Curriculum Vitae
Daniel D'Aquino
I am an experienced full-stack software engineer who strives to build high-quality tools that empower individuals and small teams, and I believe in using thoughtful human-centred approaches in product development to build great products. I bring a broad and eclectic experience spanning across multiple sub-disciplines in product development.
Core strengths
Full-stack software engineering, deep technical investigation, systems thinking, good sense of UX design, and a holistic knowledge of different product development disciplines.
Best fit
Small motivated and remote teams that value craftsmanship, respectful teamwork, low-distraction work environments, and strive to put human user needs at the forefront of every product decision.
I worked with
Python (Pytest/QA automation), Swift, SwiftUI, Rust, JavaScript, TypeScript, React, SQL, Docker, and embedded systems.
Methodologies I like
Jobs-to-be-done framework , Human-centred Design , and Shape Up.
Education and Work Experience
Founder
Leaf Computer
Product Discovery · Rust · Swift · Next.js
I started this company with the goal to build tools to empower individuals and small teams. Over time I have been experimenting with prototypes, early product versions, and market research in an effort to find product-market-fit.
Lead Fullstack iOS Engineer
2023 – 2026Part-time contract · Damus
Swift · SwiftUI · Rust · LMDB · C · JavaScript · NixOS
Damus is a Twitter-like open-source Nostr client that aims to bring more customizable social network experiences. During this time I was the main person in charge of technical maintenance, code reviews, and new feature development for my client's open-source iOS app, which is used by thousands of daily active users.
My work involved several bug fixes, new features spanning across iOS frontend and backend servers built on Rust and JavaScript, and a very large refactoring to better integrate a custom ultra-fast memory-mapped database written in C throughout a large Swift codebase.
Software Developer
Multiple part-time contracts · Bobbles Digital
TypeScript · React · Next.js · PostgreSQL · Supabase
Bobbles Digital is a boutique creative agency. During this time I helped them maintain their digital technical infrastructure, built a custom dashboard system to help streamline their work, and helped several of their clients with their software development and web development needs.
Firmware Test Engineer
Full-time · Motorola Solutions/Avigilon
Python · Pytest · Selenium · Embedded Systems · Firmware · QA Engineering · PTZ cameras · Linux
- Maintained a large automated testing framework for advanced security cameras.
- Thoroughly tested and investigated technical issues across several firmware components including lens control, imaging, video streaming, networking, manufacturing procedures, PTZ control, and web interfaces.
- Wrote thorough and reproducible bug reports to the development team with my investigation findings.
- Proactively created innovative internal tools and testing infrastructure to improve internal processes.
- Served as a quality advocate in some new camera products, overseeing most of the firmware quality assurance in those projects, and helping the development team incorporate good testing and quality practices into their workflow.
Neural Networks for Machine Learning
Coursera Certificate · University of Toronto
Machine Learning · Neural Networks · Deep Learning
Completed an online course on Neural Networks for Machine Learning taught by Geoffrey Hinton from the University of Toronto. The course covered fundamental concepts in neural networks including backpropagation, convolutional neural networks, recurrent neural networks, and other deep learning architectures.
Mechatronics Engineering
Diploma · British Columbia Institute of Technology
Embedded Systems Programming · C · Assembly · MCUs (MSP430) · Sensor and Peripheral Interfacing · Digital Electronics · DC brushed motors · Control Systems
- Learned about several sub-disciplines in mechatronics from both a theoretical perspective and a hands-on perspective with several weekly lab sessions involving designing, building, and testing mechatronic systems.
- Learned and practiced debugging difficult embedded systems issues.
- Graduated with distinction with the third-highest GPA in my class.
- Earned two scholarships for my academic performance.
- My team's capstone project was one of the few to be selected to be featured on the school's booth in the BC Tech Summit of 2018.
Selected projects
Damus
Long-term product engineering work on the largest iOS Nostr client, including push notifications, subscriptions, architecture improvements, and bug fixes.
Avigilon H4A and H5A PTZ camera families
Firmware QA engineering and advocacy for a PTZ security camera with AI-powered video analytics.
Bobbles Digital Client Dashboard
A client dashboard and workflow system for streamlining task requests, communication, scheduling, and ongoing client work.
Lumen Blocks
An open-source Rust UI component library for Dioxus inspired by the developer experience of tools like shadcn and tailwind, built to make UI development more composable and ergonomic.
nparrot
A small CLI utility for bridging local AI agents and other command-line tools with Nostr direct messages.
RoboPost
An autonomous line-following robot for small-scale automated delivery. Capstone project for BCIT Robotics, featured at the BC Tech Summit 2018.
You will probably like my work if:
- You need a resourceful, interdisciplinary software engineer who can see the bigger picture and integrate insights from different product development disciplines into my work.
- You need someone who can work across both frontend and backend and bring them together into a coherent product without a lot of hand-holding.
- You need someone who can dig deep to find and fix challenging bugs.
- You are flexible with regards to time zone.
I like to work with companies and teams that:
- Build meaningful products, and care deeply about the needs of humans who use them.
- Nurture a low-distraction environment that makes high-quality deep work possible.
- Value craftsmanship, quality, and building value long-term.
- Value hard work while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
- Are remote-work friendly.
- Foster a healthy culture where everyone is treated with respect, honest and constructive feedback is encouraged, solving problems and improving processes is prioritized over assigning blame, and the best ideas prevail regardless of their source.
Links & Contact
If you're building human-centred tools and want someone who can bridge software engineering and other product development disciplines, please feel free to reach out.