Lucas Feather

About Me

I'm an engineer, musician, and small-town midwest kid at heart.

I value simplicity and I know that active listening is the key to effective collaboration. In my professional work at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL), I develop software to serve the ever-changing, technical needs of our subject matter experts.

Outside of work, I play saxophone and bass guitar and enjoy Maryland's incredible outdoor facilities from on top of a bike or inside a pair of hiking boots. As the climate crisis deepens, I've seeked out volunteer opportunities with the Anacostia Watershed Society and Blue Water Baltimore to help preserve the environment. I want the next generation to grow up playing in the woods, breathing fresh air, and splashing in clean streams and lakes - just like I did.

Projects

Metronome

For some, it helps them keep steady tempo. For others, its their bible. My bloatless metronome webapp utilizes the Web Audio API to ensure precise timing between audio cues.

Master's Class - Software Development for Real-Time Embedded Systems

The final and by far most enjoyable course of my academic career was Software Development for Real-Time Embedded Systems. Very light on the detested but all-too-common discussion posts, this class had a very simple premise: throughout the semester, learn about and build increasingly complicated embedded components. On the final week, all of the individual components came together and we built a drone whose capabilities included wirelessly streaming video, IMU, and GPS data down to a ground station.

My SFML Moment

I've done a handful of small hobby projects with Simple and Fast Multimedia Library (SFML). This includes implementations of the famous Conway's Game of Life and boids. I also created a Vector Field Visualizer, in which input functions are defined for the x and y axes, and particles moved throughout the corresponding vector field. Of all of my projects (including my musical endeavors), the Vector Field Visualizer might be the most mesmerizing.

Chaos Game

If we're going just by most mesmerizing, though, I would be doing Sierpinksi and his cronies a disservice if I neglected to mention my brief obsession with Chaos Game. Using the Python turtle library, I first started with the recursive Triforce, and kept modifying the rules of the "game" until I had created a small gallery of beautiful and complex patterns. It's now one of my favorite ways to convince people that creating cool visualizations is worth their time.

Music

5 Spot

A fun-loving band helping to build the table in the Baltimore jam scene at which everyone has a seat. We've brought our clean songwriting and filthy jams all around Maryland, including Ramble Festival in Fall 2024. In Baltimore, I have found some of the most warm, loving, and talented friends that I could ever hope for.

Subcontra

A funk-fusion band of college friends. Subcontra recorded two EPs, and we tore every single house party, bar, rooftop, and basement in Mississippi that we played to shreds.

Jack, we love and miss you. Your songs are with us all the time.

Lucas Feather and the Underclassmen

A horn band named after the eldest and least prodigious member, who missed the most gigs. We played venues in and around our hometown of Carbondale, IL. This high school band fanned the flames of my passion for music.

Shutting Down the Moon and The Holden Quartet

From the Jack White to Yo-Yo Ma, my first bands played alternative, blues, country, rock, rockabilly, and bluegrass. We were very much products of Southern Illinois.