Brandon Abbenhuis

Hi, I'm Brandon.

Software Engineer building platforms from idea to production.

Software engineer who works across the whole stack: embedded protocols, mobile SDKs, backends, and the infrastructure underneath them.

About

A bit about me

I'm a software engineer at Dopple Technologies. For the past few years I've helped take a wearable platform from prototype to production, which meant touching pretty much everything: BLE communication protocols, native SDKs, backend services, and the infrastructure behind them.

I like working near the edge between hardware and software, and I try to keep complex systems simple enough that other teams can build on top of them without having to ask me first. Outside of work I'm usually playing video games, 3D printing something, or automating another part of my house.

Based in

Groningen area, Netherlands

Currently

Software Engineer @ Dopple Technologies

Speaking

Dutch, English, German

Experience

Where I've worked

  1. Software Engineer · Dopple Technologies

    Apr 2023 — Present

    Assen, Netherlands

    • Designed and built the software for Dopple's next-generation chipset, from the architecture down to the implementation.
    • Built the Android and iOS SDKs, plus the backend for SDK management and firmware distribution, and an admin portal to manage it all.
    • Designed and run a distributed, high-availability MongoDB cluster on Hetzner Cloud.
    • Created a new communication protocol between chipset and mobile apps, so embedded and app teams didn't have to solve integration from scratch every time.
    • Built an internal app that auto-detects Dopple hardware, so new hardware and features can be tested independently. It later became the base for client-specific apps like myProtect.
    • Develop and maintain the consumer app MyEarsOnly, along with a platform for configuring and producing personalized products.
  2. Junior Software Engineer · Dopple Technologies

    Mar 2021 — Apr 2023

    Emmen / Assen, Netherlands

    • Built mobile apps that connect to Dopple's Bluetooth wearables.
    • Built Running Buddy for my graduation project: a running coach app that pairs with Jaybird Vista 2 earbuds and turns your running data into training advice.
    • Converted to a permanent position after graduating.
  3. Junior Software Engineer · MetaMicro Automatisering

    Jun 2016 — Mar 2021

    Groningen, Netherlands

    • Built WiFi, VoIP, and production-dashboard software on a zero-hours contract while studying.
    • Delivered a production dashboard for Rademakers Gieterij in Klazienaveen.

HBO Informatica (Software Engineering) · NHL Stenden

2018 — 2023

Emmen, NetherlandsGraduated with an 8.2

Projects

Things I've built

myProtect

The app for EarsOnly Protect (v2) earbuds, aimed at people working in industrial, construction, and other loud environments. It regulates sound exposure in real time and gives wearers controls to balance hearing protection against communication and music.

iOSAndroidHearing ProtectionIndustrial Safety

Dopple DOT

An Android toolkit app for managing Dopple's true-wireless wearables: OTA firmware updates, language packs, equalizer settings, and button configuration.

AndroidBluetoothOTA Updates

MyEarsOnly

The consumer app for EarsOnly Protect earbuds. It lets people control their own hearing-protection settings, and lets companies restrict what their employees are allowed to change.

iOSAndroidWhite-labelConsumer App

Tailor Portal

A B2B2C portal where Dopple's customers order products for their own end users and manage that relationship, including control over the white-label consumer app.

B2B2CAdmin PortalProduct Platform

Running Buddy

My graduation project. Five pieces working together: two mobile apps (iOS and Android), a web interface, a backend, and a database, giving runners feedback on their running form based on data recorded inside the Dopple earbuds.

iOSAndroidBackendData Analysis

X-Ray

A React front end with a Node.js back end for collecting and processing diagnostic data from wireless earbuds. I built it during an internship; it's still running today and pulls data from around 5,000 devices a week.

ReactNode.jsDiagnosticsScale

Production Dashboard

A production dashboard for a cast-iron factory that tracks the factory floor and shows workers optimized instructions in real time. My part was the database queries and the reports.

SQLReportingManufacturing

WiFi Management Portal

A portal for controlling WiFi access points per student room, deployed across two student flats in Groningen (about 60 rooms over 3 floors). The hard part was mapping rooms and assigning channels so neighbouring rooms didn't interfere with each other.

NetworkingWiFi ProvisioningFacilities Software

Reverse Proxy

A system written in .NET/C# that lets internal projects which aren't really websites get proxied to the outside world behind a user-friendly presentation layer.

.NETC#Reverse Proxy

Side projects

Stenden Clicker

A clicker game built for two courses at once (Design Patterns and Threading in C#), using UWP with a backend server for 4-player multiplayer. Progress is stored in a remote database. Keeping everyone's session in sync was the hard part, and the fun part.

C#UWPMultiplayer

Uno

Inspired by Kahoot: a shared screen shows the game while everyone else uses their phone to take a turn, applied to a card game instead of a quiz. One of my few solo school projects, built during the pandemic.

JavaScriptMultiplayerRealtime

Trollkit

A WPF desktop app for a C# course, built with a window shape that's anything but the usual rectangle. Short for Remote-Access-Trollkit, named after the hacking tool, minus the malicious part.

C#WPF

Dopple Companion

An Android app that records running metrics and raw accelerometer data from a single true-wireless earbud, along with GPS and heart-rate-band data. Sessions export to .csv or .tcx for other training apps.

AndroidSensorsBluetooth

Spark

A first-year concept for quickly sharing social media info with someone new: tap two NFC-equipped phones together to create a 'spark', with a QR-code fallback for phones without NFC.

NFCQR CodesMobile

Narrowcaster

Built for the Advanced Java minor at NHL Stenden. The brief was mostly about API design, but the project itself was a narrowcasting dashboard for digital announcement boards around the school, so it came with a full working frontend too. Originally called Vigmo, since renamed, still running.

JavaSpringAPI Design

Zweeler Kerk

A mixed digital and physical tour app for a church in Zweeloo, Drenthe. Visitors scan QR codes on items around the church to see more information, which stays saved in the app for 48 hours afterwards.

Mobile WebQR Codes

Skills

Tools I reach for

Languages

  • Java
  • JavaScript
  • TypeScript
  • Swift
  • Python
  • C#

Frontend & Mobile

  • React
  • React Native
  • Vue

Backend & Data

  • .NET
  • MongoDB
  • MySQL

Infrastructure

  • Docker
  • Nginx
  • Linux
  • Hetzner Cloud

Contact

Let's talk!

I'm always open to hearing about new opportunities. Send me a message and I'll reply by email.