Hi, I'm Cydney

Who Am I

ABOUT

A Senior Software Engineer and technical leader with 15+ years of experience in building and scaling backend systems and developer tools. I architect solutions using Python, TypeScript and JavaScript building high-throughput APIs, libraries, and CLIs that power complex, mission-critical environments. I also enjoy mentoring engineers and students, which includes teaching college courses.

Outside of software engineering, I'm an avid gamer who enjoys mastering challenges. I also channel my focus on precision into custom-building mechanical keyboards. For balance, you can usually find me stepping away from the screen to spend time outdoors with my two dogs, Moxie and Jett.

Master of Science in Computer Science

Los Angeles, CA

What I've Achieved

Experience

Europa Clipper

As lead engineer for the Flight System Performance & Analysis subsystem, I'm responsible for building and maintaining the mission-critical software from pre-launch through current post-launch operations. Working closely with mission teams, I architected and developed the core Python libraries that automate end-of-pass telemetry processing and enable science teams to perform interactive analysis through Jupyter Notebooks. I adapted existing multi-mission software and built custom tools in Python and Node.js to meet Europa Clipper's unique operational requirements.

Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover

I am a senior engineer on Engineering Analysis Software, building and maintaining critical tools from pre-launch through current operations. I developed a core suite of multi-mission Python libraries and Flask APIs in collaboration with team members. These tools have been adopted across flagship missions for standardizing data integration workflows. I also engineered a complex data correlation pipeline that provides "round-trip tracking" of rover commands by automatically mapping uplink instructions from RML/XML files to the resulting downlink telemetry stored in Elasticsearch. This supports the science teams' analysis of actions executed on the rover.

Deep Space Network

I re-architected and developed a GraphQL API in Node.js and TypeScript to aggregate and stream real-time operational data for the Deep Space Network. This work unified previously siloed data sources including MySQL databases and Elasticsearch clusters into a performant API that enables real-time operational visualization for mission control teams.

Mission Formulation

I spearheaded development of a microservices platform in Python and Node.js for spacecraft engineering and modeling. I built real-time collaboration capabilities using WebSockets, enabling multiple engineering teams to work with complex mathematical spacecraft models simultaneously. I also designed the complete ArangoDB schema, leveraging both graph and document models to efficiently manage subsystem interdependencies and component data.

Academic Appointments at California State University

I was selected by the Computer Science department to design and launch the university's foundational Node.js curriculum (CS4220), teaching students core backend principles from JavaScript (ES6+) fundamentals to building modern applications with database integrations. I was subsequently selected to redesign the advanced graduate-level course (CS5220), extending the curriculum to introduce professional engineering practices including full-stack application design, advanced RESTful APIs, and Test-Driven Development (TDD).

Early Career

I began my career at Live Nation Entertainment, where I was selected for a specialized R&D team to pioneer the company's first production Node.js implementation, integrating it into a legacy Perl monolith to address critical application latency. I then joined Creative Artists Agency, where I built a high-throughput distributed messaging system using Node.js and Azure Queues that served as the company's master data synchronization engine across MongoDB, MSSQL, and Elasticsearch.

What I do

Technical Skills

I work with a range of technologies and the following highlights some of my core technical proficiencies. While not an exhaustive list, these represent the languages, frameworks and tools I utilize the most to design, build and maintain scalable, high-performance systems.