Joshua Mykitta · Secure Software Engineer
Position before submission
A game plan borrowed from the mat: secure the application first, build the tooling that improves position, then finish. Secure software engineer; Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.
About
I am a passionate builder that loves seeing minor details sparkle and complex machina run smoothly and securely.
I have been building software applications for 6 years and have completed a BASc degree in Cyber Operations focusing on engineering. I currently work at Acentra Health where I build healthcare software that integrates care management, utilization management, and prior authorization requests into a single system. Before this, I worked in aviation for just over 10 years, 9 of which were spent directly in or in support of the US Army.
Outside of my professional life, I like to tinker with my home lab where I build and break various home and software automations, and I practice picking apart malware or investigating new / current security practices. I am a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt instructor with over 20 years of experience in the martial art and I love training as much as I can fit into my busy schedule. I have an amazing and supportive wife whom I raise 5 kids and 6 dogs with!
- C#
- ASP.NET Core
- Application Security
- Cybersecurity
- Generative AI
- Ninja Chokes
- Side Control
- ...and More!
Principles
Position before submission.
Security before features. Lock the position down, then attack the problem.
Tap early, tap often.
Roll back early. A revert costs nothing; an outage does.
Leave your ego at the door.
Code review is not a fight. The best idea wins, not the loudest.
The road
Two ladders, one clock
| Date | Belt | Gym | Location | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | Tamaso's MMA | Fairhope, AL | High school junior, working at Baumhower's Wings. | ||
| Blue | Bagram BJJ | Bagram, Afghanistan | Veteran and contractor in Afghanistan, keeping Army helicopters in top shape as an aviation backshop mechanic. | ||
| Purple | Bagram BJJ | Bagram, Afghanistan | Backshop manager leading multiple shops and 20+ personnel, and teaching BJJ to base personnel at night. | ||
| Brown | Iron Grip BJJ | Fairhope, AL | Transitioning into tech through a University of Arizona Cyber Operations degree and the Coding Dojo coding bootcamp. | ||
| Black | Championship Mixed Martial Arts | Daphne, AL | Software Engineer at Acentra Health, building healthcare software that integrates care management, utilization management, and prior authorization requests into a single system. |
Now
- Teaches
- Adult no-gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu every Tuesday and Thursday morning at Championship Mixed Martial Arts.
- Building
- CalCrony: A self-hosted event and RSVP manager with reminders, ICS feeds, and Google Calendar sync. It’s built API-first around a .NET 10 backend, with both a Discord bot and a web dashboard consuming it.
- Home lab
- Containerized, secured, and built for high availability, hosting several production-grade services.
- Household
- Shared with my incredibly patient wife, five energetic kids, and six very loud, fluffy rescue dogs.