Headshot
Professionally Creative Knowledge Worker

Benjamin Keating

About Me

As a design engineer, I specialize in crafting both hardware and software that prioritize user experience. My passion lies in designing interfaces that are either intuitively skeuomorphic or seamlessly invisible, enhancing functionality and aesthetics. Beyond the surface of pixels and controls, I focus on the underlying systems that ensure scalability and durability, creating interfaces you can depend on.

When I'm not focused on user interfaces I'm spending time with my kids trying to be the best dad I can be, while taking in all the experience I possibly can to help connect people and make my time here count. The time sure is flying by...

Full Stack Developer / UI Engineer

My goal is to create exceptional products alongside talented individuals, embracing roles as both mentor and student. I aim to honor the guidance I've received by mentoring others, enhancing my understanding through attentive listening, and finding joy in the process of building things.

Case Studies

Showcased Works Reflecting My journey in Full Stack UI/UX Engineering and Creative Problem Solving.

Milker
Milker

Skills

20+ Years of Experience

Design

  • UI/UX and graphic design mastery
  • Adobe Suite, Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD
  • High-fidelity prototypes and wireframes
  • Motion design & micro-interactions
  • Rapid prototyping and iteration
  • Responsive-first design
  • Scalable design systems architect

Develop

  • Web tech: JS, TS, HTML5, CSS3
  • Frameworks: React, Vue, Angular, Next.js
  • CSS: Tailwind, Bootstrap
  • Backends: Node.js, Python, PHP
  • Deployment: AWS, Azure, Vercel
  • Databases: PostgreSQL, MongoDB
  • Git power user
  • API design: REST, GraphQL
  • Performance tuning

Systems

  • Linux, BSD system admin
  • Containerization: Docker, Kubernetes
  • Infrastructure: Terraform, Ansible
  • Monitoring: Prometheus, Grafana, Kibana
  • Shell scripting: Bash, Zsh
  • Network security: Wireshark, Nmap
  • Cloud: AWS, GCP, Azure, Vercel
  • CI/CD: GitLab, GitHub Actions, CircleCI
  • Hardware diagnostics, forensic analysis

Work History

Backend Engineer

02024 - present @ Octopus Energy

Building and designing tools to optimize the development and education of power utility software. Python, Django, AWS, Datadog

Director of UI/UX

02022 — Jan 02024 @ Landus, Inc.

Specifically sought out by the CTO to spearhead the development of innovative software solutions, significantly enhancing IT morale and collaboration. I led the design and implementation of a custom, agricultural-aware CRM system, revolutionizing customer management for some 50k customers across 60 locations and dramatically improving customer satisfaction.

Senior Software Engineer / UX Engineer

02019 — 02022 @ Northwestern Mutual

Secured AWS Cloud certification and enhanced the design system, leading market research that expanded our virtual athletic competition SaaS client base by 25%. My work in developing innovative solutions and advocating for Svelte and reactive programming significantly boosted project success and efficiency.

Full-stack Developer

02016 — 02018 @ Nature’s Classroom Institute

Designer & Developer / Product Marketing Engineer

02015 — 02019 @ RP Nutrients, Inc.

Engineered cutting-edge Laboratory Information Management and dairy farm automation software written in Django, adopted by major industry corporations; led development using React, GraphQL, and JavaScript; Orchestrated highly effective marketing strategies which resulted in expo bylaws needing to be rewritten.

President, Board Member

02014 — Present @ East Troy Area Chamber of Commerce

Personal IT/Sysadmin Assistant

02007 — 02013 for Kevin Kelly

UNIX System Administrator

02004 — 02005 @ Applied Minds, Inc.

Sysadmin, Designer & Developer

02003 — 02015 @ The Long Now Foundation

My contributions were pivotal in establishing and enhancing design systems for brand continuity, effectively branding initiatives like TEDxDeExtinction and creating logos for key projects such as The Interval and the Rosetta Project. I helped launch and growth of the Membership program, expanding our community to over 12,000 members. I supported the inclusion of the Rosetta Project in the ESA comet mission, highlighting our commitment to preserving human languages and promoting linguistic diversity, and led the digital overhaul of our primary websites using Django, jQuery, and MySQL, ensuring seamless migration from legacy systems. My role also encompassed managing comprehensive A/V needs for events, closely collaborating with venue staff on coordination, and executing a full migration of our server infrastructure to AWS, significantly boosting our operational efficiency and future scalability.

Designer, Programmer, Sysadmin

02000 — 02003 @ Vector Industries, Inc.

My career as a knowledge worker started here, when I was lucky enough to convince the boss to move me from the factory floor to the front office to help design our product brochures and establish a web presence. This eventually led to working with an investor and taking on the challenge of creating an inventory and invoicing system written in PHP & MySQL on a LAMP stack.

Volunteer Work

East Troy Computer Club

Founder, East Troy Computer Club

  • Presented on 70+ original topics.
  • Created and grew the club to 400+ Members.
  • Designed logos, and signage for community / local govt.
  • Led transparency projects, workshops, and mentorship.
  • Enhanced digital literacy and tech skills with educators.
  • Featured in PBS’s Around the Corner with John McGivern (S04E13).
East Troy Computer Club

Imagineer, East Troy Lights

  • Built initial PoC using Python on a Raspberry Pi.
  • Key contributor in development and creative strategy.
  • As seen in Midwest Living, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Milwaukee Magazine.

Life Calendar

Each square amounts to a week. Each row, a year. The red dot is now and the total sum represents 82 years of life. Slower is faster. Less is more. Enjoy it.