About

Jesse Lopez

Founder & Principal Engineer, Slopey Industries

Jesse Lopez — Founder and Principal Engineer of Slopey Industries LLC

I'm Jesse Lopez — founder of Slopey Industries. I'm a veteran software and systems engineer with deep experience across AI system design, cloud infrastructure, and industrial automation. My background spans defense networks, factory automation, media streaming platforms, and AI-driven intelligence systems. I specialize in bridging hardware, software, and real-world operations — designing systems that are reliable, scalable, and engineered with purpose. Through Slopey Industries, I help businesses modernize workflows, integrate automation, and deploy practical AI that delivers measurable impact. Every project blends hands-on engineering with strategic system architecture, bringing together over a decade of experience across robotics, cloud, embedded systems, and enterprise-grade software.

jesse@slopeyindustries.com Layton, Utah GitHub LinkedIn

Available for contract / fractional / federal work

10+ Years shipping production systems
5 Industries: defense, streaming, AI, robotics, embedded
$20M+ Program won on a proof-of-concept I built
SDVOSB Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business

Senior software/systems engineer and veteran (U.S. Navy, AEGIS) with 10+ years shipping production systems across AI/automation, cloud & DevOps, media streaming at scale, and embedded/hardware. Founder of Slopey Industries (SDVOSB). Available for contract, fractional, and federal engagements.

Core skills

  • Agentic AI & Automation
  • Cloud Infrastructure / DevOps
  • Full-Stack Engineering (Web & APIs)
  • Video Engineering / Streaming Pipelines
  • Industrial & Factory Automation
  • Robotics / Mechatronics
  • Embedded Systems (STM32 / ESP32)
  • PCB Design & Electronics
  • IoT / Edge Compute
  • Systems Integration
  • Defense-Grade Networking (AEGIS)

Certifications & credentials

  • Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) — SAM registered
  • M.S. Computer Science — National University
  • U.S. Navy AEGIS Fire Controlman (FC) — 2-year advanced program
  • UEI R4NHRTYAG3K3 · CAGE 168X9

Experience

Owner & Principal Engineer

Slopey Industries LLC — Layton, UT

  • Founded a veteran-owned technology consulting company focused on AI, automation, and full-stack engineering for small businesses and enterprise clients.
  • Registered Slopey Industries as a federal contracting entity and positioned for SDVOSB certification to pursue federal opportunities.
  • Designs and deploys containerized AI/LLM workloads (Docker, Kubernetes) across local GPU rigs and cloud platforms for R&D and client projects.
  • Builds end-to-end solutions integrating Golang/Python backends, TypeScript/React frontends, and IoT/edge devices when needed.

Senior Software Engineer

Rockbot (US)

  • Built and maintained cross-platform systems powering in-venue music, audio messaging, and media playback across web, mobile, and embedded environments.
  • Integrated Google Cloud Text-to-Speech (Go) with neural voice models to generate dynamic promotional audio for player streams.
  • Developed an AI-powered lyric analysis engine (Python, Go) to automatically flag explicit and suggestive content across the music catalog.
  • Refactored and migrated legacy MySQL schemas; updated Go and PHP backends for more modular, maintainable data models.
  • Implemented real-time playback sync across browser tabs/devices using WebSocket (Go) and BroadcastChannel (Vue.js).
  • Resolved complex playback, buffering, and caching issues on embedded platforms including Sonos and BrightSign.
  • Deployed and maintained backend services on GCP using Kubernetes (GKE), Cloud Build, IAM, GCS, and Terraform.

Senior Software Engineer

Pluto TV / Paramount (US)

  • Architected a video quality testing platform using Netflix's VMAF (Python, Go) to automate perceptual scoring and bitrate-quality optimization across HLS/DASH streams.
  • Built TensorFlow-based ML pipelines and a Go REST backend for Paramount's Ascent project, applying AI to optimize encoding workflows on GCP and AWS.
  • Developed a manifest validator microservice (Go) merging MPD and M3U8 manifests, improving playback stability across Roku, Fire TV, web, mobile, and embedded platforms.
  • Automated CI/CD with GitHub Actions — linting, unit/integration tests, and secure Docker deployments to AWS ECR/ECS.
  • Created Siege-based scripts for REST API load testing and scaling validation in containerized environments (Docker, Kubernetes).
  • Authored UML diagrams and architecture docs to align cross-team engineering efforts.
  • Mentored engineers and evaluated internal messaging patterns (SNS/SQS, Kafka, custom polling) to reduce latency and improve reliability.

Software Engineer III

PDF Solutions (US)

  • Developed SDK integrations, machine interfaces, and test suites for industrial equipment and factory automation systems.
  • Helped secure a $20M+ contract by building a proof-of-concept driver for a machine-vision inspection system for a major manufacturer.
  • Modernized multithreaded WinForms/WPF automation platforms in C#, and migrated legacy .NET apps to Linux-based EC2 environments.
  • Demonstrated advantages of cloud-based architectures to transition customers off unsupported releases.
  • Trained internal and customer engineering teams (C++, C#, VB6/VB.NET) and led on-site deployment/testing for factory rollouts.

Equipment Engineer

IM Flash Technologies — Lehi, UT

  • Worked directly with industrial robots and manufacturing equipment in high-volume production.
  • Used SPC charts and SQL to improve equipment maintenance schedules and uptime.
  • Created SQL stored procedures and reporting to support engineering decisions and process optimization.
  • Trained team members on resources and effective issue escalation, improving team performance and communication.

AEGIS Networking Technician Supervisor

U.S. Navy — San Diego, CA

  • Troubleshot complex networking issues to ensure optimal performance of mission-critical shipboard networks.
  • Assisted in the design of new networks based on operational requirements; configured VLANs for traffic segmentation.
  • Installed, configured, and maintained Cisco routers, switches, and firewalls in large-scale environments.
  • Managed DHCP services, deployed site-to-site VPNs (IPSec), and maintained detailed network hardware/software inventories.
  • Performed routine maintenance, captured and analyzed network logs, and provided end-user support for LAN/WAN connectivity.

Selected projects

Slopey MCP Server & Agent Fleet

TypeScript / Node · Python · self-hosted GPU

  • Single Model Context Protocol (MCP) server exposing ~40 tools (chat, code, image gen, memory, ops) to every AI client.
  • Runs a multi-GPU rig (RTX 5090/4090/5080) serving local LLMs via ollama and vLLM for private, low-cost inference.

On-Prem RAG for Regulated / Federal Workloads

Python · vector DB · GPU

  • Air-gapped retrieval-augmented generation so sensitive documents never leave the customer boundary.

Video Quality & Encoding Platform (VMAF)

Go · Python · GCP/AWS

  • Automated perceptual scoring (Netflix VMAF) and bitrate–quality optimization across HLS/DASH at Pluto TV/Paramount scale.

Education

Master of Science in Computer Science

National University

  • Advanced work in software engineering, distributed systems, and cloud-native design.
  • Integrated real-world engineering challenges into academic projects while working full-time in industrial automation.

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science

National University

  • Completed during active Navy service aboard USS Kidd (DDG-100).
  • Covered ABET-aligned CS fundamentals: algorithms, systems programming, networking, and OS design.

Associate of Science

Utah State University

  • General studies with strong emphasis on STEM coursework.
  • Provided the foundational math/science base used later in robotics, EV systems, and automation engineering.

U.S. Navy AEGIS FC School (FCC/FCA) — 2-Year Advanced Program

U.S. Navy

  • Advanced radar, missile systems, secure networks, and combat electronics.
  • Hands-on training with AEGIS C&D, WCS, and mission-critical networking (Cisco, crypto, secure links).
  • Provided the systems engineering mindset used throughout later automation and AI work.

Let's build something remarkable