Software × Product
- Full-stack applications built from the ground up, including UI/UX, data design, frontend, backend and cloud infrastructure.
- Systems and APIs connecting web apps, third-party APIs, cloud services and physical devices.
Adelaide, Australia × PhD, Computer Science
HAYDEN FAULKNER
- Machine Learning Engineer ×
- Full-Stack Developer ×
- Data Scientist ×
- Application Designer ×
- Team Leader ×
I build software end to end, from the interface and data model through to the cloud and the devices at the edge. I've worked in machine learning for over a decade, and AI is now both what I put into products and how I build them.
15+
years writing software
10+
years in machine learning & AI
PhD
computer vision & video understanding
5+
products owned from concept to production
01 About
I'm a software engineer and machine learning specialist based in Adelaide. For the last several years I've worked inside startups, mainly Insight Via Artificial Intelligence and Woven Optics, as the person who takes a product from an idea to something running in production: the UI, the data design, the backend, the cloud, and the hardware at the edge.
Before that I completed a PhD at The University of Adelaide and the Australian Institute for Machine Learning, researching general and fine-grained video understanding. That's where the computer vision and data science comes from, along with a habit of looking for the answer hidden in the data.
AI is also how I work, not only what I build. I use coding assistants such as Copilot and Claude Code throughout development, and because I've trained and evaluated models myself, I know where they speed things up and where their output needs checking.
I work directly with founders, stakeholders and customers, and I like mentoring small teams while staying hands-on with the product.
- 15+ years of software development experience
- Built and owned applications across web, desktop, cloud and embedded systems
- Worked in startups alongside founders, stakeholders and customers
- Led and mentored small engineering teams, guiding process and principles
- PhD in Machine Learning & Computer Vision, developing and integrating AI
- AI-literate: builds with AI tools daily and knows how the models work underneath
02 What I do
Six things I'm regularly trusted with, often all on the same project.
Machine Learning × Computer Vision × Data Science
- Gathering, cleaning and analysing data to answer practical questions.
- Training, evaluating and refining models for real-world problems, then integrating them into production.
- Visualisations, reports and data storytelling that make complex results clear.
AI Tools × AI Literacy
- AI coding assistants used throughout development to prototype, build, review and document faster.
- A research background in how these models work, so I know their limits and verify what they produce.
- Practical judgement on where AI belongs in a product and where it doesn't.
Cloud × Infrastructure
- Cloud systems designed and implemented on AWS and Firebase/GCP.
- Data pipelines and infrastructure supporting distributed devices and applications.
Embedded Systems
- Software for Raspberry Pi, NVIDIA Jetson and Linux-based systems.
- Communication, sync and data-processing pipelines linking edge devices to the cloud.
- Remote management, file transfer and over-the-air software updates.
Leadership × Ownership
- Sole owner or technical lead on multiple products, from concept through to production.
- Mentoring small engineering teams while staying hands-on and leading by example.
- Working with founders and customers to shape requirements and technical direction.
Your project?
If it involves data, devices or a product that needs building properly, let's talk.
03 Selected work
Three products I've built or led, all live today.
Sole developer
Woven Optics
Wool Scanner
A handheld instrument that predicts the micron of an individual fleece in real time, paired with a web dashboard that turns each session into decisions for growers and buyers.
- Built the full stack as sole developer: frontend, backend and cloud.
- Dashboard for session statistics, histograms, animal rankings and one-click export.
- 0.9961
- R² correlation in published performance testing
- 30 s
- to 2 minutes per result, on the farm
Tech lead
Insight Via Artificial Intelligence
Clear Call
A telehealth platform that gives specialists the audio, visual and clinical detail they need to assess risk and decide on escalation remotely.
- Led the technical development of the product.
- Designed the UI and built the frontend.
- In trial
- at the Royal Adelaide Hospital multidisciplinary foot clinic
- 3D
- wound surface modelling for remote measurement
Sole developer
Centre for Automotive Safety Research × IVAI
Project Velograph
An open research project measuring how closely vehicles pass cyclists, using devices mounted on participants' own bikes and a public map of the results.
- Built the full stack as sole developer: frontend, backend and cloud.
- Participant portal for uploading rides, plus the interactive public data map.
- 100k+
- vehicle passes recorded
- 55k+
- kilometres ridden by 180+ participants
04 Experience
-
2021 – Present
Software × Product × ML × Cloud × Embedded × Leadership
- Designed and built full-stack applications from the ground up: UI/UX, data design, frontend, backend and cloud.
- Solely owned or led the technical development of multiple products from concept through to production.
- Built systems linking web apps, cloud services and edge devices (Raspberry Pi, NVIDIA Jetson), including sync pipelines, file transfer and remote software updates.
- Designed and implemented cloud systems on AWS and Firebase/GCP.
- Developed and integrated machine learning and computer vision into production applications.
- Mentored small engineering teams and worked directly with founders and customers to shape product direction.
-
2019 – 2021
Machine Learning × Computer Vision × Data Science
- Gathered, filtered, cleaned and analysed data, interpreting results to find meaningful insights and answer practical questions.
- Experimented with, trained and evaluated machine learning algorithms, refining approaches for real-world problems.
- Developed and integrated ML and computer vision algorithms into production applications.
- Presented findings through visualisations, reports and data storytelling for customers and stakeholders.
-
2015 – 2021
PhD research × Video understanding
- Researched image and video classification, detection, captioning and tracking with deep neural networks.
- Published at DICTA and released the TenniSet dataset and models.
05 Research & talks
Papers, theses and talks from my years in computer vision research.
- Thesis
- Paper
- Paper
- Paper
- Paper
- Thesis
- Talk
- Talk
-
Award
Three Minute Thesis Winner
Data to Decisions CRC × national student cohort × Canberra
06 Education
-
PhD in Computer Science General & Fine-Grained Video Understanding
2021 × The University of Adelaide × The Australian Institute for Machine Learning × The Data to Decisions CRC
-
Honours in Computer Science Top of Class
2014 × The University of Adelaide
-
Bachelor of Computer Graphics GPA 5.63
2012 × The University of Adelaide
07 Skills
- Languages
- TypeScriptJavaScriptPythonHTMLCSSCC++SQL
- Dev
- ReactReact NativeNode.jsAWSFirebaseGCPPyTorchLinux
- Specialist
- Machine LearningData ScienceComputer VisionImage Processing
- AI Tools
- GitHub CopilotClaude Code
- Design
- UI/UXGraphic DesignAdobe Suite
- Tools
- GitVS Code
08 Contact
Got something
worth building?
Whether it's a product, a data problem or a fleet of devices, I'd like to hear about it.