Cairn Technologies exists because I believe the things we make should mean something.
I spent over 20 years in operations. Moving freight at UPS and Global Forwarding. Managing wildfire response with the U.S. Forest Service. Leading teams in places where the margin for error was zero. Along the way I learned that the best systems are the ones built with intention, where every piece has a reason and nothing is wasted.
When I transitioned into data engineering, I brought that same mindset. I build data platforms on open-source infrastructure with no vendor lock-in, the same way I'd build a supply line: reliable, transparent, and designed to work when it matters.
The 3D printing side started as a hobby and became something more when I realized I could combine precision fabrication with personal meaning. Every piece that leaves this shop carries a dedication. A verse, a message, a story encoded in a QR tag. When someone scans it, they don't see an advertisement. They see something that was meant for them.
The name comes from two places. In Joshua 4, God told the Israelites to stack twelve stones after crossing the Jordan as a memorial, so that when future generations asked “What do these stones mean?” they would hear the story. A cairn is also a stack of stones used to mark a trail, a way of telling whoever comes next: you're on the right path. Every product we make is a stone in the cairn.
I'm Jeff. This summer my wife Erica, our two daughters, and our two dogs are relocating to Hickory, North Carolina. I'm finishing a doctorate in data analytics, I built a homelab from the ground up that would make most IT departments jealous, and I believe in open source because no one should have to pay rent on their own data.