About
Declan Ross
Software Engineer
027 427 3248 · dec500star@gmail.com · github.com/ppw0021 · djross.co.nz
About
Software engineer and embedded systems enthusiast based in Auckland, New Zealand. I graduated from AUT in 2025 with a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Software Engineering, winning the ECMS Excellence Award for my OMRON Digital Twin project. I currently work as a Sales & Solutions Engineer at OMRON and co-founded ElevenForty, a small software and embedded systems company. I enjoy building things end-to-end, from custom PCB hardware and embedded firmware to cloud-deployed full-stack applications.
Education
Auckland University of Technology - Completed 2025 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) - Software Engineering, Minor Digital Services
- GPA in the First Class Honours range
Relevant Coursework: Software Development Practice · Object Oriented Programming · Data Structures & Algorithms · Contemporary Issues in Software Engineering · Operating Systems · Database System Design · Software Architecture · Highly Secure Systems · Human Computer Interaction
Howick College - Class of 2020
- University Entrance - 2020
- Academic Merit Award - Digital Technology Electronics - 2019, 2018, 2017
- ASB Brightsparks Competition - Finalist - 2018
- Academic Award - Merit Endorsement Level 1 NCEA - 2018
- Top in Class - Digital Technology Electronics - 2016
Awards & Certifications
ECMS Excellence Award - AUT Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Top project award for the OMRON Digital Twin - 10 December 2025
In Progress
- AWS Certified Developer Associate (DVA-C02)
- EMA Health & Safety Qualification - Stage 1
Work Experience
OMRON - Sales & Solutions Engineer
June 2025 - Present
Progressed from Customer & Technical Support Intern into a full-time Sales & Solutions Engineer role. Responsibilities span technical pre-sales, customer support, and internal R&D projects.
- Built a Label Generator application (React + Vite, Python backend) that autonomously produces product labels from OMRON eStore data, replacing a manual Word-based workflow used by the sales team.
- OMRON Digital Twin project: a Unity-rendered virtual twin of an ABB YuMi robot communicating real-time joint positions via a Raspberry Pi WebSocket bridge over the internet - this project won the ECMS Excellence Award.
- Developed multiple customer-facing Proof-of-Concept demonstrations across a range of OMRON automation and sensing technologies.
- Extensive 3D CAD design and 3D printing for OMRON product applications and demonstrations.
ElevenForty - Co-Founder
January 2025 - Present
Co-founded a small software and embedded systems company with a friend, taking on client work on weekends alongside full-time employment.
- Confidential SaaS Platform (NDA): Fully deployed on AWS. Stack includes JWT authentication, PostgreSQL with Prisma ORM, Vite + TypeScript frontend, and ExpressJS backend.
- ARX - GPS Tracking & Recovery System: End-to-end embedded and cloud system built from scratch. Custom PCB design, Nordic NRF9151 programmed in C, NB-IoT/LTE-M connectivity, AWS cloud backend, React + Vite + TypeScript frontend with ExpressJS.
- Actively exploring software partnerships with not-for-profit organisations.
Farmers Trading Company - Sales Consultant
March 2021 - September 2025
Consistently upheld a high standard of individualised customer service in a fast-paced retail environment.
Projects
University
SPEED App Agile team project using the MERN/MNNN stack (MongoDB, NextJS, NodeJS). An interactive web database for engineering content with authentication, moderation, and role-based access.
Lifestyle City Game Multiplayer game built with Unity, PostgreSQL, NodeJS, and ExpressJS. Responsible for the full backend, database architecture, and game-server integration.
IoT Smart Alarm Clock Sleep-optimising smart alarm with hardware programming (display, audio, visual feedback) integrated with a NX backend.
Parking Pi Group project - networked system across 3 Raspberry Pis on a local network. Automated parking lot management using computer vision (OpenCV, SSIM), Tesseract OCR for license plate recognition, servo-controlled boom gates, and a Flask web portal for payments and administration.
Personal
ARX - GPS/GNSS Tracker (In Progress) Custom NRF9151-based embedded device with PCB design, LTE-M/NB-IoT connectivity, and full-stack AWS cloud deployment. See also: ElevenForty.
DIY Rotary Encoder Custom 3D-printable optical encoder with 180 PPR using IR LED pairs for direction detection. Built because commercial alternatives were too expensive or low-resolution.
Gyro-Mouse Wearable device for wireless computer control via IMU gesture recognition.
Laser Tag System Arduino-based IR laser tag phasers with a custom device-to-device communication protocol.
DIY Split Ergonomic Keyboard Custom split keyboard using three microcontrollers communicating over multiple protocols, optimised for comfort and efficiency.
For more details on my projects, click Projects above.
References
Available on request.
Technical Skills
| Area | Technologies |
|---|---|
| Languages | JavaScript · TypeScript · Python · Java · C/C++/C# · Bash · SQL |
| Frontend | React · Vite · NextJS · HTML/CSS |
| Backend | NodeJS · ExpressJS · NestJS |
| Databases | PostgreSQL · MongoDB · Prisma ORM |
| Cloud & DevOps | AWS · Vercel · GitHub Actions · Git · Postman |
| Embedded & Hardware | Nordic NRF9151 · Arduino · Raspberry Pi · PCB Design · LTE-M/NB-IoT · Electronics |
| Other | Unity · Industrial Automation · 3D CAD · 3D Printing · Network Config · Encryption · Server Hardware |