SOFTWARE + DESIGN ENGINEER
From startups to NOAA. Stef builds and designs interfaces and software systems that shine light into the depths of data.
Software & Design Engineering for
Climate Reslience and the Life Sciences
Climate Reslience and the Life Sciences
Rochester, New York, USA
The ultimate hidden truth of the world
is that it is something that we make,
and could just as easily make differently.
is that it is something that we make,
and could just as easily make differently.
STEF OLTHOFF
[0] WHAT STEF DOES
After 20+ unique clients, Stef has honed in on his role as a design engineer.
Design engineering is a new category of high production value, consumer-facing engineering, emerging from the vanguard of the tech and advertising worlds.
Among Stef's projects, he has:
- Scaled a machine-learning product in a growth-stage startup to a $187M acquisition.
- Collaborated with the Globe and Mail, the most prestigious news journal in Canada with a weekly readership of 6 million, in publishing interactive data visualizations on the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale.
- Built a network of coastal observation webcams detecting deadly rip currents that can drag away even an Olympic swimmer.
Stef's work spans worlds.
As a design engineer, Stef acts as a product partner, helping to:
- Run discovery sessions with clients.
- Prototype via interactive Figma wireframes.
- Shape requirements for new products.
This essential, front-loaded work lands you closer to the mark on the first try. The result is beautiful, lightning-fast, and funding-worthy applications.
Ordinary is more expensive than extraordinary.
If your project requires extraordinary,
reach out to stef@magicwords.dev.
[1] CLIENTS & PARTNERS
Stef's portfolio of clients spans acquired startups, hurricane hunters, and humble coupon-clippers.
Filter by:
Company
Location
Tags
AOOS
Alaska
#Ocean#Science
CeNCOOS
California
#Ocean#Research
Club Car
Georgia
#Manufacturing#Transportation
Gild Insurance
California
#Insurance#Fintech
Globe and Mail
Ontario
#Media#News
Hawaii Department of Health
Hawaii
#Gov#Health
IOOS
Maryland
#Ocean#Gov
MBARI
California
#Research#Ocean
NEAQ
Massachusetts
#Aquarium#Education
NOAA
Maryland
#Gov#Science
SaveOn
California
#Tech#Retail
SECOORA
South Carolina
#Ocean#Data
University of Michigan, School of Information
Michigan
#Education#Research
Wisely
California
#Tech#Startup
[2] STARTUP CASE STUDY
Alpha to Acquisition
WISELY is a Customer Intelligence platform for restaurants.
The mission: deliver hospitality at scale.
EXPERTISE
Machine Learning & NLP
API Integration
Real-time Data Processing
Product Strategy
Startup Growth
The Challenge
Modern restaurant groups track guest sentiment across Google reviews, Facebook posts, Instagram mentions, and more. Multiply that by 100 locations, and you're drowning in data. Hidden in that noise are insights that, if unlocked, could elevate the guest experience beyond what competitors can match.
Stef's Contribution
In 2018, Stef joined Wisely as one of six employees. He built Sentiment—a machine-learning guest review platform—from concept to reality, culminating in Wisely's $187M acquisition by Olo in 2021.
Sentiment ingests reviews from 10+ sources in real time via webhooks and distributed queueing. An NLP engine parses emotion and subject matter, surfacing answers to questions like: "How do customers feel about the new pad thai dish in New Orleans vs. Chicago?" or "Is service quality trending up or down over the last six months?"
With 10+ API integrations, managers can monitor and respond to every review online from a single dashboard.
Post-acquisition, Wisely now powers guest intelligence for 600+ restaurant brands.
[3] NOAA CASE STUDY
Responding to Risk
TRACER is a coastal emergency simulation tool for coastal communities, funded by NOAA.
EXPERTISE
Product Design & Strategy
Scientific Data Visualization
Full-Stack Development
Interactive Prototyping
Rapid MVP Delivery
The Mission
Coastal communities face increasing threats from oil spills, algal blooms, and drifting debris. Preparing for these events requires more than static reports—it requires the ability to simulate future scenarios and practice response strategies before lives and ecosystems are at risk. NOAA funded the development of a web application capable of running physics-based simulations of these emergencies, with the goal of equipping communities to respond faster and more effectively.
The Solution
Stef served as Design Engineer, a relatively new role that bridges product design with implementation. He led discovery sessions with coastal response authorities, conceptualized the product, and created interactive Figma wireframes to rapidly prototype in-app flows. These visual prototypes clarified requirements, reduced ambiguity, and ensured the design was validated before engineering began.
Once the design was set, Stef led full-stack development—building the UI, API, and database schema. Drawing on startup experience and a focus on client needs, he delivered the MVP in just four weeks, moving the project from discovery session to live demo on an accelerated timeline.
2D Particle Flow
3D Particle Cloud