact for other roles. I've applied to companies through them, but the results have been a mixed bag for me. Things like insane HW assignments that I submit, only to be ghosted.
I love the discussions on algos, programming/comp-sci, and EE, as such things are directly relevant to my work and career. There really isn't anywhere else on the web that has the userbase that HN has, despite me being only tangentally related to the core users here. That said, you find a lot of people here that are really super smart in some tiny niche too (like actual rocket science, oil painting, 12th century Indian hymns, etc) and I love reading that stuff and learning about some tiny little bit of the universe that ends up being facinating.
I'd love to see a HN type site that was more biotech focused.
Remote: No
Willing to relocate: Yes, USA
Technologies: GraphQL, MySQL, C++ , Matlab, Mathematica, Python, Java, LateX, Atmega micro-controllers, Solidworks, Labview, NI Circuit Design Suite, Lathes, Mills, MIG/TIG welding, Pneumatic Tools, Micro Soldering, Nano-Optics, Spanish, Italian
Résumé/CV: http://heffern.net/rob/
Email: robert.heffern (at) gmail
I recently completed my MS in Bioengineering at the University of Colorado AMC with an emphasis on super-resolution nano-bio-optics. With my background in engineering and experience developing novel tools and designs, I am excited to help you develop bleeding edge products that improve both scientific research and lives. My 8+ years of experience in bioengineering, applied physics, and research makes me a good fit for your company, and I look forward to discussing the future with you.
Remote: No
Willing to relocate: Yes, USA
Technologies: GraphQL, MySQL, C++ , Matlab, Mathematica, Python, Java, LateX, Atmega micro-controllers, Solidworks, Labview, NI Circuit Design Suite, Lathes, Mills, MIG/TIG welding, Pneumatic Tools, Micro Soldering, Nano-Optics, Spanish, Italian
Résumé/CV: http://heffern.net/rob/ , https://drive.google.com/file/d/18QwC-ra6p_3Nnjmajn9gLK3w77Z....
Email: robert.heffern (at) gmail
I recently completed my MS in Bioengineering at the University of Colorado AMC with an emphasis on super-resolution nano-bio-optics. With my background in engineering and experience developing novel tools and designs, I am excited to help you develop bleeding edge products that improve both scientific research and lives. My 8+ years of experience in bioengineering, applied physics, and research makes me a good fit for your company, and I look forward to discussing the future with you.
The current NASA spending is ~$22,000/kg to get into orbit. Elon and NASA both see that getting down to ~$200/kg by 2070, only 50 years away.
When we're talking about $200/kg, the launch site's location relative to the equator will become a BIG deal. You'll see a ~4% difference in cost per kilogram (wildy estimated here) if you are more than 17 km off the equator. That means if you wnat to launch your 160kg-self more than 17km from the equator, it'll be an extra ~$1400.
For a lot of reasons that my posts explain much better, buying certain Somalian real estate is a VERY good move right now. Granted you have to be muslim to do so.
Remote: No
Willing to relocate: Yes, USA
Technologies: GraphQL, MySQL, C++ , Matlab, Mathematica, Python, Java, LateX, Atmega micro-controllers, Solidworks, Labview, NI Circuit Design Suite, Lathes, Mills, MIG/TIG welding, Pneumatic Tools, Micro Soldering, Nano-Optics, Spanish, Italian
Résumé/CV: http://heffern.net/rob/ , https://drive.google.com/file/d/18QwC-ra6p_3Nnjmajn9gLK3w77Z....
Email: robert.heffern (at) gmail
Willing to relocate: Yes, USA
Technologies: GraphQL, MySQL, C++ , Matlab, Mathematica, Python, Java, LateX, Atmega micro-controllers, Solidworks, Labview, NI Circuit Design Suite, Lathes, Mills, MIG/TIG welding, Pneumatic Tools, Micro Soldering, Nano-Optics, Spanish, Italian
Résumé/CV: http://heffern.net/rob/ , https://drive.google.com/file/d/18QwC-ra6p_3Nnjmajn9gLK3w77Z....
Email: robert.heffern (at) gmail
Remote: No
Willing to relocate: Yes, USA
Technologies: GraphQL, MySQL, C++ , Matlab, Mathematica, Python, Java, LateX, Atmega micro-controllers, Solidworks, Labview, NI Circuit Design Suite, Lathes, Mills, MIG/TIG welding, Pneumatic Tools, Micro Soldering, Nano-Optics, Spanish, Italian
Résumé/CV: http://heffern.net/rob/ , https://drive.google.com/file/d/18QwC-ra6p_3Nnjmajn9gLK3w77Z....
Email: robert.heffern (at) gmail