Creative technologist, problem-solver, audio engineer. I notice the
thing nobody else is looking at, sit with it until it makes sense,
and build something useful out of what I find.
A curious, self-driven builder with an unusual combination of backgrounds —
creative tech, audio engineering, and the factory floor.
I studied Creative Technology at Illinois State University —
a program built exactly for people like me: hybrids who don't fit cleanly
into "designer," "engineer," or "artist" because the interesting work lives
between those categories. Since graduating in 2021 I've spent every year
deepening that range.
Before any of the technical work, there was sound. I've
spent years engineering, producing, and mixing — from vocal sessions to
livestream boards to late-night freelance gigs. Audio is the discipline
that shaped everything else: the patience to listen for the problem nobody
else is hearing, the taste to know when something is actually finished,
and the humility to stay with a track until it's right. Those instincts
didn't go away when I moved into other work. They're how I approach every
technical problem now.
Over the last two years at Rivian, I've learned what
production actually looks like from the inside — what breaks, what drags,
where good people end up doing work a computer should be doing. When I
rotated onto the Autonomy team, I didn't just do the
work assigned to me; I found a repetitive task in the workflow and
built a tool to solve it.
That combination — creative ear, engineering instinct, real
operational experience — is what I bring. I'm a builder who
teaches himself whatever the problem demands, ships something, and
iterates until it's right. I've done that in studios, on the line, and
on my own time.
Portrait
// present day
On stage
// the audio years
Normal, IL
// Rivian plant
builderlistenernoticerproducerengineershippercurious by defaultbuilderlistenernoticerproducerengineershippercurious by default
Experience
the timeline
Feb 2025 — Dec 2025
Rivian — Autonomy / Project Annotate
Data annotation & self-initiated automation · Normal, IL
Built a custom macro automation tool (MacroBox) that delivered 3–7× personal annotation throughput gains while holding 99.9% accuracy on Rivian's autonomy training pipeline.
Cut manual hours by 66%; documented the methodology and results.
Escalated quality concerns to engineering; collaborated on validation.
Received the Employee Recognition Award (January 2025) for operational excellence.
Dec 2025 — Present
Rivian — General Assembly · Trim 1
Production operator · Normal, IL
Rotated back onto the line post-autonomy assignment; operating on R1T and R1S builds.
Continuing to observe floor-level workflow bottlenecks and prototype tooling on personal time.
Mar 2023 — Feb 2025
Rivian — General Assembly · Trim 2
Team member · Normal, IL
Consistent quality on assembly operations; diagnosed bottlenecks in material staging and flagged equipment issues preemptively.
Certified to operate R1T and R1S production vehicles.
Dec 2021 — Mar 2023
Studio Kai Music Group
Audio engineer / content editor · Fox River Grove, IL
Engineered multi-track sessions and produced commercial releases, including a charting vocal track.
Ran livestream productions with custom soundboards, overlays, and transitions.
Real-time hardware/software troubleshooting under session deadlines.
Aug 2017 — Present
Freelance — Audio Engineer / Producer
Independent · Normal, IL
Self-produced vocal work and client mixes; consistent repeat business across multiple years.
Cross-platform signal chain work; format compatibility; mastering for release.
2017 — 2021
Illinois State University
B.A. Creative Technology
Interdisciplinary program bridging design, media production, and emerging technology.
Foundation in digital media, sound design, and creative problem-solving across tools.
Proof of Work
what I've actually shipped
Rivian Autonomy — custom workflow automation tool
Built · Proven
Hired onto Project Annotate to do high-volume image annotation for
Rivian's autonomy training pipeline. Noticed a repetitive sub-task in
the workflow that nobody had automated. Built a custom macro tool on
my own initiative, measured the results, and documented the gains.
The data spoke for itself — 3–7× throughput at 99.9% accuracy,
depending on task content and fluency with the tool. It became my
personal force multiplier on the team. Recognized with Rivian's
Employee Recognition Award (January 2025) for
operational excellence.
3–7×
cycle time
99.9%
accuracy
66%
hours cut
1
award
01 / how I work
Notice first, build second
I watch the workflow closely before I touch anything. The right
problem to solve is almost never the one on the whiteboard — it's
the one people have stopped complaining about because they assume
it's just how things are.
02 / what I bring
An engineer's patience, an artist's ear
Years behind a mixing console taught me to trust my gut on when
something is "done" — and when it isn't. I bring that same
discernment to technical work: a willingness to sit with something
until it's actually right.
03 / why it works
Translate across worlds
I can read a factory lead, a software engineer, and a studio client
in the same week without losing anyone. That range is rare, and
it's the reason the things I build actually land with people.
Case Study
// MacroBox · the annotation tool
MacroBox — a tool I built to do my own job faster.
Built · Deployed · Measured
Project Annotate ran on a high-volume repetitive workflow — the kind
where good people burn out doing work a computer should be doing.
I built MacroBox, a configurable Windows macro utility
that records, replays, and binds repeated input sequences to single
hotkeys. It's the tool I ran every day on the Rivian autonomy pipeline.
demo · 5× speed
// manual
30.14s
by hand, one sequence
// with MacroBox
6.34s
same sequence, one hotkey
MacroBox UI · live config view · 7 saved macros// built in AutoHotkey
01 · the problem
A repetitive sub-task hiding in plain sight
The annotation workflow required the same handful of input
sequences over and over — the kind of pattern that's
imperceptible on day one and painful by month two.
Nobody had automated it because it wasn't
officially part of the job to fix.
02 · the approach
Record once, replay precisely
I designed a simple mental model: every sequence I ran more
than three times should be a hotkey. MacroBox records raw
input with exact timing, saves it to a named slot, and
rebinds it to a key combo or numpad shortcut I won't confuse
with real work.
03 · the build
Built in AutoHotkey, tuned for the floor
Stopped myself from over-engineering. AutoHotkey was already
on the machine — no install, no dependencies, no permissions
fight. Added Record / Stats / Config / Break / Wide /
Clear controls, live visual feedback per slot, and
a STOP combo so it never runs when I don't want it to.
04 · the result
3–7× faster in practice — measured, not claimed
Same sequence, same accuracy. Measured gains vary from
3× to 7× depending on the repetitive content of
the task and the operator's fluency with the tool — my demo
clocks in at 4.75×. Across a full shift that compounds into hours
of reclaimed focus. Recognized with Rivian's Employee
Recognition Award (January 2025) for operational excellence.
