About Me
Who I am
I'm a self-taught web developer, about five years in. I started with static HTML/CSS/JS sites, spent a good stretch in tutorial hell working through PHP and different ecosystems, and have since moved into building fuller applications: databases, APIs, and AI integration, including local models. A friend at Xylem/Sensus got me looking at the company, and it's got me wanting to see how a larger, established organization runs its systems, particularly on the data side with PostgreSQL.
Relevant skills
- HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Node.js
- PHP, including building and consuming APIs
- React & Next.js (working knowledge)
- MySQL / SQL and database fundamentals (currently learning PostgreSQL)
- Git & GitHub
- FTP-based deployment and hosting file management
- Terminal / command-line comfort (PowerShell, general shell use)
- Python for scripting and data/scraping work
- Maps & geolocation (OpenStreetMap)
- AI integration: cloud APIs and local models
- Performance and accessibility fundamentals
Past projects
*Not an exhaustive list, just a handful of projects that show how the work has progressed.
- This learning tracker itself: a PHP/MySQL app built and deployed from scratch, including its own quiz bank and progress tracking.
- Hot Deals Nearby: a local deals marketplace connecting nearby businesses with customers. PHP backend, user accounts for both businesses and shoppers, geolocation-based search with a live map, category filtering, and full deal posting/management for business owners. I built most of this end to end.
- Cart Rizz: a grocery shopping list app with accounts, custom categories by aisle or store, and list export to PDF/print, synced across devices.
- WxManMikes: a weather data portal covering 20+ regions worldwide, built in Next.js, pulling in live satellite imagery and earth-visualization data feeds alongside location-based 7-day forecasts.
- Oak City Radon: a service site for a licensed radon testing company covering the Raleigh-Durham area, with a service-area map and two working contact/booking forms.
- Eastgate Shell: a Next.js site for a Raleigh auto repair shop, with dynamic content, appointment info, and Google Maps integration for their BMW/Mini Cooper specialty services.
Company Research
What I've pieced together about Xylem/Sensus and the role: informed inference, not insider knowledge.
The company
Sensus, part of Xylem, builds utility metering technology (water, gas, and electric) that lets utilities remotely read and manage meters at scale.
A bit of history
Xylem was formed in 2011, spun off from ITT Corporation as a standalone public company. The name comes from the plant tissue that transports water, a deliberate signal that the company intended to be a focused water technology franchise, not a diversified industrial conglomerate. In 2016, Xylem acquired Sensus for roughly $1.7 billion; at the time, Sensus already had more than 80 million smart meters installed globally and its own FlexNet communications network technology. That acquisition is what moved Xylem into smart metering, connected infrastructure, and utility data, meaning the metering/data side of the business has its own distinct lineage from Xylem's older pump and water-treatment roots.
Corporate structure, as of now
Xylem sold Sensus International, the roughly 130-year-old business mostly serving Europe, to the private equity firm AURELIUS; that sale closed in May 2026. Xylem kept the North America Sensus business, and it still plays a strategic role in the company's portfolio. The role I'm targeting is almost certainly inside that retained North America business, not the part that was sold off, which matters for understanding who I'd actually be working for.
Sensus Evolve: the more current product story
In February 2026, Xylem launched Sensus Evolve, an intelligent grid platform for electric utilities. It builds on FlexNet but adds cellular connectivity for resilience, and it's described as a software-based platform built for continuous updates and utility-specific customization, moving large volumes of data back to utility systems and end users. That's a more current, more specific picture than the general FlexNet marketing material below, and a better anchor for what a Postgres/data pipeline role here might actually touch day to day.
FlexNet: their core technology
FlexNet is Sensus's proprietary radio network for smart meter communication: point-to-multipoint, using licensed spectrum rather than cellular. It's built for longevity (compatible with meters installed decades ago) and offered as a "network as a service," so utilities lease it instead of building their own infrastructure.
How the data likely flows
Best guess, not confirmed: smart meter → FlexNet RF network → base station → head-end / data collection system (Linux-based) → PostgreSQL → Perl scripts (validate, transform, load) → downstream billing, analytics, and alerting systems.
Why this shapes what I'm learning
Utility deployments in this space run tens to hundreds of thousands of meters, generating continuous timestamped readings: high-volume, time-series-like data, not simple transactional data. The Postgres/Perl work is very likely ETL-style at that scale, which is why I'm building Linux/Docker/Postgres/Perl fluency specifically, rather than generic full-stack skills.
Learning Roadmap & Testing
Track progress through the stack, and quiz myself on it.
Test yourself
Pick a topic, or quiz across everything.