CV

BAS & OT engineering leader. Applied AI and software for physical systems.

Based

Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas

Skills

Building automation systems (BAS) · Operational technology (OT) · Systems integration · Commissioning and verification · Engineering leadership and team development · AI-assisted software development

Settings

High-containment laboratories · Government and intelligence-community data centers · SCIFs · Hospitals · Airports · An FAA air route traffic control center · Industrial facilities

Profile

linkedin.com/in/dhellmer

Building systems, software and applied AI

Controls engineering by day, software that helps engineering teams work, and a company of my own.

1. HLLMR Ventures

   Founder & Principal Engineer

   An AI-focused business incubator and consultancy, grounded in hands-on software development, physical-systems engineering and experience running businesses. I take products from problem definition through implementation, release and maintenance with AI coding agents, and own the engineering decisions, integration, verification and delivery.

   • Writwall. A released governance method and toolkit for AI-assisted development, adapted from construction document control: bounded work orders, independent review and evidence-based acceptance. The public release includes the pilot evidence and its documented limits. Formerly Plumbline.
   • Stratum DSP. A pure-Rust audio-analysis library for BPM, key and beat-grid detection, evaluated against a commercial baseline on a 155-track ground-truth set. More than 25,000 package downloads as of September 2026.
   • Silo. A cross-platform Farming Simulator mod manager (Rust/Tauri, Svelte) with a separately hosted API that I operate. As of September 2026: 14 releases, 225 installer downloads and 17,844 API requests in the preceding 30 days.
   Apr 2025 – present Dallas–Fort Worth
2. Enviromatic Systems

   Senior Applications Engineer, Building Automation Systems

   Design-build and plan/spec BAS engineering for $50K–$2M education and municipal projects, combined with internal software delivery, engineering development and applied AI.

   • Internal software. Built an Excel–Visio integration tool and took it from a manager's request to department-wide adoption with automated updates; colleagues extended it into the successor the 12-engineer HQ team uses. Designed and built an internal operations platform with natural-language querying, and led its migration into the company's Azure environment.
   • Engineering development. Wrote the department's official Applications Engineer curriculum, 15 modules and more than 1,100 pages, and taught it in person to half the department.
   • Business cases. Developed and presented an Energy Performance Group business case to executive leadership, and a proposal for a formal QA/QC function.
   Feb 2025 – present Dallas–Fort Worth

Running businesses

Owning the P&L, the customers and the consequences, across very different trades.

1. Liberon LLC

   Owner & Operator

   Independent lease operator with a Class A CDL and all endorsements: freight scheduling, routing, equipment, broker relationships and P&L. The bridge back into engineering.

   Aug 2024 – Feb 2025 United States
2. Frezerve, Inc. (formerly The Grand River Valley Holding Company)

   Founder & President

   Built a freeze-dried food manufacturer from nothing to national distribution in all 50 states, more than $1M in annual revenue and a team of 12. Owned product development, FDA and ODA compliance, manufacturing, supply chain and ERP; led the rebrand and Delaware reincorporation.

   Oct 2020 – Jul 2024 Ashtabula, Ohio
3. Hellmer Group, LLC

   Founder & Consultant

   IT and building-systems consulting for small businesses, and cryptocurrency infrastructure and trading advisory. Wrote and self-published a nonfiction book.

   Jan 2018 – Apr 2021 United States
4. Muziq Productions

   Owner & DJ

   Founded and ran a premium event-services company for weddings, corporate events and school functions; resident VJ at BlackFinn in Washington DC and Bethesda. Still DJing, thirty years on.

   Apr 2007 – Mar 2014 Washington DC–Baltimore

Building automation and low-voltage systems

From pulling wire to leading a division, in buildings where failure is not an option.

1. RoviSys Building Technologies

   Project Manager

   Directed building automation projects for Ford Motor Company, DuPont and Google, from project plans and on-site supervision through programming, commissioning and post-turnover optimization.

   Feb 2017 – Dec 2017 Aurora, Ohio
2. Rays Electronics

   Operations Manager

   Reorganized inventory and warehouse operations, launched a new e-commerce site, reconciled accounts and expanded sales channels for a regional electronics retailer.

   May 2016 – Oct 2016 Oak Harbor, Ohio
3. IntraWorks, Inc.

   Building Automation Department Head

   Established and led a new building automation division: strategy, staffing, resources and delivery. Designed and implemented BAS for SCIFs, an FAA Air Route Traffic Control Center and Class A office, integrating HVAC, lighting and security.

   Mar 2014 – Apr 2016 Albuquerque, New Mexico
4. Schneider Electric

   Senior Technician; Junior Project Manager; Systems Applications Engineer / Project Engineer

   Designed and implemented integrated BAS and security for USAMRIID, NIAID and St. Elizabeths Hospital and was promoted to Project Engineer; ran automation projects at Boston Logan Airport and MIT facilities; led commissioning at United Therapeutics headquarters and INOVA Women's Hospital.

   Jun 2008 – Apr 2012 Columbia, Maryland and Boston, Massachusetts
5. COPT Environmental Systems

   Systems Engineer / Drafter

   Designed, programmed and commissioned BAS for SCIFs, government and intelligence-community data centers in the Fort Meade corridor, Class A office and industrial facilities, with energy performance contracting support.

   Oct 2006 – Apr 2008 Owings Mills, Maryland
6. ADT

   Commercial/Industrial Technician

   Installed, programmed and maintained commercial and industrial security systems, including retrofits into existing infrastructure.

   Aug 2005 – Sep 2006 Wilmington, Delaware
7. Town Security Inc

   Installation/Service Technician

   Intrusion, fire, video, access control and intercom installation and service for residential, commercial and industrial clients. Where the low-voltage foundation started.

   Aug 2004 – Aug 2005 Bel Air, Maryland

Education and credentials

The ventures and public projects are on Ventures; code is at github.com/HLLMR-VENTURES.