Building My Portfolio Site

Published on April 30, 2025

As a SCADA developer and IIoT architect, I’ve worked on large-scale systems and edge-to-cloud solutions — but I never had a proper platform to share those projects publicly. That changed when I launched nextgenscadaprogrammer.com, a portfolio site built specifically to showcase the work I’ve done, the problems I’ve solved, and the tools I’ve built along the way.

I didn’t want anything overly complicated. I needed a site that was fast, clean, and developer-friendly. One where I could write in markdown, version control everything in Git, and have full control over deployment and layout. I chose Eleventy (11ty) as my static site generator and Vercel for deployment.

Vercel handles my builds automatically every time I push to GitHub. I also run pre-deploy checks like linters and broken link detection to keep everything clean. The result is a reliable and fast publishing pipeline that feels like a proper CI/CD workflow, without the overhead.

The content is organized around three main areas:

• Projects – Showcasing what I’ve built, starting with my Modbus to MQTT SparkplugB device
• Blogs – Technical articles and insights from the field
• About Me – My background in SCADA and industrial automation

Design-wise, I kept it dark-themed with subtle colors and a mobile-first layout. I added a custom favicon, modern styling, and responsive layouts that work across devices. It’s professional but not flashy — and that’s the point.

One of the things I like most is that everything is markdown-based. I can spin up a new blog post or update a project page using a consistent structure, preview locally, and push to GitHub — it’s live in seconds thanks to Vercel.

This site isn’t just a portfolio — it’s part of a larger effort to show how modern SCADA development blends software engineering with real-world automation. I want this platform to reflect not just what I’ve done, but where I’m heading.

What’s Next

• Complete my Modbus to MQTT SparkplugB device with:
• Buffered publishing (store-and-forward)
• TLS cert upload + live config reload
• Encrypted credential handling
• Write more blog posts — aiming for one every 1–2 weeks
• Develop and document more SCADA-related tools and projects
• Enhance the site with better filtering, tagging, and navigation

I’m excited to continue using this site as a way to share not just finished work, but ideas in progress. If you’re in the SCADA, IIoT, or automation world, I hope it gives you something valuable — or at least sparks an idea.

Until next time, continue coding.