Philipp Berndt, PhD
Verified Expert in Engineering
DevOps Engineer and Developer
Berlin, Germany
Toptal member since November 25, 2022
Philipp is an IT consultant and researcher focusing on cloud computing, machine learning, and deep neural networks. After earning his diploma in computer engineering at Technische Universität Berlin, where he covered topics such as artificial intelligence and computer vision, he founded several startups, one of which with 8-digit financing. Philipp mentored students as a research assistant, CTO, and CRO and finished his PhD in data fusion at the Institute for Complex and Distributed IT Systems.
Portfolio
Experience
- Linux - 20 years
- C++ - 20 years
- Real-time Computing - 20 years
- Embedded Systems - 20 years
- Computer Vision - 13 years
- Cloud - 13 years
- Scalability - 13 years
- Machine Learning - 8 years
Availability
Preferred Environment
Linux, Kubernetes, C++, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Machine Learning, Computer Vision, R, PCB Design, GNU Dev Tools, Embedded Systems, Back-end, Ubuntu
The most amazing...
...things I've developed are one of the first virtual meeting spaces, my printed circuit boards, and an efficient method for distributing information in real time.
Work Experience
Freelance Cloud and Systems Architect
50Hertz
- Provided a cloud-based infrastructure for project development environments, each with Git and Docker repositories, project webspace, WebDAV file share, Kubernetes namespace, GitLab, CI/CD pipeline, Azure DevTest Labs, and Apache Guacamole access.
- Facilitated a distributed architecture project, Green Tracking, for certifying and tracking green energy through the energy grid.
- Assisted in the AATO project for optimizing the AI-based energy grid.
- Facilitated Digital Twins, a project on the simulation of network elements.
- Contributed to the Pathfinder project dealing with semantic search and navigation and knowledge management.
- Improved the usability of static webpages by adding a generic JavaScript Assistant while working on the Volt/Eliassitant project.
- Used computer vision to identify rust, which was part of the CoDro project.
- Improved the employee onboarding experience with a mobile app while participating in the Get On Board project.
- Facilitated the Forecasting Development Platform project to develop a platform and tool stack for forecasting and machine learning projects.
Freelance Lead Architect
T-Systems International
- Designed a unified modular framework for administering, provisioning, and orchestrating test objects.
- Developed blueprints and best practices and trained internal and external teams on the topics such as SOA, Docker Swarm, and SELinux.
- Designed a unified modular, scalable embedded-device architecture for deployment in different scenarios, including data center and cloud.
- Devised embedded device security concept based on SELinux.
- Set project milestones and planned resources and budgets.
- Designed a framework for efficient, secure, highly available hosting of devices in data centers.
Freelance IT Consultant and Researcher
Deutsche Börse Cloud Exchange AG
- Analyzed and assessed existing work on cloud benchmarking, devised a performance unit for IaaS compute products, created a benchmarking approach and framework for cloud hosts, and planned and performed experiments, analysis, and evaluation.
- Researched the optimal scalability of cloud services and analyzed their state of the art and requirements.
- Designed the reference architecture, scaling techniques, decision models, optimization, product framework, and pricing model and built and evaluated prototypes.
- Researched secure and private execution of business processes in the cloud and analyzed requirements. Designed use case scenarios, systems architecture, and service modeling and conducted prototyping.
- Consulted on SLA monitoring and surveillance, availability, network and I/O throughput, and performance.
Research Assistant
Technische Universität Berlin
- Designed and developed a service-oriented back end for content-based image search using cloud-based indexing of image data.
- Enabled virtualized project infrastructures for Deutsche Telekom Labs, T-Labs VPI. Designed and developed software for a project management system and customer care.
- Managed the Berlin Cloud-based Infrastructures (BSI) project with a budget of €1 million.
- Drafted an invitation to tender for cloud management software and selected suitable hardware.
- Coordinated service providers, IT service centers, and student assistants.
- Organized presentations and showcases and wrote quarterly and final reports.
- Supervised various student projects in the field of cloud computing.
Founder and CTO
Smeet
- Founded the company, co-wrote investor contracts, and established technical infrastructure.
- Selected and trained the development team and introduced and drove agile development processes.
- Purchased, provisioned, and operated servers and installed monitoring and escalation management.
- Selected and supervised external software contractors.
- Launched the company's website according to schedule.
- Advanced, optimized, and expanded the platform with community features such as profiles, friends, messages, photo albums, guest books, groups, events, chat, webcam chat, and online status.
Experience
Reimplementation of Philips Hue
DEVICE DETAILS
• Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller, ZigBee shield, and VeeAR voice recognition shield.
• Self-designed RGBW power driver shield PCBs with fault detection and reporting.
• Own byte-code interpreter language for runtime, over-the-air programmable lighting effects.
• Smooth blending effects using efficient integer arithmetics.
• State machine for voice command compositing.
• Own protocol for over-the-air debugging and reporting runtime assertion errors.
• Everything is implemented in embedded C++ and GCC.
SERVER-SIDE DETAILS
• ZigBee USB dongle using Arduino Nano.
• ZigBee hub and dispatcher daemon in C++.
• Lighting control web UI that seamlessly supports Philips Hue lamps. Used Ruby on Rails and React.
• Deployed on edge Kubernetes and K3s.
Education
PhD in Complex and Distributed IT Systems
Technische Universität Berlin - Berlin, Germany
Master of Science Degree in Computer Engineering
Technische Universität Berlin - Berlin, Germany
Certifications
Deep Learning
Coursera
Machine Learning
Stanford University
Skills
Libraries/APIs
Pthreads, jQuery
Tools
GNU Dev Tools, Shell, Terraform, GitLab, Git, Ansible, Guacamole, Docker Swarm, Asterisk, Webpack
Languages
C++, Ruby, Java 8, Java, C, SQL, Embedded C, UML, C++11, Embedded C++, HTML, R, Python, Go, JavaScript, CSS
Frameworks
Ruby on Rails (RoR), OMNeT++, JPA, Spring Boot, Spring, Hibernate, Realtime, Celluloid, Hadoop, Apache Axis 2, Jakarta Server Pages (JSP), Bootstrap
Platforms
Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Amazon EC2, Embedded Linux, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Ubuntu, Azure, OpenStack
Paradigms
Microservices, Rapid Prototyping, Scrum, DevOps, Test-driven Development (TDD), Kanban, Change Management, Extreme Programming
Storage
MySQL, PostgreSQL
Other
Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud, Scalability, Low Latency, Architecture, Back-end, Image Recognition, Video Streaming, P2P, Computer Vision, Embedded Systems, Real-time Computing, Simulations, Network Security, PKI, Containerization, SELinux, Linux Network Stack, Big Data, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Embedded Hardware, Internet of Things (IoT), Networking, Embedded Software, Video Processing, Annotations, Image Annotation, Network Stack, NAT, UDP, TCP/IP, Wireless Protocols, PCB Design, Computer Graphics, Robotics, Sensor Fusion, Optimization, Neural Networks, Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), Sequence Models, Reinforcement Learning, Knowledge Management, Orchestration, Micro SOA, Cloud Security, SOAP, Eucalyptus, Private Clouds, CORBA, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), Real-time Audio Processing, VoIP, RTP, SIP, Zigbee, Ruby Gems, ARM Embedded, Microprocessors, Design, Hyperparameters
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