Engineering The Real-Time Web

Hi, I'm Connor McAlinden. I architect reliable, high-performance software that connects ideas to devices in the real world.

Senior software engineer deeply fluent in the modern JavaScript ecosystem—React, Node, Bun, Next.js—paired with low-level systems work that speaks directly to custom hardware. I design distributed backends, real-time interfaces, and the glue that keeps them in sync.

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12+ Years shipping production systems
65 ms Average latency across live services
9 IoT platforms deployed in the field
∞ Curiosity for tough technical problems

A lens into my practice

I thrive where performant software, real-time data, and hardware meet.

I’m as comfortable optimizing a distributed queue as I am authoring firmware-facing APIs. Most of my work lives in the Node and Bun ecosystems—GraphQL, REST, websockets, Redis, Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB—but I can drop down to C/C++ when a device needs a custom handshake. My approach blends systems thinking, pragmatic delivery, and relentless curiosity.
Full-stack execution with DevOps empathy Bi-directional hardware communication expertise Event-driven architecture & observability first Hands-on mentor and technical leader Security-minded with a love for performance

What I build

Robust web platforms, real-time services, and hardware integrations.

Platform Engineering

Backend architecture & APIs

Architect resilient services powered by Node, Bun, and Go with Redis, Postgres, MySQL, and event streams at the core. Ship observability, CI/CD, and automation that keep teams moving.

Product Engineering

Front-end systems & DX

Deliver responsive experiences with React, Next.js, TypeScript, Tailwind, and design systems that scale gracefully across teams and products.

Systems Programming

Device comms & low-level APIs

Build secure bridges between cloud infrastructure and custom firmware, including binary protocols, streaming telemetry, and edge data orchestration.

Technical Leadership

Mentorship & delivery

Lead squads through ambiguous problem spaces, translate business needs into technical strategy, and mentor engineers in clean code, testing, and resilience.

Recent roles

Building scalable software for high-stakes environments.

Senior Software Engineer · Orbital Mesh

2021 — Present Remote

Lead engineer for a real-time telemetry platform powering industrial IoT networks. Delivered Bun-based edge services, a TypeScript microservices suite, and a custom protocol bridging devices, control systems, and web dashboards.

Lead Full-Stack Engineer · Signal Creek Labs

2017 — 2021 New York, NY

Architected event-driven, serverless infrastructure handling millions of messages per day. Built resilient APIs, Next.js experiences, and message queues with Redis and RabbitMQ to keep mission-critical systems online.

Software Engineer · Forge Embedded

2013 — 2017 Austin, TX

Designed low-level communication layers and diagnostics tooling for custom hardware. Implemented firmware update pipelines, telemetry collectors, and resilient connectivity patterns in C++ and Node.

Selected work

Highlights from platforms, products, and hardware hybrids.

PulseLink Telemetry

IoT · Websockets · Edge

Architected a live monitoring suite connecting thousands of sensors over a custom binary protocol. Delivered 65ms latency dashboards with Bun services, Redis streams, and a React-based control panel.

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Velocity Commerce

SaaS · Next.js · Payments

Built a multi-tenant commerce platform with real-time inventory sync, custom queue workers, and TypeScript-first DX. Reduced deployment and onboarding time by over 60%.

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Atlas Fleet Control

Logistics · APIs · Firmware

Delivered fleet management software bridging in-vehicle firmware with cloud orchestration. Implemented OTA updates, GPS tracking, and anomaly detection with Node, Go, and C++ extensions.

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Let’s architect the next breakthrough

I open a limited number of collaborations each quarter. If you need software that talks to hardware, scales to millions, or just refuses to fail—let’s chat.

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