Curriculum Vitae — Kartik Chauhan

Executive Summary

Software Engineer specializing in distributed systems, database storage engines, high-concurrency JVM runtimes, and event-driven streaming pipelines. Strong background in first-principles engineering — from Linux kernel I/O (`epoll`, zero-copy `sendfile()`) and memory barriers (JMM, hardware CAS) to LSM-tree compaction mechanics, Raft consensus invariants, and enterprise microservices decomposition. Currently undertaking structured technical preparation targeting Staff-level systems roles in 2026.

Core Technical Competencies

Systems & Architecture

Distributed Systems (Raft, 2PC, PACELC), High-Level Design (HLD), Alex Xu Patterns, Microservices Decomposition (Strangler Fig, Outbox, CDC, Saga).

Languages & Runtimes

Java (Internals, Collections, AQS, Virtual Threads Loom, JMM), Modern C++ (RAII, Move Semantics, STL), Rust, C (Pointers, Memory Allocators).

Data & Storage Engines

B+ Trees, LSM-Trees (MemTable, SSTable, Compaction), PostgreSQL, Redis (Cluster, AOF/RDB), Apache Cassandra, ARIES Crash Recovery.

Streaming & Cloud Infrastructure

Apache Kafka (Zero-Copy, Partitions, Rebalance), Kubernetes, Docker, Envoy, NGINX, API Security (OAuth2, mTLS, Zero Trust), Grafana, Prometheus.

Engineering Experience & Technical Leadership

Senior Software Engineer / Distributed Systems

High-Throughput Distributed Platforms 2022 – Present

Architected real-time streaming pipelines processing 500,000+ events/sec leveraging Apache Kafka, zero-copy socket transfers, and partitioned consumer groups.
Designed and implemented high-concurrency rate limiters and distributed ID generation services based on the Twitter Snowflake architecture (4,096 IDs/ms per worker, zero coordination).
Spearheaded core monolithic database refactoring to microservices using the Strangler Fig, Transactional Outbox, and Debezium Change Data Capture (CDC) patterns with zero downtime.
Tuned JVM memory models, garbage collectors (G1GC/ZGC), and migrated critical I/O services to Java 21 Project Loom virtual threads, achieving a 4x throughput increase on blocking I/O paths.

Senior Systems Engineer

Cloud Infrastructure & Core Services 2019 – 2022

Engineered custom in-memory caching solutions and partitioned Redis Cluster topologies, slashing P99 database query latencies from 180ms to < 12ms.
Built production Low-Level Design (LLD) frameworks including thread-safe multi-threaded LRU caches, concurrent elevator scheduling engines, and parking management systems.
Standardized automated Architectural Fitness Functions with ArchUnit to continuously enforce clean hexagonal/layered boundaries across CI/CD pipelines.

Featured Open-Source & Architecture Projects

MiniDB: Embedded LSM-Tree Storage Engine Rust / Storage

Embedded key-value storage engine implementing Write-Ahead Logging (WAL), MemTable SkipList, binary SSTable layout with Bloom Filters, and background leveled compaction.

2026 Master Study & Systems Architecture Hub Java / Systems / C++

Synthesizes 800+ technical guides, 509 Markdown docs, and 283 Java masterclasses across OSTEP operating systems, DDIA distributed systems, Raft consensus, and 16 cloud tech stacks.

Academic Paper & University Studies

• MIT 6.5840 (6.824): Distributed Systems (MapReduce, Raft Consensus, Primary-Backup)
• Stanford CS244B: Advanced Distributed Systems (P2P DHTs, Byzantine Fault Tolerance, Raft)
• OSTEP (Arpaci-Dusseau): Operating Systems Three Easy Pieces (Virtualization, Concurrency, Persistence)
• DDIA (Kleppmann): Designing Data-Intensive Applications (Storage Engines, Replication, Partitioning)