Bentley D. Laaksonen
As a Senior Software Engineer at HID Global, I lead the development of a ground-up, secure, embedded Linux operating system for a new line of biometric sensors that provide identification and authentication. With 15 years experience developing high-tech commercial products, I have expertise in building custom embedded Linux systems, system security, board bring-up, device drivers, networked applications, communication protocols, algorithms, continuous integration, and code optimization.
I am driven by the challenge and opportunity to work with highly skilled teams of scientists, engineers, and product managers to build cutting edge, high security, products and solutions for a variety of industries. I have a proven track record of delivering innovative and robust solutions that meet customers' needs and expectations, while adhering to the highest standards of quality and performance. I am passionate about learning new technologies and developing a deep and rigorous understanding of them, resulting in novel and enduring solutions.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
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Leadership/Soft Skills: Cross-Disciplinary Team Work, Technical Documentation, Intellectual Curiosity, Adaptability and Flexibility, Critical Thinking, Complex Problem Solving, Strategic Planning, Long Term Vision and Planning, Product Management, Requirements Analysis, System Architecture, Detail Oriented.
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Technical/Hard Skills: C, C++, C#, MATLAB, Bash, Perl, MySQL, SQLite, gdb, JTAG, gcc, cmake, cross toolchains, Linux, RTOS, embedded Linux, u-boot, device trees, device drivers, BSP, secure boot, high assurance boot, dm-verity, sysinit, busybox, Linux Gadgets, V4L2, WSL2, VirtualBox, Gentoo, LFS, Ubuntu, Yocto, git, github, subversion, openssl, ssh, JX-F22 camera, UART, RS-232, GPIO, I2S, I2C, CAN, Sockets, TCP, UDP, Jenkins, Agile, Jira, Confluence, Visual Studio, Atmel Studio, Arm, NXP I.MX SoM, OPTEE, NXP CAAM/SNVS security, fuses, AVR32, MPC5200, AT32UC3C, Apache, AJAX, css, html, JSON, Continuous Integration, DevOps, DNS, Bind, TLS, iptables, sed, awk, Active Directory, Samba, DFS, CIFS.
EDUCATION
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Master's of Science in Computer Science, University of New Mexico (4.0/4.0 GPA)
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Bachelor's of Science in Physics, Gettysburg College (3.9/4.0 GPA)
Experience
HID Global (2019-06-03 to 2023-10-06)
Senior Software Engineer
- Principal architect of the embedded Linux OS for a new line of globally marketed biometric sensors, expanding the existing product line from simple streaming sensors to secure end-points with greater host compatibility and performance.
- Lead initial risk reduction efforts, in collaboration with EEs, via rapid BSP development, board bring-up, and testing all critical hardware elements including eMMC, RAM, PHY, V4L2 imaging sensor, watchdog, tamper, USB, and hardware security.
- Lead development of the bootloader, implementing device trees, defconfigs, boot commands, secure update scripts, and boot counters stored on battery-backed GPRs within a globally static u-boot environment.
- Lead development of the Linux kernel, implementing device trees, defconfigs, on-board camera driver, USB bulk transfer gadget, OPTEE secure execution environment, sysinit, and system scripts.
- Lead system security requirements definition, implementing crypto blobs, zeroizable and OTP master keys, tamper and secure storage features, secure boot, on-chip security, and extended chain of trust.
- Architected a scalable Yocto build system to reproduce end-to-end builds supporting multiple simultaneous: hosts/Yocto versions, hardware targets, board revisions, and rootfs use cases, all designed for continuous integration with upstream open-source and local application software.
- Designed and implemented a secure OS update process incorporating both high assurance boot, dual boot, dual OS behaviors, and with catastrophic recovery options.
- Worked with software and global manufacturing teams to design and debug the manufacturing bootstrap flow.
- Developed the product's camera driver within the V4L2 framework, associated user libraries, and test applications. Developed various control and test applications, and numerous system scripts.
TruTouch Technologies (2013-03-18 to 2018-11-30)
Director of Software Development
- Principal architect for the embedded Linux OS, software, algorithms, and hardware interfaces.
- Worked with electrical and optical engineers to redesign the platform targeting a solid-state, bare metal, implementation, reducing size, complexity, and cost, while increasing ruggedness for integration into automobiles in collaboration with the NHTSA driver alcohol detection system for safety research program.
- Developed bare-metal software running on two ARM AT32UC3C SoCs for command and control over new solid state devices in development for integration in automotive applications, along with internal and external communication protocols and data transfer.
- Developed and standardized communication protocols over RS-232, CAN, and GPIO lines, connecting various system components, for both development and production use.
- Developed data collection software to integrate with new solid state devices.
- Worked with 3rd party developers to update older generation instruments with a connected cloud infrastructure for enterprise deployment, integration with time management systems, and networked reporting features.
- Added investigative support to instrumentation for measuring hydration state.
VeraLight (2011-05-31 to 2013-01-16)
Research Scientist & Scientific Programmer
- Worked with data scientists and engineers to define requirements for a large scale computing cluster used to build models and analyze data for novel biomedical instrumentation used to measure diabetes progression.
- Improved computing cluster performance by an order of magnitude by implementing intermediate, generalized, caching, across a suite of algorithms.
- Built out and improved the computing cluster including node management, network performance, data storage, and MySQL database performance.
- Optimized and standardized user friendly front-ends to the computing cluster, including AJAX based web front-end for monitoring and controlling the cluster.
- Designed and implemented the back-end server that managed the system and associated data.
TruTouch Technologies (2005-07-01 to 2011-05-06)
Director of Software Development
- Principal architect for the embedded Linux RTOS and related software for the world’s first non-invasive alcohol monitor winning TIME magazine's Best Inventions of 2006.
- Improved core interferometer algorithm performance by an order of magnitude by reducing the computational complexity of the primary spline interpolation algorithm from O(N^2) to O(N) for our specific use case. This enabled a massive reduction in the hardware requirements, power consumption, system design, and allowed for real-time interferogram processing on a modest MPC5200 RISC processor.
- Investigated the viability of using a Linux/RTAI operating system for real-time interferometer control and processing using the aforementioned interpolation efficiency improvements.
- Developed a custom LFS build system supporting running Linux/RTAI on an MPC5200.
- Responsible for initial board bring-up supporting eMMC, networking, I2S, RS-232, JTAG.
- Architected the OS, interprocess comm, sysinit, system update, supporting three generations of instruments.
- Managed all DevOps, revision control, processes, integration with manufacturing, testing, and software dev.
- Developed a stateful system health monitor with self assessment.
- Developed a suite of windows applications to control and collect clinical data for all instrument generations.
- Designed, implemented, and managed a hybrid Linux/Windows Domain and intranet.
Community
Bentley Dance Fit (2014-07-13 to present)
Principal, Founder
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Hosting ZUMBA® fitness classes as a licensed instructor in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, area for 10+ years.
Studied modern dance, hip-hop, African, flamenco, Mexican folk, and ballroom at UNM while pursuing a Masters in Computer Science.
Founded Bentley Dance Fit to host energetic, choreographically diverse, workouts for the community.
B PLUS PLUS, LLC (2009-02-24 to present)
Principal, Founder
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Consulting in creative full-stack software development.