Mark Essel's

Resume

Special thanks and format credit: Hakim El Hattab / @hakimel

Languages:
- Python, PHP, JavaScript, Node.js, C++
- Swift/Objective-C, Ruby, markup (HTML/CSS/Markdown)
- SQL (MySQL/Postgres), MongoDB queries, Firebase queries
Frameworks/Libs: Node.js, jQuery, Cairo, GraphicsMagick, FFmpeg, GPUImage, OpenCL/OpenGL, AVFoundation, Core Graphics, OpenGL ES
Deployment: AWS (EC2/Elastic Beanstalk/Lambda), Heroku, Google App Engine
Databases/Queries: I can adapt to whatever a team is using
Preferred Environments:
- macOS
- Linux

Behavior tracking and prediction for optimal activities
Architected, implemented and deployed ML processing of user/item relationships (periodic + real-time)
Implemented and deployed (open source) 3D video simulation backend from images
Architected, developed and deployed a distributed collection of real-time services in Node.js
Designed, implemented and deployed a custom, scalable, distributed, replicated geo-cache using Redis and Node.js
Designed, implemented and deployed video rendering engines
Multiple roles in full stack web development using JavaScript (Node.js), Ruby, Python, and C++
Signal Analysis/Processing - Linear (Least Squares) & Non-Linear (parameterized)
Detection algorithms, infrared image processing (temporal/spectral matched filtering)
Classic Machine Learning Algorithms: Quadratic Classifier, Convex Hull
Protein Structure Search Analysis
Modeling of Atmospheric Gases, and IR sensor images

Founder at Tek Horizons

A consultancy delivering professional backend development services
Fractional CTO/Technical Leadership
Agentic system & mcp server
Search and product ranking/prediction systems
MVP data fusion + ML detection/audio signal processing
Real-time APIs/services (sockets), geospatial engines, and video + push infrastructure (APNs/FCM)

ML/Backend Engineer at Dorsia

Designed and deployed a 3D Secure asynchronous payment processing system
Reworked onboarding logic and flow to support temporary guest passes
Created a weekly sanitized copy of the primary database
Generated reservation tracking system and UI to support frictionless connections

Tech Co-founder at Welcome

Technical Co-founder at Citizen (sp0n)

Architect: all backend services
API (express), JWT auth, fully documented and covered by tests
Custom data store: Redis cache-backed, replicated local application (3D lat/lon/time queries)
Live video streaming platform (Node.js & service workers): Wowza, Red5, nginx-rtmp
Cross-platform (iOS/Android) geo-push architecture + live-stream/post-processing workers
Deployment + ops (Heroku + AWS), monitoring/alerts (Loggly/Heroku/NodePing), load testing

Principal Developer: for Cameo product (Fast Society)

Designed and implemented structured theme scripts, GL shader effects, and font styling for Cameo video rendering (Swift/OpenGL)
Worked closely with AVComposition, slow-motion video segments, audio mixing, and GL transform handling for arbitrary source video
Designed and developed a background video uploader for the Cameo mobile app (Swift/Objective-C) with data validation to Google Cloud Storage
Optimized locally exported video, tuning SDAVAssetExportSession and worked with server team for high quality streams
Built key tools for backend video processing (C++11/libffmpeg) and rendering engine work (C++11/OpenCL/OpenGL)
Debugged distributed processing/infrastructure (Node/C++), including Kibana/Elasticsearch/syslog

Chief of Research and Development: Algorithm and software development to support video processing toolchain.

Build out backend video processing architecture (tools, dataflow, encoding)
Optimize video processing pipeline and instance utilization
Stability testing multiple components
Ported a JavaScript animation library to a C++ OpenGL rendering engine
Automated new visual animations/effects
Aided in configuring and deploying our cloud infrastructure (basics, build error/dependency, migrated from Fabric to Puppet)

Senior Staff Scientist core responsibilities: Algorithm and software development, implementation and testing.

Design of real-time hyperspectral anomaly detection algorithms as well as temperature feature extraction for new LWIR sensor in C++ using Visual .NET; delivered to customer on Linux platform
Implemented a real-time PDB search tool to identify structures similar to specified structures (kinase)
Implemented and demonstrated Spectral Matched Filter (SMF) algorithm for target detection in a complex target/background scene
Implemented Atmospheric Correction algorithms in C++ and processed AVIRIS data
IR Sensor Study algorithm development program: advanced detection/identification techniques on measured CBD/CBE datasets
Built and simulated mid-course discrimination + IR sensor/target Monte Carlo simulations (SBIRS Low/High; Navy Theater Wide COEA)

"Midcourse Clutter Mitigation Using Multi-Spectral, Subspace Projection Techniques", Julian Brody, Mark Essel, Brad Flanders, Henry Phan, Tony Sommese, MSS, January, 2003
"Atmospheric Correction Using Embedded Models (ACUIM)", Tony Sommese and Mark Essel, SPIE, March, 2000
"Background Clutter Rejection Using Generalized Regression Neural Networks" , C. Ralph Waters, Tony Sommese, Mark Essel and Capt. Brian Hibbeln, IEEE, March, 2000
"Signal Subspace Processing of 4D Remote Sensing Data", Ralph Waters, Tony Sommese, Mark Essel, Stephen Mack and Capt. Brian Hibbeln, IEEE, March, 1999
"Super Resolution and Image Enhancement Using Novelty Concepts", C.Ralph Waters, Tony Sommese, Dave Weiss, Mark Essel & Capt. Brian Hibbeln IEEE, March 1998