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Hi, I'm Kushaj. I am a Software Engineer and Systems Architect who builds resilient, self-sustaining systems for the real world. I specialize in laboratory automation and zero-overhead infrastructure.

Since September 2023, I've served as the sole technical backbone for the Agricultural and Environmental Services Laboratories (AESL), an analytical laboratory at the University of Georgia (Athens, GA).

At a high level, I architect and maintain the full-stack software that powers the UGA Extension program across all 159 Georgia counties - handling sample submissions, data processing, and results delivery while meeting strict University System of Georgia (USG) policies, university security audits, state open-records guidelines, and federal accessibility standards.

Operationally, AESL spans three specialized labs across two buildings. I wear every technical hat required to keep operations running smoothly: administering Linux and Windows servers, centrally managing our workstation and instrument fleet, coordinating with analytical instrument vendors, and collaborating directly with researchers, technicians, accounting, and leadership.

I care deeply about building software that adapts to the humans using it—not the other way around. In practice, that means engineering interfaces and workflows that serve advanced analysts, field agents, and team members who simply dislike interacting with technology.

Working at AESL has also driven me deep into agricultural and environmental science. I regularly partner with our researchers, including co-authoring journal papers on radon gas—the second-leading cause of lung cancer.

Being a one-person technical team taught me that laboratories shouldn't need an in-house IT department just to do rigorous science. Outside of my day job, I'm building OpenKush, an umbrella of free, open-source initiatives. My first project, OpenLaboratory, packages four years of domain expertise into a complete operational blueprint and open-source LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System), giving independent labs everything they need to stand up operations from scratch and run autonomously.

Outside of work, you'll find me on long bikepacking and backpacking trips, playing basketball or handball, and bowling.