lee@applied-science:~/cv
portfolio-render --profile=ai-vfx-systems --palette=80/20

~/lee $ whoami --high-signal

Lee Penkman

Machine learning engineer, VFX tools builder, and product founder working across generative AI, graphics, infrastructure, and developer-facing systems. I like shipping useful software: products that people can try, repos that other builders can fork, and pipelines that survive real production load.

leepenkman@gmail.com lee.app.nz github.com/lee101 AI / ML VFX / Graphics Systems / Product
CUDA/Triton kernels AI coding agents VFX production tools R2/GCS infrastructure Go/Python/TypeScript systems Generative media products Model gateways Semantic memory CUDA/Triton kernels AI coding agents VFX production tools R2/GCS infrastructure Go/Python/TypeScript systems Generative media products Model gateways Semantic memory
AI coding platform

Codex Infinity

Autonomous coding-agent platform with cloud fleet orchestration, GitHub integration, streamed sessions, CI repair loops, and multi-model support.

codex-infinity.com
Model gateway

OpenPaths

OpenAI-compatible gateway across chat, image, video, music, speech, transcription, and embeddings, with provider routing and reasoning controls.

openpaths.iorepo
Acceleration

CuteDSL

Custom CUDA/Triton kernels, fused model pipelines, Chronos-2 acceleration, and an API surface for fast AI inference and training.

cutedsl.app.nzcutedsl.ccrepo
Unified AI API

Text Generator

Text, speech, vision, code generation, prompt tooling, OCR/caption enrichment, and self-hostable model-serving infrastructure.

text-generator.iorepo
Speech control

DictatorFlow

Desktop and browser dictation: hotkey recording, local GPU Parakeet ONNX transcription, cloud fallback, command mode, and transcript history.

dictatorflow.comrepo
3D tools

SimplexGen

3D generation and editing app with a Go server, Vite frontend, local asset indexing, mesh tools, generation queues, billing, and R2 storage.

simplexgen.com
Game

Ethereal Storm

Go/Ebiten twin-stick bullet hell with co-op, procedural terrain, wave survival, bosses, spell combinations, progression, and dynamic audio.

etherealstorm.app.nz
Hiring / marketplace

Hires.nz

Recruitment and product experiments in the same workspace as SimplexGen, with deployed web assets and Go-backed services.

hires.nz
Voice/product comms

Ring.nz

Modern web communication product with auth, checkout, chat/call UI, Go backend checks, and frontend verification workflows.

ring.nzrepo
AI memory

GoBrain

Hybrid semantic and keyword memory store for agents, with 150K+/sec CPU embeddings, MCP tools, knowledge graph links, and CLI workflows.

gobrain.app.nzrepo
Forecasting

Stock Prediction

Auto-research and RL trading experiments over Alpaca/Binance, selector evaluation, Chronos-style forecasting, and realistic portfolio probes.

repo
AI data analyst

Helix

AI data scientist product for interpreting datasets, generating insights, and automating reporting with model-backed analysis workflows.

helix.app.nz
Experiment optimization

OptimizeFlow

Optimization tooling with neural bandits, tracking, metrics, backend SDKs, personalization, and experiment-flow service code.

optimizeflow.com brand / local codebase

Stable Diffusion Server

Production-ready image generation server with Flux/SDXL, ControlNet, inpainting, R2/GCS storage, FastAPI, and Gradio tooling.

netwrck/stable-diffusion-server

CuteDSL

AI kernel and model acceleration work spanning Triton, CUDA, torch.compile, and equivalence-focused benchmarking.

lee101/cutedsl

Text Generator

Self-hostable API-compatible text, speech, vision, OCR, prompt, and model-routing stack.

lee101/text-generator.io

GoBrain

Agent memory with Postgres, semantic search, BM25, RRF fusion, MCP server, REST API, and CLI.

lee101/gobrain

Ring.nz

Web communications app with Go backend, Vite frontend, deployment guardrails, and visual verification.

lee101/ringnz

Stock Prediction

RL and forecasting research code for market prediction, simulations, selectors, backtests, and agentic training runs.

lee101/stock-prediction
2025 - Present

Founder / Builder - Applied AI Product Ecosystem

Independent product and open-source work across AI gateways, coding agents, speech tooling, model acceleration, media generation, 3D tools, games, and forecasting.

  • Shipping productized AI infrastructure rather than demos: billing, auth, API docs, queues, monitoring, provider routing, and deployment workflows.
  • Mix of Go, Python, CUDA/Triton, TypeScript/React, FastAPI, Postgres, R2/GCS, and local GPU pipelines.
Aug 2023 - Aug 2025

Senior Machine Learning Engineer - Microsoft Clipchamp

Worked on video creation/editing ML features in collaboration with research teams, bringing AI features into a production creative product.

  • AI video creation, AI video editing, background removal, AI VFX, NLP, PyTorch, Hugging Face, and ffmpeg-heavy workflows.
Aug 2021 - Jul 2022

Founding Machine Learning Engineer - Compose.ai YC W21

First ML engineer for an AI writing assistant, improving product quality and the model/data processes behind it.

  • Autocomplete, rewriting, spell checking, dataset curation, bias reduction, chatbot/assistant work, training pipelines, and LLM inference acceleration.
May 2019 - Aug 2021

Image Processing / Machine Learning Engineer - Canva

Delivered image processing and ML capabilities for photo editing, after earlier security engineering work.

  • Background removal, object detection, training data pipelines, GLSL/OpenGL, PyTorch, Terraform, AWS, Docker, phishing detection, incident response, and CI/CD security.
Sep 2015 - May 2018

Motion R&D Technical Director - Weta Digital

Supported animation, motion editing, crowd simulation, mocap, and virtual artists with production tools and reliability engineering.

  • Scheduling, statistics, ML/big-data analytics, data warehousing, artist workflow tools, image processing, camera warping, publishing/versioning, and distributed 3D data pipelines.
2010 - 2015

Earlier Engineering - Fairfax, .nz Registry, Infoxchange, 99designs, Kiwiplan, University of Auckland

Tech lead, developer, intern, and teaching assistant roles across high-traffic media, DNS registry analytics, government service maps, ecommerce, BI, and CS teaching.

  • AWS, Django, Rails, Python, PHP, Go, JavaScript, Hadoop/Hive/HBase, Scala/Spark, Postgres, Docker, D3, ETL, and test automation.

BSc Computer Science - University of Auckland

  • Completed Computer Science in two and a half years.
  • A/A+ dominant record across programming, algorithms, distributed systems, AI, graphics, operating systems, databases, and computational science.
  • Teaching Assistant for Java, Python, and practical computing; genuinely enjoys teaching people how computers work.
  • Top in class for COMPSCI 369 Computational Science; J.C. Butcher Award in Theoretical Computer Science; Kiwiplan Scholarship for excellence in CS/Software Engineering.
  • First place in CS101 game programming; first place in CS320 fastest C quickselect; 6th in the 2012 New Zealand Programming Competition tertiary open.
Expand selected academic results

Core highlights from the old transcript, shown for evidence without letting the education section dominate the CV.

COMPSCI 101 Principles of ProgrammingA+ COMPSCI 105 Principles of Computer ScienceA+ COMPSCI 220 Algorithms and Data StructuresA+ COMPSCI 225 Discrete StructuresA+ COMPSCI 230 Software ConstructionA+ COMPSCI 335 Distributed ObjectsA+ COMPSCI 369 Computational ScienceA+ COMPSCI 350 Mathematical FoundationsA COMPSCI 367 Artificial IntelligenceA COMPSCI 373 Computer GraphicsA COMPSCI 340 Operating SystemsA- COMPSCI 351 Database SystemsA-

Patent

AI ensembles for image background removal.

patents.google.com

Technical Range

  • PyTorch, Hugging Face, CUDA, Triton, ONNX Runtime
  • Go, Python, TypeScript, React, FastAPI, Django
  • Postgres, R2/GCS, AWS/GCP, Docker, Terraform

Creative Range

  • Image/video generation and editing
  • VFX, motion, mocap, crowd simulation tools
  • Games, 3D assets, graphics pipelines, procedural systems