J Stinnett
Research Associate
Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Summary
🤩
Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolJ Stinnett is a research associate and seasoned software engineer with 16 years’ experience building malleable, humane computing tools that let domain experts own their workflows. Based in Glasgow, they blend academic research (PhD work on reliable debugging and malleable software at King’s College London) with hands-on engineering leadership across Element and Mozilla, where they rewrote parts of Firefox’s CSS engine in Rust and led developer tools efforts. Their open source footprint spans high-profile projects—Racket, Servo, Zotero, Tor, Matrix, and Compiler Explorer—contributing everything from build systems and CSS parsing to crypto/backup fixes and UI improvements. Comfortable across front-end, back-end, full-stack and build infrastructure, they repeatedly focus on developer ergonomics, reproducible builds, and safer concurrent systems. Notably, they bridge research and practice by turning formal debugging ideas into practical toolchain and build enhancements used in large projects.
16 years of coding experience
18 years of employment as a software developer
Professional Master's - MEE, Electrical Engineering, Professional Master's - MEE, Electrical Engineering at Rice UniversityThe Seven Hills SchoolDoctor of Philosophy - PhD, Computer Science, Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Computer Science at King's College London
Stackoverflow
840reputation
24kreached
19answers
2questions
Github Skills (73)
servo10
testing10
racket10
c1110
interface-design10
c1710
network-protocol10
build-automation10
encryption10
javascript10
desktop-application10
devtools10
uid10
front-end-development10
html10
Programming languages (36)
Github contributions (5)
matrix-org/matrix.to
Nov 2018 - Nov 2020
A simple stateless privacy-protecting URL redirecting service for Matrix
Role in this project:
Front-end Developer
Front-end DeveloperContributions:12 reviews, 27 commits, 9 PRs in 2 years
Contributions summary:J primarily focused on enhancing the user interface and user experience of the `matrix.to` project. Their work involved fixing UI elements, such as wrapping in the UI, making improvements to the client selection, as well as creating and restyling UI components. The contributions included adapting the site for different browsers and platforms and providing better usability, such as copying invites or accessing details.
statelesssocial-network-analysisprivacydiasporamatrix
element-hq/element-web
Oct 2018 - Mar 2022
A glossy Matrix collaboration client for the web.
Role in this project:Front-end Developer
Front-end DeveloperContributions:2 releases, 119 reviews, 602 commits in 3 years 5 months
Contributions summary:J primarily contributed to the front-end development of the Element Web application, making multiple UI-focused changes. Their work included implementing new components, updating existing ones, and addressing issues related to UI design. They worked to improve usability by aligning the menu and addressing design feedback. The user demonstrates an understanding of React, component structure, and UI layout.
javascriptcollaborationmatrix-collaborationkaiosmatrix
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