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Karl Gray is a Software Engineer who enjoys learning and challenging himself based in Northern Ireland. #

About #

👨 I’m a versatile and inquisitive individual with a passion for learning and technology. My strengths lie in technologies relating to infrastructure, automation, machine learning, security and software development.

💻️ I am experienced with containerisation and orchestration (Docker and Kubernetes) as well as frontend and backend development in .NET (C#, JavaScript and SQL). I also have experience in Python, machine learning, systems and network administration, as well as software-defined networking (SDN).

📖 Currently, I’m learning more about cloud technologies and practices (DevOps, GitOps, Kubernetes and Infrastructure as Code) with a view to understand more about implementing these into a production environment as well as using them in my own personal projects.

Experience #

Software Engineer at Exitex Ltd #

June 2021 — Present | Dundalk, Ireland

In this role, I have been involved in:

  • Development of bespoke systems and webapps for internal company use as part of the IT team utilising my programming knowledge and ability to work in a team
  • Administration of IT infrastructure including VMware vSphere + vSAN, Windows Servers, Fortinet firewalls, switches and Veeam backups
  • Management of corporate devices such as client computers and handheld scanners
  • Supervision of software engineering placement students enhancing my experience in a leadership role
  • Adapting to changes in customs clearance procedures and compliance paperwork

As a confident public speaker, on the 9th of March 2023 at the Evolve - Digital Transformation for Local Businesses event, I delivered an engaging and informative presentation exploring Exitex Ltd’s digitalisation journey. As a member of the panel of speakers, I answered the audience’s questions with clear explanations.

Placement Software Engineer at Exitex Ltd #

May 2019 — September 2020 | Dundalk, Ireland

In this role, I was involved in:

  • Development of bespoke systems and webapps for internal company use as part of the IT team utilising my programming knowledge and ability to work in a team
  • Learning about business processes to then act as a driving force in implementing more efficient systems

Software Engineer Intern at Exitex Ltd #

May 2018 — June 2018 | Dundalk, Ireland

Although my time in this position was brief, I was introduced to .NET (specifically ASP.NET MVC) and got to develop my first programs using it.

Part Time Office & Warehouse Work at Exitex Ltd #

June 2014 — September 2018 | Dundalk, Ireland

As an adaptable summer employee, I worked in several departments across the business which included working in the warehouse team forklift driving and packaging of orders.

Additionally, working in the accounting and purchasing departments gave me wider experience in business management.

Education #

BEng Computer Science including Professional Experience at Queen’s University Belfast #

September 2017 — July 2021 | Belfast, UK

  • Through hard work and determination, I achieved a First Class Honours degree
  • Activities and societies:
    • iLive Society
    • QUB Mountaineering Club
  • My final year project investigated the use of a convolutional neural network (CNN) to detect distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in a software-defined network (SDN).
  • Degree Plus earned through iLive Society.

Student at Abbey Christian Brothers’ Grammar School #

2010 — 2017 | Newry, UK

A-Level:

  • Mathematics - A
  • ICT - A
  • Physics - B
  • Biology (AS-Level) - B

GCSE:

  • A*: 3
  • A: 4
  • B: 4

Skills #

Highlights of my skills can be found below:

  • Kubernetes
  • DevOps
  • Containerisation
  • Linux
  • Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)
  • C#
  • Git
  • Documentation
  • Cloud Computing
  • Systems and Network Administration
  • Machine Learning
  • JavaScript
  • SQL
  • Python
  • Customs Clearance

Certifications & Courses #

Certifications #

CKA: Certified Kubernetes Administrator #

CKAD: Certified Kubernetes Application Developer #

Lean Manufacturing Tools #

Courses #

Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) with Practice Tests #

Kubernetes Certified Application Developer (CKAD) with Tests #

GIT: Advanced commands #

Docker and Kubernetes: The Complete Guide #

Projects #

Raspberry Pi Cluster Home Lab #

Leveraging 5x Raspberry Pi 4 Model B’s to create a self-hosted Kubernetes cluster for running applications for my own use and learning.

I’m currently in the process of setting up a Kubernetes cluster on the Raspberry Pi’s through the use of Ansible and Kubeadm. I am aiming to set up this website and run it on the cluster along with the services mentioned above.

Raspberry Pi Services #

I currently have a number of services running on a single Raspberry Pi through the use of Docker Compose and 1Password (for secret management).

Services running include:

  • Traefik (reverse proxy for services and assigns TLS certificates for services through the use of Let’s Encrypt and ACME protocol)
  • Homepage (dashboard for services)
  • Pi-hole
  • Homebridge

Hobbies #

📚️ I love furthering my knowledge in numerous areas including technology, history, geography, space and all things general knowledge!

📽️ I am a huge lover of films. There are few things I like more than watching a great film and experiencing new ones. Some of my favourite films would be 🚀Interstellar and ⚔️ Lord of the Rings. The soundtrack of a film (or any piece of media) for me is a huge part of what makes it truly great!

🏋️ Maintaining my fitness in my free time by working out, hiking, walking and also the occasional run.

🎮️ Video games for me have always been something I’ve really enjoyed (for similar reasons to films) since I was young. I often find myself revisiting old games I played when I was young for the nostalgia! Some of my childhood favourites would be 🐉 Spyro the Dragon, 🔧 Ratchet and Clank, 🤵‍♂️ James Bond 007: Nightfire and 🕑️ TimeSplitters 2.

Karl Gray
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Karl Gray
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