Karlo Krakan
Senior Software Engineerk.krakan [@] alumni.ubc.ca
I’m a senior software engineer who takes systems from idea to production: architecture, deployment, and observability. My recent work centers on AI-native applications: RAG pipelines, LLM integration, and real-time voice, plus full-stack SaaS. I self-host my own infrastructure, from email and private cloud to a GPU-accelerated local LLM stack. I studied Physics at the University of British Columbia, grounding my engineering in computational fundamentals.
Expertise
Proven track record building production AI systems, including retrieval-augmented generation with vector search and reranking, streaming LLM chat, and live speech-to-text. Comfortable both running these as distributed cloud services and self-hosting the entire stack.
Deep expertise in PostgreSQL, spanning semantic search with pgvector, full-text search, time-series compression, and query optimization. Skilled with Redis for caching, queues, and real-time messaging, and with MySQL and MongoDB where appropriate.
Strong quantitative and computational foundation grounded in physics, including numerical methods, Monte Carlo simulation, statistical modeling, and risk analysis, applied across physical simulations, streaming sensor analytics, and market volatility modeling.
Extensive hands-on experience with GNU/Linux and self-hosted infrastructure, from a personal email server and private cloud to monitoring and reverse proxies. Production experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and Terraform, plus Prometheus and Grafana for observability and Proxmox virtualization with GPU passthrough.
Technical Strengths
Languages
PythonTypeScriptJavaScriptPHPC#SQLBash
Frontend & Mobile
Vue 3ReactViteChart.jsCapacitor (mobile)
AI & Machine Learning
LLM integrationRAG pipelinesVector search & embeddingsPrompt engineeringAI agents & workflows
Databases & Data
PostgreSQLpgvectorRedisMySQLSQLiteMongoDBTime-series data
DevOps & Infrastructure
DockerKubernetesTerraformAzureTraefikGNU/LinuxProxmoxCloudflareDNSTCP/IP
Security
AuthenticationApplication hardeningTLS / Let's EncryptHMAC signingSSH / VPN
Blockchain
Wallet & node RPC integrationOn-chain data analysisDeFi / AMM mechanics
Backend
DjangoDjango REST FrameworkCeleryNode.jsLaravelWebSocketsREST APIs
Education
Bachelor of Science (BSc), Physics
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC
Diploma, Computer Systems Technology
British Columbia Institute of Technology
Burnaby, BC
Work Experience
Lead Software Engineer
Independent Personal Training Studio
Vancouver, BC
- • Architected and built a full-stack web platform for a personal training studio end to end, from a Django REST API backend to a Vue 3 single-page frontend, backed by PostgreSQL.
- • Built a production retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) knowledge base: Voyage AI embeddings in pgvector, hybrid semantic and full-text retrieval, cross-encoder reranking, and MMR diversity filtering, giving trainers an AI assistant grounded in their own documents.
- • Implemented streaming LLM chat over WebSockets with the Anthropic Claude API, including citations and injected domain context, plus AI-generated client check-in analysis offloaded to Celery for long-running jobs.
- • Integrated real-time voice with Deepgram: live speech-to-text with speaker diarization during check-ins, plus text-to-speech playback.
- • Added real-time collaborative document editing using Yjs CRDTs and a Hocuspocus server with live cursors, backed by Redis and PostgreSQL.
- • Built secure authentication from scratch: JWT with refresh-token rotation and blacklisting, TOTP two-factor, device management, and rate limiting with account lockout.
- • Integrated third-party wearable and body-scan providers to automatically sync client health metrics.
- • Deployed the full stack on Docker Swarm behind Traefik with TLS, instrumented with Prometheus, Grafana, and Sentry, with Celery and Redis for async processing, and shipped a companion Android app built with Capacitor.
Senior Software Engineer
B2B Energy Management and Sustainability
Vancouver, BC
- • Senior engineer on a B2B industrial IoT platform that ingests time-series data from sensors connected to industrial assets, processing and analyzing it at scale to generate actionable insights for manufacturers.
- • Built and extended the streaming data pipeline on Apache Kafka and Faust, joining multiple sensor streams to enable multi-sensor configurations while accurately calculating production quantities.
- • Designed and developed a Faust agent to compute live statistical data on high-volume sensor streams.
- • Built a compression system that reduced the time-series database table size by 60x and improved query execution speed by up to 90%, resolving a major latency problem in the reporting subsystem.
- • Built several Prometheus and Grafana dashboards to monitor the internal services that run the platform, including VerneMQ and Faust.
- • Designed an automated email/SMS notification subsystem using Azure Service Bus and Azure Functions.
- • Led the integration of the platform with Kepware KEPServer, letting clients use their existing Kepware installations instead of custom sensor solutions.
Full Stack Developer
B2B Software Development Company
Vancouver, BC
- • As part of the Product Support team, worked to develop and improve a wide variety of business-oriented web applications and business automation processes, mainly using tools such as PHP, JS, and MySQL.
- • Communicated directly with clients about the software development requirements when the need arise.
- • Worked in a team of two to develop a single page web application using React and Laravel, to implement a content management system for LinkedIn advertising campaigns.
- • Focus on testable, readable, and maintainable code in order to satisfy business requirements and reduce the possibility of error.
Software Engineer, R&D
Specialized Maritime Software Development Firm
Vancouver, BC
- • Designed a simulation of anchored container vessels based on leading edge research in the field.
- • Independently researched principles of marine engineering in preparation for design of a mooring analysis program to be used in container vessels.
- • Consulted with head engineer about marine engineering requirements.
- • Added relevant features as requested by the head engineer.
- • Programs developed in C#.
Owner and Head Technician
Krakan Computers
Vancouver, BC
- • Laptop/PC assembly/disassembly. Repair and cleaning.
- • Repair and cleaning. Virus removal. Backup and restore.
- • Network administration.
- • Consultations.
Academic Experience
Computational Physics
4th year computational physics course
University of British Columbia
- • Used Python to design physical simulations based on theoretical models.
- • Implemented algorithms for Monte Carlo simulations, numerical differentiation/integration, interpolation and root finding, and ordinary/partial differential equations.
Physics Research
4th year physics laboratory course
University of British Columbia
- • Performed three experiments in medical imaging including MRI and PET.
- • Used theoretical considerations to guide the planning and design of experiments.
- • Used signal processing instruments such as discriminators, amplifiers, etc, to extract useful data from inherently noisy measurements
- • Interpreted and modeled data using Monte-Carlo simulations, numerical integration, linear regression.
- • Wrote formal reports in LaTeX for each experiment in the Physical Reviews Letters (PRL) format.
Projects
EcoCity: The Game
A city building game focused primarily on the ecological aspects of running a city.
British Columbia Institute of Technology
- • Focused primarily on back-end requirements.
- • Designed the user database, developed a save game system, and other back-end functions.
- • Made use of Agile methodology to rapidly develop and deploy a working game in 5 weeks.
- • Software used: Unity, C#, PHP, MySQL
Probing New Physics Using the Standard Model Gauge Couplings and the LHC
Research presented at the Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Conference
University of British Columbia
- • Worked with a team to study a new theory and determine whether the theory could be proven or disproven using the Large Hadron Collider.
Volunteer Work
General Assistant
Free Geek Vancouver
Vancouver, BC
- • Dissasembly of large/small electronics into constituent parts for recycling.
- • Testing and repair/refurbishing of computer hardware to be sold in store.
- • Assembly of computer systems to be sold in store. Sorting and ordering incoming donations.
General Assistant
Physics Olympics
University of British Columbia
- • Collaborated with a group to generate physics quiz questions for students at the high school level.
- • Invigilated the quiz portion of the competition, offered encouragement to students as well as insight into the problems without giving away answers.
General Assistant
European Festival
Burnaby, BC
- • Organized the set-up of admission booths for logical and efficient service. Directed parking lot traffic.
- • Handled cash and credit/debit transactions as well as disgruntled visitors.
Contact
GitHub Repos
Software Development
All-in-One Coaching Platform
An all-in-one platform built to retire a personal training studio's patchwork of paid subscriptions. Coaching, scheduling, billing, payroll and messaging share one app and one database, with AI that leads client check-ins and answers from the studio's knowledge base.
Features:
- AI-led weekly client check-ins
- Hybrid RAG knowledge base with citations
- Live speech-to-text and voice playback
- MCP and OAuth API for AI agents
- Android and iOS apps from one codebase
AutoMoor
A mooring analysis system built for Autoship Systems Corp. This was a research and development project in which I independently developed a working prototype in eight months.
Features:
- Static and quasistatic mooring analyses
- Support for multi-segmented anchor cables
- Broken line analysis
- Seabed inclination
Special Thanks:
- Kal Uppal
EcoCity: The Game
Who can build the best ecocity? Is it you? Balance economy and ecology to build your own sustainable city. See the repo for more details.
Features:
- Randomly generated buildings and cars
- Pollution Effects and Resource Particles
- Sweet UI / UX and Lo-Fi Music
- High Degree of Decision Making Gameplay
- Expandable Playspace
Teammates:
- Richard Le
- Kristian Postnikoff
- Erik Golke
- Alex Park
Web Development
Math and Physics
Monte-Carlo simulation of the 2D Ising model
Probing new physics using the Standard Model gauge couplings and the LHC
Angular distribution of the cosmic ray muon flux at sea-level
2D cross-sectional NMR imaging with a simple MRI set-up
Solving the gravitational N-body problem using finite difference methods
Comparing decision trees vs. neural networks in aiding diagnosis of breast cancer
