Just a bit about me.

Professional

I’m a backend software engineer. I’m most interested in building tools that solve real problems.

So far, my favorite technical project has been designing a distributed data processing system for scientists developing image analysis algorithms. From a product perspective, I loved streamlining the chaotic workflows of produce wholesalers - the food supply chain is so complex and fascinating. I also enjoy building team consensus, mentorship, and working directly with people to understand their problems and find creative solutions to them.

I want to spend my day job working on important problems with serious social impact. I am especially interested in the areas of climate change, sustainability, and environmental conservation.

One of the most important things I look for in a job is the team. The best kind of team is collaborative, supportive, curious about a wide variety of things, and passionate (in both professional work and personal projects).

(Here’s my resume page, which describes my experience in more detail.)

Personal

I grew up on a farm in South Dakota, with a few years in rural Cambodia. Then I went to MIT in Boston, spent 10 years in San Francisco, and now live in Vancouver, BC. This has given me a diverse perspective on the world, as well as a love for raising goats, catching frogs in rice paddies, banging my head against the wall while solving hard problems, mountains, and creative costumes.

I love hiking in the mountains or finding dark skies to look at the stars - there’s nothing better to remind me that my problems are tiny and the universe is vast and beautiful. My apartment has been described as a jungle: ~40 species of mostly-tropical plants, two geckos, and the occasional tropical cockroach. I spend a lot of time hanging out with my cat, since she’s the best cat. Occasionally I’ll have a flash of inspiration and dive into a project that I know nothing about (for example, thermoplastics for cosplay). My favorite kind of project is one that leads me into brand new territory.

Currently, I’m reacclimating to everyday life after a long sabbatical (originally planned for the fall of 2020, but of course that did not work out). The sabbatical allowed me to spend valuable time with family, coordinate a massive international move with the requisite immigration logistics, learn three languages, contribute to citizen science (recorded ~1700 species between eBird (login required) and iNaturalist), dive deep into some personal technical projects, and best of all, travel across the world with my husband for 14 months. My travels page explores our route and other travel data, backed by some fun AI data processing and a RAG pipeline. On that note, AI-driven software development really took off in my absence, so I’ve been catching up on those skills - quite exciting when you ignore the existential dread.

Source: Sara Brockmueller; Oct 2019