Background

About Karl

I architect systems, lead teams, and ship software that matters — from disaster-response platforms at NASA to mission-critical aerospace systems at Jacobs/BlackLynx.

01 — Experience

Current Role

Staff Aerospace Software Engineer

Jacobs · Chantilly, VA

Sept 2025 — Present

Lead delivery for cloud-native mission-simulation and telemetry services. Own planning, refinement, demos, and stakeholder alignment end-to-end.
Own team health and execution — coaching, 1:1s, onboarding, and delivery discipline across multi-repo, multi-environment systems.
Set and enforce engineering standards: repo/branch governance, PR reviews, Definition of Done, and documentation to reduce integration risk.
Drive DevSecOps and release governance via CI/CD, automated testing, quality gates, and security checks to shorten feedback loops.

Lead Software Engineer

NASA / SSAI

Lanham, MD

Dec 2017 — Sept 2025

Architected NASA's cloud-based Flood Mapping System on AWS, delivering near real-time satellite-derived flood products to support global disaster response.
Rebuilt the NASA Earth Observatory — a platform serving ~1.5M monthly visitors — improving performance, UX, and SEO.
Built a high-performance Ceph-based file + metadata platform, improving large dataset discovery and access for researchers.
Delivered an automated content registry workflow that boosted data collection efficiency by ~60% and accelerated researcher access.
Implemented GitLab CI/CD + Docker + Kubernetes delivery — automated deployments, repeatable releases, reliable stakeholder approvals.

Sr. Software Engineer

InformedDNA

St. Petersburg, FL

Jan 2016 — Dec 2017

Architected a Laravel-based case management platform reducing operational costs by $30K/year.
Led CRM enhancements improving client retention and contributing ~15% revenue growth through better lifecycle workflows and reporting.
Spearheaded platform upgrades and security improvements, doubling incident response efficiency and strengthening operational readiness.

Earlier Career

1997 — 2015

Ticomix, Inc.

Sr. Software Engineer · Washington, D.C. · 2012–2015

SugarCRM solutions for 20+ clients including VDOT and Kastle Systems. Cut delivery backlog ~90%, improving predictability and customer satisfaction.

Sabre Corporation

Software Engineer · Bethesda, MD · 2010–2012

PHP applications for global travel clients. Mentored junior developers through pairing and code review.

Dante Inc.

Principal Software Engineer · Arlington, VA · 2007–2010

Java solutions for Comcast and Mastercard improving operational efficiency by ~40%. Led Scrum delivery from planning through retros.

Verizon Business

Software Developer · Herndon, VA · 1999–2005

Built Finium, the managed security-services platform that drove a 10× increase in client engagements and supported a $105M acquisition by MCI/Verizon.

Advantage Industries, Inc.

Sr. Software Engineer · Columbia, MD · 1997–1999

Built database-driven enterprise applications automating client workflows and eliminating manual bottlenecks. Foundational role in production software delivery and data modeling.

02 — Research

Co-author

GeoHorizons

Published online May 2026

A Web-Based High-resolution Global Water and Flood Mapping Platform

Peer-reviewed publication describing the Global Water and Flood Mapping System, a NASA-supported platform for high-resolution surface water and flood products derived from commercial satellite data.

F. S. Policelli, A. J. Kettner, K. Hill, and D. Maloney. GeoHorizons, 1(1), gh2025-7.

DOI: 10.1144/gh2025-7

03 — Technical Stack

Languages

Python TypeScript Java PHP Bash

Cloud & Infra

AWS Docker Kubernetes Helm (OCI) Ceph

Delivery & CI/CD

GitLab CI GitHub Actions Bitbucket Release Automation

Web & UI

React Node.js Laravel Vite Tailwind OpenAPI/Swagger

Data Platforms

PostgreSQL MySQL MongoDB Redis Elasticsearch

Leadership

Agile / Scrum Team Coaching Roadmapping DevSecOps Stakeholder Mgmt

04 — Credentials

25+

Years of Experience

1.5M

Monthly Visitors · NASA Platforms

$105M

Platform Acquisition Value

~60%

Efficiency Gained via Automation

PSM II

Professional Scrum Master™ II

Scrum.org

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PSD I

Professional Scrum Developer™ I

Scrum.org

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PSPO I

Professional Scrum Product Owner™ I

Scrum.org

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CSM

Certified ScrumMaster®

Scrum Alliance

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Education

B.S. Computer Science Coursework

University of Maryland

Associate of Arts, General Studies

Howard Community College

Project Management

Rutgers University