Michael Crispen
Senior Application Architect
🎯 Core Competencies
Senior Architect
Secure Systems
Cloud Architecture
Real-Time Systems
Privacy Design
Open Source
👋 Summary
Senior Application Architect specializing in secure communication systems and scalable cloud architecture. 5+ years at AWS Professional Services designing enterprise solutions that process terabytes of data with 99.999% availability. Expert in building privacy-first applications, real-time communication systems, and cost-optimized serverless architectures using AWS, WebRTC, and modern backend frameworks. Passionate about system design, security engineering, and open-source development.
🎓 Education
Amazon Web Services Tech U
Graduated: December 2019
- Completed six-month immersive program on AWS technologies and solution architecture
- Led a Capstone project to develop and present a cloud-native solution to AWS stakeholders
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
Graduated: May 2019 | Minor: Business Administration
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
Relevant Coursework: Cloud Computing, Networking, Web Development, Data Structures, Algorithms
💼 Professional Experience
Independent Contractor — Senior Application Architect
March 2025 – Present
- Architected 97% cost reduction by designing and implementing a ledger migration system that moved 800+ TB from DynamoDB to S3 Tables, saving $2.3M annually in storage costs
Amazon Web Services (AWS) — Professional Services — Senior Application Architect
July 2019 – March 2025
- Led technical delivery for AAA gaming studios, architecting serverless backend systems using Lambda, API Gateway, and DynamoDB that handled 1M+ daily active users with 99.999% uptime
- Designed and implemented CI/CD pipelines using CodePipeline and Jenkins, reducing deployment failures by 60% and enabling 50+ daily releases across 15 microservices
- Built real-time messaging platform using WebSockets and Kinesis, processing 2 TB/day of message data with Protobuf serialization, achieving 40% bandwidth reduction
- Delivered 20+ technical workshops to enterprise C-suite and engineering teams, accelerating cloud adoption and securing $15M+ in additional AWS contracts
- Optimized gaming backend performance using Fourier transform analysis and DynamoDB auto-scaling, reducing costs by 60% while improving response times from 200ms to 50ms
🏆 Certifications
Professional certifications I've achieved throughout my career
AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate
Amazon Web Services
AWS Certified Developer – Associate
Amazon Web Services
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate
Amazon Web Services
AWS Certified AI Practitioner
Amazon Web Services
📁 Projects
Detailed technical projects showcasing architecture, implementation, and measurable impact
Ember - Secure Communication Platform
Lead Architect & Developer
Privacy-first, self-hosted messaging platform with end-to-end encryption and real-time voice communication.
ARCHITECTURE
Distributed microservices architecture with Go backend, TypeScript clients, and WebRTC voice infrastructure
Global Gaming Backend Architecture
Technical Lead & System Architect
Distributed serverless gaming platform supporting 1M+ concurrent players with real-time state synchronization.
ARCHITECTURE
Event-driven serverless architecture using AWS Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB, and real-time WebSocket connections
Autoscaling Unreal Engine Streaming
Lead Developer
Serverless autoscaling solution for Unreal Engine streaming with dynamic resource allocation and WebRTC optimization.
ARCHITECTURE
Container-based streaming platform with WebRTC SFU, automatic scaling, and global CDN distribution
Serverless Content-Based Routing
System Architect
High-throughput messaging system processing 2 TB/day with Protobuf optimization and serverless compute.
ARCHITECTURE
Serverless message routing system with Kinesis streams, Lambda processing, and intelligent content-based routing
Gaming Performance Optimization
Performance Architect
Backend performance optimization achieving significant cost reduction while improving system reliability.
ARCHITECTURE
Performance analysis and optimization framework using mathematical modeling and automated scaling
💻 Technical Skills
Core Expertise
Architecture & Design:
System Design, Cloud Architecture, Microservices, Serverless, Distributed Systems
Programming Languages:
Go, TypeScript, Python, JavaScript, Java
Cloud & Infrastructure:
AWS (Expert), Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Serverless
Real-Time Systems:
WebRTC, WebSockets, gRPC, Protobuf, Real-time Messaging
Security & Privacy:
End-to-End Encryption, OAuth, IAM Policies, Security Architecture
Databases & Storage:
DynamoDB, PostgreSQL, S3, Redis, Kinesis, Message Queues