Karl Smeltzer
Specialist Toolchain Engineer at Canonical
Hillsboro, Oregon, United States
Summary
🤩
Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolKarl Smeltzer is a Specialist Toolchain Engineer with 11 years of experience bridging research-grade programming language theory and production systems engineering. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and has applied deep expertise in compilers, type systems, interpreters, and binary/static analysis across roles at Galois, Zapier, Vanta, and now Canonical. Comfortable from hardware and assembly through kernels to high-level languages, he ships robust toolchains and systems for auth, billing, and platform infrastructure. Karl’s background combines formal verification research with hands-on systems work, making him adept at turning rigorous correctness ideas into practical, deployable tooling. Based in Hillsboro, Oregon, he quietly blends academic depth with product-focused delivery, often surfacing subtle correctness gains that reduce long-term operational risk.
11 years of coding experience
14 years of employment as a software developer
Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Computing and Software Systems, Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Computing and Software Systems at University of WashingtonDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Computer Science, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Computer Science at Oregon State University
English, German
Github Skills (200)
skeletal-animation10
vim10
scripting-language10
visual-studio10
game-development10
spine10
imperative10
datalog10
runtimes10
game-engine10
animation10
linux10
editor10
emacs10
electron10
Programming languages (17)
Github contributions (5)
karljs/emacs.d
Aug 2017 - Jun 2020
Contributions:57 pushes, 1 branch in 2 years 10 months
karljs/vis
Jan 2018 - Aug 2022
Contributions:27 pushes, 3 branches in 4 years 7 months
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