Computerwhz Wiki:Portfolio
Creative Active Lives/Digitribe/MineMania
I started working as a volunteer for Digitribe/MineMania on the 16th of June 2025. MineMania is "A Minecraft Server for Neurodiverse Children & Young People". As server administrator, my role is to ensure the functionality and security of the server network and supporting systems. In this role I created and continue to maintain development of many plugins and other software using Java. You can see all my contributions on Github. I was offered employment with Creative Active Lives in November 2025.
Notable projects for Digitribe/MineMania
This is a Velocity plugin that I am currently maintaining which is responsible for handling all the chat messages on the MineMania network. It ensures players receive all messages sent from different backend servers and filters out potentially harmful messages. It also has a discord bridge feature which allow messages on discord to be sent to the server and vice versa.
This is a custom plugin for MineMania's Breakneck Battlegrounds server which controls the servers custom features
This a fork of the BedWars1058 plugin with some small modifications mainly changing team assignments to use a round robin approach
This is a plugin which is used to allow players to create public warp locations however the original plugin had bugs and lacked certain features and so I forked it and updated it to fix bugs and add missing features.
Digitribe CS2 Server
This is a currently unreleased game server for Digitribe for the game Counter-strike 2 it includes several currently private custom plugins which manage the gamemodes and the chat system
The MineMania wiki is a self hosted wiki using the MediaWiki software which I setup and oversee
You can read more general stuff about my role here
In 2025, I completed a one-week organised work experience placement at CMR Surgical in Cambridge. CMR Surgical is a surgical robotics company that designs and manufactures Versius, a minimally invasive surgical robot. Versius is a modular and portable robotic system controlled by the surgeon from a 3D console. It replicates the complex movements of the human arm, enabling highly precise, minimal-access surgery and improving patient outcomes.
Activities
- Participated in a practical session using three robotic bedside units (BSUs), learning how to set up and operate the Versius robot.
- Configured the BSUs and used the hand controls to interact with the head-up display (HUD).
- Learned about the software validation process.
- Used a training model to move a rubber ring across a curved wire with precision.
- Worked with the robotic software team during a planned Hackathon.
- Contributed to project planning and applied basic project management principles.
- Collaborated with the app development team using Swift to build an iOS application that writes data to an RFID tag.
- Used Python to develop the HUD renderer.
- Compiled and presented the Hackathon results to the wider software team.
- Worked across the hardware and software teams to run a comprehensive test protocol covering end-user functions and scenarios.
- Tested system start-up and shutdown, alarm states, operating modes, and robotic arm compliance.
- Learned how to use the robot updater tool to install firmware updates.
- Continued supporting and completing the comprehensive test protocol.
- Assisted in testing a new software patch designed to resolve a known issue.
- Used CMR Surgical’s internal service and repair system to send commands to the robot and observe its responses.
- Gained further hands-on experience with the robotic system and its internal components.
- Improved understanding of how the robotic arms identify and use surgical instruments.
- Attended the robotic software team’s daily stand-up meetings to share progress, discuss challenges, and exchange essential project information.
Home Assistant
Home Assistant is open-source home automation software that I have set up as the central system for my home. It collects and presents data from a wide range of internet-connected devices that would not normally share information directly with one another. I use Home Assistant to bring that data together, trigger automations, control devices and display everything in one place.
Energy management is one distinct part of how I use it. I have connected Home Assistant to the different devices and services involved in our electricity use, including our electricity meter, solar panels, home battery, electric-car charger, household appliances and electricity tariff.
By combining these separate data sources, I have created a real-time view of how much electricity the house is using, where that electricity is coming from, how much is being stored, and how much is being imported from or exported to the grid. I have also configured it to take account of changes in electricity prices throughout the day.
I have then built automations that use this information to coordinate the different parts of the system. For example, I can make the home battery or electric car charge when electricity is cheapest, delay non-essential usage during expensive periods and prioritise the use of available solar energy. These automations respond as electricity prices, household demand, battery levels and solar generation change.
My aim has not simply been to reduce the amount of electricity we use. I have set the system up to use electricity at the most advantageous times and from the most cost-effective source. Home Assistant allows the different parts of our energy system to work together instead of operating independently.
This setup has reduced our electricity bill to less than £15 per month, despite us using 718 kWh between 1 July and 27 July and owning an electric car.