Curriculum vitae
Stefano Baldan (he/him)
Staff Software Engineer · Accessibility, Frontend & Digital Signal Processing
Staff-level software engineer with more than ten years of professional experience in frontend development and Digital Signal Processing. Over four years of leading technically complex accessibility engineering for a large-scale HTML Canvas–based product, from architecture and design through implementation, including the use of AI and LLMs to help hundreds of developers write accessible-by-design code. Individual contributor with a focus on architecture, technical strategy, informal leadership, and multiplying the impact of other engineers. Background in music, sound synthesis and multimedia computing.
Work experience
Apr 2024 → present
Staff Software Engineer · Miro
miro.com- Led accessibility engineering for Miro's HTML Canvas–based product, driven by WCAG requirements, EU accessibility regulations, and the goal of reducing manually identified accessibility issues.
- Used AI and LLM tooling to help hundreds of developers produce accessible-by-design code and to scale accessibility checks across the codebase.
- Documented the accessibility architecture through ADRs, RFCs and technical documentation, enabling wider implementation across teams.
Nov 2021 → Mar 2024
Frontend Software Engineer · Miro
miro.com- Research and development of accessibility solutions for custom web content rendered in the HTML Canvas, personally driving the work from design through implementation.
- Designed and built keyboard navigation across board objects, including navigation logic for free-form, non-grid Canvas layouts (nearest-object selection in four directions) and semantic object tab order.
- Developed a DOM overlay that lets voice-control users interact with Canvas content without significantly affecting browser performance.
- Built alternative views for text and images, with semantic positioning of board content.
- Improved rendering performance in the Miro client using the Canvas and WebGL APIs.
Jan 2021 → Oct 2021
Engineering Team Lead · byrd
getbyrd.comLogistics company — systems for shipping parcels from origin to destination.
- Lead and management of a full-stack development team of 4 people.
- Frontend development in Angular and TypeScript.
- Backend microservices built with Python, Flask, and SQLAlchemy.
Nov 2019 → Dec 2020
Senior Frontend Engineer · byrd
getbyrd.com- Developed a single-page application for the company's Warehouse Management System.
- Built reactive pages and UI components in Angular and TypeScript.
Sep 2017 → Dec 2019
Frontend Developer · Contralto Audio
contralto-audio.com- Developed a 3D editor for the acoustic simulation of loudspeaker positioning in live venues.
- Created custom 3D graphics components and GPU shaders on top of Three.js and WebGL, shipped as a desktop application with Angular and Electron.
Jan 2014 → Dec 2017
Research Assistant · Iuav University of Venice
iuav.it- Research for the EU project SkAT-VG (Sketching Audio Technologies using Vocalizations and Gestures).
- Leader of the Work Package on imitation-driven sound synthesis.
- Developed physically-informed sound synthesis and analysis algorithms in Python and C/C++.
Oct 2011 → Dec 2013
Freelance IT Consultant · Self-employed
- Web-based edutainment games for Pearson Italia; interactive media and sound design for digital art installations.
Technical skills
- Accessibility: WCAG, keyboard and spatial navigation, voice-control support, DOM overlays for Canvas content, accessible-by-design practices
- Frontend: TypeScript, JavaScript, Angular, HTML Canvas, WebGL, Three.js, Node.js, Electron
- AI: LLM-based tooling for code generation and automated accessibility checks
- Backend & other: Python, Flask, SQLAlchemy, C/C++
- DSP & audio: Digital signal processing, physically-informed sound synthesis and analysis, audio and multimedia computing
- Engineering practice: Architecture and technical strategy, ADRs, RFCs, technical documentation
Education
2017 → 2020
MSc in Economics
Institution: University Niccolò Cusano
Main subjects: Environmental Economics, Statistics, Accounting
Final grade: 110/110
2005 → 2011
BSc & MSc in Computer Science for New Media Communications
Institution: University of Milan
Main subjects: Software Engineering, Digital Signal Processing, Distributed Systems, Human-Computer Interaction, Music Information Retrieval, Semiotics
Final grade: 110/110 cum laude
Relevant projects
- Audio plugins — independent line of audio plugins built on physically and statistically grounded DSP (parametric and analytical methods), distributed via Polar.sh.
- vodit — minimalist dependency injector. No frills, no dependencies, no decorators.
- SDT (Sound Design Toolkit) — open-source C library for physically-based sound synthesis; developer and maintainer, 2014–2017.
- MaIs — performance presented in Milan in 2013. Co-author.
- Sonic Tennis — audio-only game for iOS devices.
- GlobeMX — interactive HTML5 media player. Master's thesis project.
- IPCapture — Processing library for acquiring MJPEG live streams.
- Musica Sull'Acqua — sonification of the civic aquarium of Milan.
- Moonlanding — interactive installation, Festival della Creatività, Florence, 2009. Sound designer.
Languages
Italian (native) · English (C2) · French (C1) · German (B1)
Other
People person, passionate student, and lifelong learner. Linux user and open-source enthusiast. Digital artist and maker. Pianist, mandolinist and singer with good reading and playing skills and a solid base in musical theory. Tracking, mixing and mastering engineer for several home-recording projects. Amateur traditional folk dancer, juggler, and fencer.