Hi, I'm Chris
I Build Systems
Multi-disciplinary engineer specializing in scalable software solutions, intelligent automation, and embedded systems. Transforming complex problems into elegant, production-ready solutions.
HTML
CSS
Liquid
HubSpot
Mailchimp
Zapier
Make
Salesforce
Braze
AWS SES
N8N
Figma
Klaviyo
Analytics
Wordpress
Built across every layer
Pick a discipline and explore the projects behind it.
The person behind the code
I'm Christopher Norton, a multi-disciplinary engineer who lives at the intersection of systems thinking and creative problem-solving. I got my B.S. in Engineering and since then I've been obsessed with building things that actually work at scale. I'm working on something from cloud pipelines, an embedded hardware solution, or a fully automated funnel. When I'm not shipping code I'm probably deep in an anime arc, tinkering with electronics, or traveling with family.
Education & Certifications
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Latest Thinking
Strategic perspectives on systems engineering, automation architecture, cloud infrastructure, and the craft of building scalable solutions.
Firmware CI/CD Pipeline — Phase 2: Wiring a Real Server Into GitHub Actions
TL;DR: Phase 1 proved the firmware builds. Phase 2 makes it build automatically on a physical server I control, with a real ESP32 plugged into it, triggered by a Git push. This is where the "CI" in CI/CD stops being theoretical. A self-hosted GitHub Actions runner is now listening for code changes, building firmware, flashing it to hardware, and running serial validation tests.
Latest Insights
View AllDevOpsHardwareCloudBuilding a Firmware CI/CD Pipeline from Scratch — Phase 1: The Foundation
TL;DR: Most embedded teams still ship firmware by hand , a developer builds locally, flashes a board, pokes around, and calls it tested. This series documents building a complete automated firmware pipeline from nothing: reproducible builds, GitHub Actions, Python hardware test scripts, and eventually a self-hosted runner with a physical dev board wired directly into the CI system.
AIWhat is AI?
AI stands for artificial intelligence and by the end of this article it will be more than just another buzzword.
DevOpsThe DevOps Engineer's Guide to Networking Devices
This is the stuff you'll actually touch, configure, and troubleshoot daily.
WebsitesHow to Boost Your Website Traffic: A Complete Guide to SEO and Search Engine Rankings
Optimizing your project for searches is the best way to get found. This is called SEO.
EmailMaintaining Lightweight Emails
One of the challenges that many Marketing Agencies face is keeping their emails lightweight without sacrificing them visually. Let's explore methods to optimize
DevOpsCloudDeploying a Full-Stack Java App on AWS — EC2, S3, Route 53, and Actually Understanding What I Built
TL;DR: I spun up 4 EC2 instances, deployed a full-stack Java application using Maven and the AWS CLI, wired up auto-scaling and load balancing, and connected everything with Route 53. This post breaks down what each piece does and why the architecture is set up the way it is because passing an AWS cert and actually building something with it are two very different things.
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