Nick McCleery

About

Founder of a failed startup, former F1 engineer, and reformed 'MATLAB savant'. Good with squiggly lines, likes writing code to solve problems.

Professional Interests

I have a particular interest in helping develop software for science and engineering, but generally enjoy working on things that are hard and that bridge disciplines. Prior experience ranges from Formula One cars to quantitative financial analytics systems.

The work that I find most exciting tends to fall into a few categories:

  • Scientific computing—data analysis, simulation development, signal processing, optimisation.
  • Back-end web development—system design and architecture, database design and development, API development.
  • DevOps—CI/CD, cloud infrastructure, orchestration, automation, monitoring and observability, etc.

I also have a fairly long-standing interest in the more operational aspects of technical work; the systems, processes, and cultures that shape how work is organised, approached, and executed, and how information is shared.

Employment History

There’s a detailed job history on the soul crushing website and given in my CV, but I’ve had the pleasure of working on some very cool projects with some very sharp people.

The short version is:

†Now Aston Martin F1

I have also worked on a number of projects in a consulting capacity, including continuing to work with Quant Insight for some time after leaving my full-time role, and working on the development and deployment of defence-focused LLM systems with a related organisation.

Academics

I studied Mechanical Engineering at QUB. I received a first class honours degree, and was awarded an Institution of Mechanical Engineers prize for work on battery management systems.

Personal Interests

Motorsport

Cars and bikes are very close to my heart, especially small displacement two strokes.

I’ve had a copy of A. Graham Bell’s Two Stroke Performance Tuning since I was about 12 or 13, and followed just about every form of motorsport at some point or other—though I’m really more attracted to the notion of a well resourced, highly competitive engineering contest than I am to motorsport as an example of what we normally mean by ‘sport’.

In the late 2000s, I did an incredibly average job on the Irish club racing circuit. Though relatively quick in the wet, I eventually realised I was going to be more use doing sums than I was dragging elbows.

For someone who owns a light up mechanical keyboard, I’m also relatively practical, having built and maintained bikes and cars since I was a teenager, and since discovered that working with wood is good fun.

Me at Kirkistown aboard an RS125; 2009
Credit: Joe Fox

Music

I love electronic music. Largely unguided fiddling with synthesizers and drum machines gave rise to my interest in signal processing, and that experience was incredibly helpful in more than one actual job I’ve had.

One track of mine has been pressed by Fundamental, but it’s been a long time since I fired up Ableton or twiddled a filter.

Contact

Some of my social media profiles are linked in the footer, but you can also e-mail me directly at [email protected].

Media