William Swanson

Senior Software Engineer • hire-me@swansontec.com

← old 2012 site

Summary

A two-time startup co-founder with 25 years of deep technical experience, capable of solving the most difficult problems at any level of the technology stack while leading teams through the complete product development cycle.

• Hardware: Power, analog, & mixed-signal design, KiCad, Verilog, SPICE
• Embedded Software: MSP430, Arduino, u-Boot, Linux Kernel, Open Embedded
• Devops: Docker, CloudFlare, Digital Ocean, Caddy, Prometheus, Grafana
• Backend: Express, Django, Redis, CouchDB, PostgreSQL, RabbitMQ
• Frontend: Win32, Android, iOS, DirectX, OpenGL, HTML/CSS, React Native
• Languages: Assembler, C, C++, C#, Objective-C, Rust, Java, Kotlin, Swift, Python, TypeScript, Shell, Make, CMake
• AI: Llama.cpp, Ollama, OpenWebUI, OpenCode

Experience

Edge Wallet Co-Founder Chief Architect 2013-Present

• Built and scaled the Edge crypto-currency wallet platform, reaching a profitable multi-million dollar ARR with a 4-person engineering team.
• Designed the zero-knowledge key-management for the original Airbitz C++ wallet, combining encrypted backups with offline login. Implemented multiple cryptography standards in the upstream libbitcoin project.
• Re-engineered the core SDK into TypeScript, enabling the integration of 90+ blockchains and 20+ exchange partners into the new Edge Wallet app.
• Packaged open-source privacy-coin libraries for React Native. Implemented native bridge code and cross-platform build scripts.
• Managed agile 2-week development cadence across the full product stack in 15+ open-source repositories.
• Drove the adoption of code-quality tools within the engineering organization (TypeScript, ESLint, Prettier, GitHub Actions).
• Mentored staff, reducing turn-over and increasing productivity.

Fuel7, Inc. Engineer 2012-2013

• Maintained embedded Linux firmware on the TI DM3730 and DM8168 platforms, including uBoot modifications and system-level updates using Open Embedded.
• Ported camera drivers across Linux kernel versions. Developed matching user- mode application code.

MeasureBot3D, LLC Electrical Engineer / Co-Founder 2007-2016

• Designed power electronics for 3D measurement device. Defined architecture, selected components, performed layout, and debugged prototypes.
• Implemented firmware in C and Verilog, performing sensor fusion and motion control across multiple MSP430 CPU’s and Max II FPGA’s.
• Architected and managed GTK+ user-interface project. Defined core data structures and communication protocols.

Radix Automation, Inc. Electrical Engineer 2006-2007

• Designed power-distribution and motor-control systems for a biomass-fueled power-plant project

PC DemoScene Programmer 2003-2008

• Created award-winning PC demos with competitive, interdisciplinary teams of artists, musicians, and programmers.
• Programmed several 4K intros, rendering music and graphics in under 4096 bytes of executable code. Leveraged DirectX and OpenGL.
• Took first prize in the 2004 International Text-Mode Demo Competition using pure software rendering

Education

Cal Poly
San Luis Obispo, CA Bacheolor of Science
Electrical Engineering Cum Laude
December 2005