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Craig Merry

Systems engineer · independent builder · deaf, accessibility-first

Sacramento, California· [email protected]· (916) 996-7105· github.com/craigm26

Systems engineer and independent builder. I ship complete software ecosystems as a one-person team by pairing with Claude Code — currently the OpenCastor robotics stack (11 repos, ~1,981 tests, 5 live EU AI Act-aligned registry endpoints). Fifteen years of enterprise platform experience underneath. Deaf developer; accessibility-first by default.

Experience

Systems Engineer

Northern California Power Agency 2022 — Present
  • Lead Microsoft 365 migrations and SPFx development to modernize legacy workflows for member utilities.
  • Build Power Platform automation that scales collaboration and governance.
  • Drive developer enablement and documentation across internal engineering.

AI Systems Engineer & Product Partner

Independent · OpenCastor Ongoing
  • Built and operate the OpenCastor ecosystem: ROBOT.md spec + CLI, MCP server, BYOK Claude Agent SDK dispatcher, Claude Code plugin marketplace, voice pendant, autoresearch eval harness.
  • Founded the Robot Registry Foundation — Ed25519-signed registrations and the first five EU AI Act-aligned compliance endpoints, live.
  • Built LiveCaptionsXR, Dronevade, BicycleRadar, and HeatCompass — accessibility, edge AI, and safety systems.

Application Administrator Lead

California Earthquake Authority 2018 — 2022
  • Built PowerShell + Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines; cut release time by ~75%.
  • Drove migration strategy, backlog grooming, and stakeholder enablement across IT, compliance, and field teams.
  • Delivered executive dashboards and KPI reporting to prioritize collaboration features.

Founder & Product Lead

Beacon Safety Co. 2014 — 2016
  • Created LiDAR-based hazard-detection prototypes; won Startup Weekend Sacramento (hardware).
  • Incubated MapMe.io and BikeBus.app — discovery, MVP launches, analytics instrumentation.
Earlier

Apple (Ops Lead) · Purple Communications (analytics) · Sutter Health (SharePoint lead) · State of California (automation & training).