About

Colin Lee.

Mobile architect based in the Twin Cities. Kotlin Multiplatform, Compose, and on-device AI: pulling models off servers and into the silicon people already own.

Almost two decades shipping Android, the last several focused on the seam between mobile and machine learning. The throughline has been pulling computation closer to the user: first into the app, then into the device's silicon, and now into models that never need a network round-trip.

Selected work

  • Mozilla Firefox for Android (Fenix). Helped land the GeckoView engine and Rust integration that power the modern browser.
  • Flipgrid. Built the low-level Android video recorder. Microsoft acquired the company and ships it as Microsoft Flip.
  • Solo-shipped Android VPN. Acquired twice, still running.
  • Past Android work for Pearson, When I Work, Meetup, Amazon, and Cray, including winning Pearson's international employee hackathon.
  • CivicLoon. Current side project. A Kotlin Multiplatform app that puts Minnesota's legislature in your pocket, with on-device AI for plain-English bill summaries in 30 languages.

Talks

  • KotlinConf 2023. Leading Kotlin Multiplatform adoption at Meetup.
  • KotlinConf 2019. Building a browser in Kotlin, live-coded against Mozilla's open-source Android browser components.
  • Regular sessions at Twin Cities meetups and regional conferences on Kotlin, Android, and KMP.

Community

Primary organizer of the Twin Cities Kotlin User Group, which meets monthly. Organized Kotlin/Everywhere Twin Cities, a full-day conference that drew 150+ attendees in its inaugural year.

Background

Linux user since the early '90s, Java developer since the mid-'90s, Kotlin since 2015. Started programming at six on a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 1 and never quite stopped.

Off the keyboard: scuba diving, travel, guitar, and auto racing.

Get in touch

Drop a note via the contact form, or find me on BlueSky, LinkedIn, or GitHub.