About Tom Birmingham
Senior Software Engineer | Security-Minded Builder | Homelab Tinkerer
I am a senior software engineer with a long-running interest in security, systems, self-hosting, and the places where software meets the physical world. My path has not been perfectly linear, but it has always centered on curiosity, hands-on problem solving, and building things that hold up in real use.
BirmTech is my personal lab notebook: part portfolio, part homelab, part learning log. I use it to document what I am building, hardening, studying, and figuring out along the way.
Early Hacker Roots
My interest in hacking started before I had the vocabulary for it: building a LEGO button-presser to automate slot spins in Pokemon Blue on Game Boy. A few years later, modding the original Xbox dropped me into IRC channels, homebrew software, Linux installs, FTP workflows, and hardware mods.
That early curiosity still drives how I learn today: take things apart, understand the system, rebuild it better, and keep notes for the next pass.
Professional Journey
I started in Software QA, where I learned how requirements, testing, release readiness, customer expectations, and production support all fit together. That foundation still shapes the way I write software: quality is not a final step, it is part of every technical decision.
I later moved into lead software engineering roles, building data-driven systems for manufacturing and other operational environments. I have owned projects from planning and architecture through implementation, stakeholder communication, deployment, and long-term support.
Current Work
Today I work as a senior software engineer building data-driven systems in a highly regulated environment. My work involves secure software delivery, operational data, long-lived production systems, and the engineering discipline required when reliability, maintainability, and trust matter.
- I build end-to-end solutions across requirements analysis, system design, implementation, database work, frontend delivery, and production support.
- I care about secure defaults, practical architecture, clear communication, and software that can be maintained after the first successful release.
- I also try to mentor where I can, carrying forward lessons from my time as a teaching assistant and from the engineers who helped shape my own career.
Education and Research
- B.S. in Computer Science, Southern Connecticut State University (Academic Excellence in Computer Science)
- M.S. in Computer Science, Southern Connecticut State University
- Award-winning thesis research applying machine learning to child safety through touchscreen gesture analysis and feature-level fusion
Thesis publication: ProQuest
Currently Studying
I am focused on cybersecurity practice through Capture the Flag challenges, especially cryptography, web, open source intelligence, and reversing. I am also building deeper systems knowledge through Unix, Bash, Linux, C programming, and APUE-style study.
Alongside that, I am exploring agentic engineering, CLI-based developer workflows, and practical uses of AI for software engineering. Local BSidesCT events helped reignite this security-focused chapter of my journey. See more from BSidesCT here: http://www.BSidesCT.org/
What You Will Find Here
- Notes from my self-hosting and infrastructure work
- CTF writeups and cybersecurity study notes
- Device reviews from a practical engineering perspective
- Experiments with AI-assisted and agentic development
- Reflections on software engineering, architecture, and secure delivery
Self-Hosting Lab
BirmTech is also my personal infrastructure lab: a static site served from a hardened Dockerized NGINX setup on Ubuntu Server.
- 2012 Mac mini running Ubuntu Server
- NGINX in Docker with hardened configuration and least privilege
- Static-site architecture for speed and reduced attack surface
- Automated deployments with health checks and rollback strategy
- Monitoring and notifications for container vulnerabilities, access attempts, and deployment events
Outside of Engineering
I enjoy working on cars, skateboarding, hiking, trying new restaurants, and playing games with my girlfriend, Kelly. We have a gray tuxedo cat named Max, who has a bad attitude and zero self-doubt.
Work With Me
If you need help with a technical project, consulting, system design, or troubleshooting, reach out at tom@birmtech.com.