Hello world! Starting up this blog section as a way to put pen to paper on the thoughts rattling around in my head. My hope is to share thoughts and formalize my opinions on what I’m seeing in my day to day as an engineering manager, as a new father to Mr Milo Frederick, and just as a human operating in what feels more and more like a chaotic world. I don’t expect this to be perfectly polished, but hope that at the very least I’ll be able to look back and see how my mind and heart evolved from its current state into what I’ll become.

A little about me: I’m an Engineering Manager based in Austin, TX. I’ve spent the last 7.5 years building mobile software — all at what has now become Jeppesen ForeFlight (initially ForeFlight). I currently lead iOS engineering for FliteDeck Pro, an enterprise aviation app used by commercial airlines globally. It’s a really challenging world that always has a new problem to solve, and I’ve gotten to work alongside some really wonderful, passionate people that take pride in our role in shaping the future of aviation software.

Like everyone else we’re currently figuring out how to blend AI into our everyday processes, while balancing that with our products have to work. Sacrificing stability for the sake of speed of innovation is a non-starter. I’ve read some good pieces on blending AI with brownfield codebases and mapping tribal knowledge at scale recently, but even before the AI craze that seemed to kick off this past winter it felt like guiding these teams was trying to turn a massive tanker; slowly, one degree at a time. We have a behemoth of a codebase that spans the history of iOS development, and there are more than a few problems to solve before we realize the ‘AI make us go faster’ utopia that is seemingly trumpeted around every board meeting these days.

At the same time, I’m also playing around with a few side projects as a fun way to dive deeper with these tools with a blank canvas. I built Student Hustle (iOS app connecting high school students with local job opportunities) from the ground up starting in 2024, where I was copy-pasting code snippets directly out of ChatGPT, and it’s now actively serving a private school community here in Austin. I’ve written a budget app (just for personal use!) that condenses the mess of Google Sheets and different apps that I’ve previously managed into a single place that my wife and I can coordinate on more easily. More to come in this space as I’m hoping to launch a couple more projects here in the short-term as well.

Beyond that, I’m just a guy who loves Jesus, loves solving problems, loves pretty much all sports (Houston/UT/Tottenham), and loves his new family of three!

Stay tuned for more updates and more thoughts on iOS development, engineering management, what I’m learning from shipping my own apps, and honestly whatever is occupying my thinking at the time. If any of that interests you, stick around or reach out! I’d love to connect.