Systems Engineering · Kotlin · TypeScript · Rust · Python

John Noecker Jr.
I build systems that don't wake you up at 3am.

Systems engineer with 15+ years building production-grade software. Recent projects span distributed game servers, desktop applications, forensic linguistics toolkits, and AI asset pipelines — across Kotlin, TypeScript, Rust, and Python — all with architecture and testing as first-class concerns.

  • 200K+ lines across 4 production systems
  • 27K+ lines of tests — deterministic, parity, integration
  • gRPC · Redis · PostgreSQL · Prometheus · Grafana
  • Tauri 2 · React 19 · PixiJS · Claude API · FLUX
  • Published: 3 PyPI packages (mowen)

Recent projects

Ambon Arcanum (opens in new tab)

Desktop world-builder for MUD game servers with visual zone editing, AI image generation, LLM-powered content tools, cloud asset sync, and a bespoke baroque design system. Built in 10 days.

38K+lines
186files
200+test cases
39IPC commands
TypeScript Rust React 19 Tauri 2 Zustand XY Flow Tailwind CSS Cloudflare R2 Claude API
  • Format-preserving YAML round-trip I/O retains comments and key ordering for human-edited files
  • AWS Signature V4 signing implemented from scratch — zero SDK dependencies
  • Content-addressed asset storage with SHA256 deduplication and CDN sync
  • 6 isolated Zustand stores with per-field selectors prevent re-render cascading

AmbonMUD-Visualize (opens in new tab)

AI-powered visual asset generation pipeline — two-stage Claude + FLUX pipeline enforcing a cohesive design system across hundreds of game assets. Built in 8 days.

15K+lines
56files
6asset types
384sprites
TypeScript Rust React 19 Tauri 2 Claude API Runware.AI FLUX WASM
  • Two-stage AI pipeline: Claude for prompt engineering, FLUX for image synthesis
  • Multi-layer style enforcement ensures visual consistency across hundreds of assets
  • Pluggable LLM and image generation providers — swap without code changes
  • Client-side background removal via WebAssembly — no server round-trips, no per-image cost

Stack

Tools and technologies across recent project work.

Languages
Kotlin, Java, TypeScript, Rust, Python, SQL, Protobuf
Backend
Coroutines, Ktor, gRPC, FastAPI, Spring Boot, Node.js, Jackson, Hoplite
Frontend
React 19, PixiJS 8, xterm.js, XY Flow, Zustand, TanStack Query, Vite, Tailwind CSS
Desktop
Tauri 2, Rust IPC, Win32 API, cross-platform native apps
Database
PostgreSQL, Redis (Lettuce), SQLite, DynamoDB, Exposed, SQLAlchemy, HikariCP, Flyway
AI / ML
Claude API, Runware.AI / FLUX, OpenRouter, HuggingFace Transformers, spaCy, NLP pipelines
Infra
AWS (Lambda, EC2, S3, DynamoDB, API Gateway), Docker, GitHub Actions, Prometheus, Grafana, Cloudflare R2
Quality
JUnit, Vitest, pytest, deterministic testing, coroutine testing, integration suites, parity validation

Timeline

Where I've been, and the kinds of problems I've owned.

Noecker & Associates
Staff Software Engineer (Independent) · Aug 2020 — Present
  • Staff-level scope: architecture, delivery, production support.
  • AWS backend + serverless with Spring Boot (Java/Kotlin) and Node.js (TypeScript).
  • Legacy-to-cloud migrations aligned to AWS Well-Architected practices.
  • Deployment time reduced by 60% via Jenkins + Docker pipeline improvements.
Enzyme
Senior Software Engineer · Jan 2019 — Jul 2020
  • Greenfield platform (TypeScript, React, Node.js) for FDA 510(k) data extraction workflows.
  • Document processing systems with correctness + auditability requirements.
Signifyd
Software Engineer · Aug 2016 — Dec 2018
  • Backend throughput/latency improvements via caching + performance tuning.
  • ~$100K/month recurring data cost reduction via vendor evaluation.
Juola & Associates
Software Engineer · Aug 2010 — Jul 2016
  • Forensic/legal analysis systems with reproducibility + defensibility under scrutiny.
  • Peer-reviewed research, $1.6M grant contribution, and two U.S. patents co-authored.
EVLL (Applied Research)
Software Engineer · Aug 2010 — Oct 2014
  • Authorship attribution for high-profile cases; tooling + open-source work (JGAAP).
PROTEUS Technologies
Software Engineer · May 2009 — Aug 2010
  • Unified data processing system achieving 1000x reduction in processing time.

Education & credentials

Duquesne University

B.S. Computer Science · B.A. Mathematics

Graduated summa cum laude; valedictorian in Liberal Arts, Computer Science, and Mathematics.

Georgia Tech

Graduate coursework (CS)

Advanced coursework in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and robotics.

AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate

Aug 2023 — Present

Patents

Authorship Technologies

U.S. Patents: US-11605055-B2, US-10657494-B2

Contact

If you're looking for a systems engineer who ships, I'm easy to reach.