Hi, I'm Michael · independent software & AI engineer

Senior engineering for research, healthcare, and product teams.

For more than fifteen years I've designed, built, and looked after software where the data is sensitive and the uptime matters: first inside Virginia Commonwealth University's research enterprise, now applied AI in a health system, plus products I've shipped on my own. I take a small number of contracts at a time, so you work directly with me from the first call to the day you take over.

Projects
Now · September 2026

What I'm working on

Current contract2026 – present

Virginia Center on AgingVirginia Commonwealth University · Richmond, VA

Contract software engineering for the Virginia Center on Aging, the center established at VCU by the Virginia General Assembly in 1978 to advance research, education, and services for older Virginians.

  • Bringing fifteen years of VCU research-software experience to the Center's programs
  • Study data systems, REDCap, and secure handling of participant information
  • Engaged through my independent practice; scope details on request
Day roleCurrent

AI Engineer IIVCU Health System

Applying language models in a clinical setting, where correctness, privacy, and auditability are requirements rather than goals.

BuildingVortex v2.6.0 · Sep 23

Vortex & Nexus 51My game and engine, plus my own platform for deploying, testing, and playing it · games.anhhi.net

Chapter Two of Vortex is in progress, and Nexus 51 just gained roles and permissions, tester builds, and a news feed.

Selected work

Systems I designed, built, and still run

Every project here was taken from an empty repository to production by me. Source walkthroughs and live demos are available on request; some work is under NDA.

Featured2026 · Game & engine

VortexA couch co-op space shooter, and the engine it runs on

Up to four players share one screen against enemy waves, vortexes, and multi-part bosses. I write the design, code, art pipeline, and music myself. It began as a Python and Pygame prototype; I then ported the whole game to my own C++23 engine on SDL3 with a Swift shell for iOS, so it now runs natively on the iPhone as well as on desktop and in the browser.

Release
2.6.0 · 244 commits since April
Platforms
macOS · Windows · Linux · iOS · Web
Pipeline
16-bit, 46-colour palette
Testing
72 headless regression scenarios
C++23SDL3SwiftWebAssemblyPythonBlenderCMakeDocker
Play Vortex on games.anhhi.net

Browser play, desktop and iOS builds, and the full changelog live on my Nexus 51 portal. It's invite-only for now, so ask me for an account.

2026 – present · Games platformIn progress

Nexus 51My own game deployment, testing, and playing platform

Where my games ship, get tested, and get played. I deploy each release as a playable browser build, hand desktop and iOS tester builds out behind role-based access control with logged downloads, and post each game's changelog straight from its release. A news feed with photo galleries and a token-authenticated publishing API keeps players up to date.

Visit games.anhhi.net →
Next.js 16TypeScriptSQLiteDockerRBAC
2025 – present · SaaSFounder

ZenveeBeauty commerce and shop operations platform

Customer marketplace, partner-shop SaaS, and technician workspace in one system. A real-time booking engine with database-enforced double-booking protection, a grounded AI assistant that books only after in-chat consent, Stripe Identity verification, and role-scoped analytics across web, iOS, and macOS.

Visit portal.zenvee.net →
.NETSwiftUIPostgresKafkaStripeKubernetes
2011 – 2026 · Research platformVCU

REDCap & research computingData capture for 7,000+ researchers and clinicians

Installed, migrated, hardened, and upgraded four REDCap servers and the web, database, and HPC infrastructure around them. Built custom External Modules, secure-ingestion tooling for the Horizon research computing platform, and supported grant-funded studies (R01, R34, R18, multi-site trials) from requirements through data release.

Visit redcap.vcu.edu →
REDCapPHPC# / .NETMS SQLRHELAzure DevOps
Open source · .NET library60,000+ downloads

REDCap API LibraryC# client for the REDCap API, .NET Standard 2.0

Lets .NET applications import and export records and call the rest of the REDCap API. Published for the research community on NuGet and downloaded more than 60,000 times by institutions running REDCap.

Visit nuget.org/packages/RedcapAPI →
C#.NET Standard 2.0NuGetOpen source
2026 · Community platformLive

Continue?Game news, reviews, database, and community

Editorial and community site with a curated game database, threaded discussion, and a moderation workflow (draft, pending, published) behind a role-gated admin panel that re-checks authorization on every server action.

Visit continue.anhhi.net →
Next.js 16TypeScriptPrisma 7PostgresNextAuth
VCU internal · REDCap modulePHP

REDCap Access ManagerAccess control for VCU's REDCap instance

A PHP External Module built for VCU's REDCap that gives administrators one place to review, grant, and revoke access across research projects. One of several custom modules and hooks I built and maintained for VCU researchers.

PHPREDCap EM frameworkAccess control
Ongoing · InfrastructureSelf-hosted

Production homelabThe platform everything above runs on

Proxmox virtualization under a Talos Kubernetes cluster, a private Harbor registry, self-hosted Git with CI runners, and Postgres, Redis, and Kafka. Everything is defined as code, so a client deployment is a repeatable script rather than a weekend.

KubernetesTalosProxmoxHarbornginx
Working together

One engineer for the whole lifecycle

No handoffs between a design shop, a dev shop, and an ops shop. Every build moves through the same four stages; small projects take weeks, larger ones run in phases with a working release at the end of each.

Step 1 · Discovery

Scope it honestly

A short, paid discovery produces a written spec, a fixed price or phased estimate, and a list of what is out of scope. For research and clinical groups, data governance and IRB-aware handling start at the first meeting.

Step 2 · Build

Ship working software weekly

Web, iOS and macOS, and backend services in the stack your team already runs, with AI features only where they earn their place: grounded assistants, document extraction, search, and automation.

Step 3 · Deploy

Run it in production

Containerized and deployed to your cloud, your hardware, or a managed host, with CI, backups, metrics, and alerting from day one. Not a demo on a laptop.

Step 4 · Handoff

Leave you able to run it

Runbooks, architecture notes, admin training, and clean repository ownership. An optional retainer covers changes and on-call, on your terms.

AdvisoryHourly architecture reviews, AI feasibility checks, and second opinions on a build in flight.
Fixed-scope buildA priced statement of work for one application, delivered in phases you can see.
RetainerOngoing changes, support, and operations for systems I built or inherited.
Capabilities

From a blank repository to a monitored system

Fifteen years across PHP, C#, Swift, Python, C++, and TypeScript.

Applied AI & data

  • Grounded assistantsRetrieval, consent gates, safety checks
  • Document & form extractionClinical, research, and operational
  • Evaluation harnessesRegression suites, prompt versioning
  • Claude, OpenAI, self-hosted modelsMCP tools and agents
  • Research data systemsREDCap, External Modules, pipelines

Product engineering

  • Web applicationsNext.js, React, Angular, Blazor, Symfony
  • Native appsSwiftUI for iOS and macOS, .NET MAUI
  • Real-time & graphicsC++, SDL3, WebAssembly
  • Backends & APIs.NET, PHP, Node, Python, Go, Rust
  • Payments, identity, rolesStripe, SSO, admin panels built in

Platform & operations

  • Containers & KubernetesDocker, Talos, Helm, Kustomize
  • CI/CD & registriesAzure DevOps, GitHub Actions, Gitea, Harbor
  • DatabasesPostgres, MS SQL Server, MySQL, Redis, Kafka
  • Cloud or on-premAWS (certified), Azure, GCP, your hardware
  • Security & complianceHardening, DR planning, Security+
Experience

Engineer by trade, operator by habit

I've trained doctors, nurses, and students on the tools I built, and I write the manuals. If your team needs software they can operate after I leave, that's the job I'm built for.

Contract engineer · Virginia Center on Aging, VCUSoftware engineering through my independent practice.

AI Engineer II · VCU Health SystemApplied AI engineering in a healthcare setting.

Founder & engineer · ZenveeDesigned, built, and operate the platform, apps, and infrastructure.

Senior Software Engineer · Virginia Commonwealth UniversityREDCap, Horizon research computing, enterprise web platforms, CI/CD.

Lead Software Developer · Virginia Commonwealth UniversityLed a small team; research portals, identity systems, 11+ servers.