<sky-template path="_imports/main.html" />
<sky-block name="title">About · </sky-block>
<sky-block name="content">
<h1>Who I Am</h1>
<p class="lede">
I'm a platform, build and test engineer. What I'm good at is finding the
pain points in how a company builds and tests its software, and engineering
them away, especially in old code nobody wants to touch.
</p>
<p>
Since 2021 I've done that at Onto Innovation for AiDiffract (formerly NanoDiffract), a
decades-old, 2M+ line C++ optical metrology package in a Windows shop. I
built the regression-testing system every engineer on it relies on, and a
GUI for it that's now running at five leading chipmakers. I keep the build
machines and pipelines running, and I'm the person teams come to for the
problems that don't belong to anyone else. I also led the company's
developer book club. There's more on my <a href="/projects">projects</a>
page.
</p>
<p>
I came to it sideways. I majored in Philosophy and Classics, and taught
myself to program because I like it. Two ideas keep pulling me back. One
is leverage: I have the first word of Archimedes' δῶς μοι πᾶ στῶ καὶ τὰν
γᾶν κινάσω ("give me a place to stand and I will move the earth")
tattooed on my wrist, and it's why I love modular systems, the kind you
can build bigger things on. The other is precision, a good thing to love
when you work in metrology. The way machine tools ratcheted precision up
through history astounds me, and I overmeasure everything, cocktails
included.
</p>
<p>
I am an "expert" in Python, according to Toptal, and proficient in C, C++
and JavaScript; I've also written code in C#, Java, and Bash. I once
picked up a project in a language I'd never used (C#), in an IDE I'd
never opened (Visual Studio), in a paradigm I'd never tried (desktop
applications), and was building new modules within a fortnight.
</p>
<p>
Away from work I'm easily nerd-sniped, mostly by the humanities: Rome,
epic poetry, languages, folklore, fabric. Those have their own page,
<a href="/orbits">orbits</a>.
</p>
</sky-block>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<script><sky-include path="theme.js" /></script>
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
<title><sky-slot name="title" />${meta.title}</title>
<meta name="description" content="${meta.description}" />
<meta name="theme-color" content="#142420" />
<link rel="icon" href="/favicon.svg" type="image/svg+xml" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/style.css" />
</head>
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<main class="page">
<sky-slot name="content" />
</main>
<sky-include path="_footer.html" />
</div>
<aside class="ground" aria-label="The source of this page">
<header class="ground-head">
<p>
<a href="https://github.com/mas-4/skyblue">skyblue</a> built this
page from these files, in the order it used them.
</p>
<label for="xray" class="ground-close">back to the page →</label>
</header>
<sky-sources item="source.html" />
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</div>
<script><sky-include path="candle.js" /></script>
</body>
</html>
// The light switch. Until it's flipped, the page follows the system's
// light or dark preference (that part is CSS). Flipping it picks the other
// one and remembers it. This runs in <head>, so a saved choice applies
// before the page is drawn.
(() => {
const root = document.documentElement;
const system = matchMedia("(prefers-color-scheme: dark)");
try {
const saved = localStorage.getItem("theme");
if (saved === "light" || saved === "dark") root.dataset.theme = saved;
} catch {}
const isDark = () => (root.dataset.theme ? root.dataset.theme === "dark" : system.matches);
document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => {
const button = document.querySelector(".theme-toggle");
if (!button) return;
const show = () => button.setAttribute("aria-checked", String(isDark()));
button.hidden = false;
show();
system.addEventListener("change", show);
button.addEventListener("click", () => {
root.dataset.theme = isDark() ? "light" : "dark";
try {
localStorage.setItem("theme", root.dataset.theme);
} catch {}
show();
});
});
})();
<header class="site-header">
<nav class="nav">
<a class="brand" href="/">
<svg class="brand-mark" viewBox="0 0 1536 1174" aria-hidden="true"><use href="/ibis.svg#ibis" /></svg>
${meta.title}
</a>
<div class="nav-links">
<a href="/">home</a>
<a href="/about">about</a>
<a href="/projects">projects</a>
<a href="/orbits">orbits</a>
<label for="xray" class="source-toggle" title="Lift the page to see what it's made of">source</label>
</div>
<button type="button" class="theme-toggle" role="switch" aria-checked="false" aria-label="Dark mode" title="Light or dark" hidden><span class="knob"></span></button>
</nav>
</header>
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<div class="social">
<a href="https://github.com/mas-4">
<svg
aria-labelledby="svg-inline--fa-title-Yppzrr98YU17"
role="img"
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</svg>
</a>
<a href="https://stackoverflow.com/users/9691276/mas">
<svg
aria-labelledby="svg-inline--fa-title-kGxnyVLHc64Z"
role="img"
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viewBox="0 0 384 512"
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<title id="svg-inline--fa-title-kGxnyVLHc64Z">StackOverflow</title>
<path
fill="currentColor"
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</a>
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<title id="svg-inline--fa-title-BaV39z6dqIIX">LinkedIn</title>
<path
fill="currentColor"
d="M416 32H31.9C14.3 32 0 46.5 0 64.3v383.4C0 465.5 14.3 480 31.9 480H416c17.6 0 32-14.5 32-32.3V64.3c0-17.8-14.4-32.3-32-32.3zM135.4 416H69V202.2h66.5V416zm-33.2-243c-21.3 0-38.5-17.3-38.5-38.5S80.9 96 102.2 96c21.2 0 38.5 17.3 38.5 38.5 0 21.3-17.2 38.5-38.5 38.5zm282.1 243h-66.4V312c0-24.8-.5-56.7-34.5-56.7-34.6 0-39.9 27-39.9 54.9V416h-66.4V202.2h63.7v29.2h.9c8.9-16.8 30.6-34.5 62.9-34.5 67.2 0 79.7 44.3 79.7 101.9V416z"
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</svg>
</a>
<a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mas-4/resume/master/main.pdf">
<svg
aria-labelledby="svg-inline--fa-title-fmQP80A0S9GF"
role="img"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
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<title id="svg-inline--fa-title-fmQP80A0S9GF">Résumé</title>
<path
fill="currentColor"
d="M181.9 256.1c-5-16-4.9-46.9-2-46.9 8.4 0 7.6 36.9 2 46.9zm-1.7 47.2c-7.7 20.2-17.3 43.3-28.4 62.7 18.3-7 39-17.2 62.9-21.9-12.7-9.6-24.9-23.4-34.5-40.8zM86.1 428.1c0 .8 13.2-5.4 34.9-40.2-6.7 6.3-29.1 24.5-34.9 40.2zM248 160h136v328c0 13.3-10.7 24-24 24H24c-13.3 0-24-10.7-24-24V24C0 10.7 10.7 0 24 0h200v136c0 13.2 10.8 24 24 24zm-8 171.8c-20-12.2-33.3-29-42.7-53.8 4.5-18.5 11.6-46.6 6.2-64.2-4.7-29.4-42.4-26.5-47.8-6.8-5 18.3-.4 44.1 8.1 77-11.6 27.6-28.7 64.6-40.8 85.8-.1 0-.1.1-.2.1-27.1 13.9-73.6 44.5-54.5 68 5.6 6.9 16 10 21.5 10 17.9 0 35.7-18 61.1-61.8 25.8-8.5 54.1-19.1 79-23.2 21.7 11.8 47.1 19.5 64 19.5 29.2 0 31.2-32 19.7-43.4-13.9-13.6-54.3-9.7-73.6-7.2zM377 105L279 7c-4.5-4.5-10.6-7-17-7h-6v128h128v-6.1c0-6.3-2.5-12.4-7-16.9zm-74.1 255.3c4.1-2.7-2.5-11.9-42.8-9 37.1 15.8 42.8 9 42.8 9z"
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</a>
</div>
<!-- skyblue fills these in as it builds the site. -->
<pre class="receipt" aria-label="How this page was built"><span class="prompt">$</span> skyblue --version
skyblue <a href="https://github.com/mas-4/skyblue">${sky.version}</a> (compiled by cprime <a href="https://github.com/mas-4/cprime">${sky.compiler}</a>)
<span class="prompt">$</span> skyblue -i src -o build
skyblue: ${sky.pages} pages and ${sky.files} files -> build
<span class="note"># ${sky.date}, ${sky.time}, ${sky.ms} ms. Two small scripts: the candle and the light switch.</span></pre>
<p class="copyright">© 2022–2026 Michael Sendker</p>
</footer>
// The candle. Hold the pointer over the words and a flame lights above
// them: the paper warms and thins, and the page's source shows through
// from underneath. Only over the letters themselves, not blank paper.
// Without this script the paper simply stays opaque.
(() => {
const sheet = document.querySelector(".sheet");
if (!sheet || !matchMedia("(hover: hover) and (pointer: fine)").matches) return;
// Is (x, y) on a letter? Find the text position under the point, then
// check that the point is inside the box of the character on either side.
const range = document.createRange();
const overGlyph = (x, y) => {
let node, offset;
if (document.caretPositionFromPoint) {
const pos = document.caretPositionFromPoint(x, y);
if (pos) [node, offset] = [pos.offsetNode, pos.offset];
} else if (document.caretRangeFromPoint) {
const r = document.caretRangeFromPoint(x, y);
if (r) [node, offset] = [r.startContainer, r.startOffset];
}
if (!node || node.nodeType !== Node.TEXT_NODE || !sheet.contains(node)) return false;
for (const i of [offset - 1, offset]) {
if (i < 0 || i >= node.length || /\s/.test(node.data[i])) continue;
range.setStart(node, i);
range.setEnd(node, i + 1);
for (const box of range.getClientRects())
if (x >= box.left && x <= box.right && y >= box.top && y <= box.bottom) return true;
}
return false;
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let x = 0, y = 0, queued = false, dousing = 0;
const draw = () => {
queued = false;
const box = sheet.getBoundingClientRect();
sheet.style.setProperty("--cx", x - box.left + "px");
sheet.style.setProperty("--cy", y - box.top + "px");
if (overGlyph(x, y)) {
clearTimeout(dousing);
dousing = 0;
sheet.classList.add("lit");
} else if (!dousing && sheet.classList.contains("lit")) {
// A moment's grace, so it doesn't strobe across the spaces between words
dousing = setTimeout(() => {
sheet.classList.remove("lit");
dousing = 0;
}, 350);
}
};
sheet.addEventListener("pointermove", (e) => {
[x, y] = [e.clientX, e.clientY];
if (!queued) {
queued = true;
requestAnimationFrame(draw);
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sheet.addEventListener("pointerleave", () => {
clearTimeout(dousing);
dousing = 0;
sheet.classList.remove("lit");
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})();
<section class="source">
<header class="source-head">
<a href="https://github.com/mas-4/standingwater-flat/blob/main/src/${source.path}">${source.path}</a>
<span>${source.lines} lines</span>
</header>
<pre class="listing"><code>${source.code}</code></pre>
</section>
<pre class="listing"><code>${source.code}</code></pre>
Who I Am
I'm a platform, build and test engineer. What I'm good at is finding the
pain points in how a company builds and tests its software, and engineering
them away, especially in old code nobody wants to touch.
Since 2021 I've done that at Onto Innovation for AiDiffract (formerly NanoDiffract), a
decades-old, 2M+ line C++ optical metrology package in a Windows shop. I
built the regression-testing system every engineer on it relies on, and a
GUI for it that's now running at five leading chipmakers. I keep the build
machines and pipelines running, and I'm the person teams come to for the
problems that don't belong to anyone else. I also led the company's
developer book club. There's more on my projects
page.
I came to it sideways. I majored in Philosophy and Classics, and taught
myself to program because I like it. Two ideas keep pulling me back. One
is leverage: I have the first word of Archimedes' δῶς μοι πᾶ στῶ καὶ τὰν
γᾶν κινάσω ("give me a place to stand and I will move the earth")
tattooed on my wrist, and it's why I love modular systems, the kind you
can build bigger things on. The other is precision, a good thing to love
when you work in metrology. The way machine tools ratcheted precision up
through history astounds me, and I overmeasure everything, cocktails
included.
I am an "expert" in Python, according to Toptal, and proficient in C, C++
and JavaScript; I've also written code in C#, Java, and Bash. I once
picked up a project in a language I'd never used (C#), in an IDE I'd
never opened (Visual Studio), in a paradigm I'd never tried (desktop
applications), and was building new modules within a fortnight.
Away from work I'm easily nerd-sniped, mostly by the humanities: Rome,
epic poetry, languages, folklore, fabric. Those have their own page,
orbits.