Aternex
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Custom software, measured.

Aternex is Austin Lippert's software practice in Knoxville. I build and rescue the systems businesses run on.

Most often brought in to turn legacy code and databases into clean, tested software, moved to the cloud where the client allows and shipped through a CI/CD pipeline that stops bugs before they go live. Greenfield products are the other specialty, from the first conversation to launch.

Every headline result on this site links to how it was measured, and every working example runs in your browser.

Book a callSee the workResume and proof

Results from production work

Each figure opens its proof page: how it was measured, when, over what scope, and what it does not prove.

What Aternex builds

Five kinds of work, from a first version of a new product to code nobody wants to open.

Industry
Drayage logistics
Engagement
Contract through Resultstack, lead developer
When
2026
Stack
  • PostgreSQL
  • TypeScript
  • Node.js
  • Next.js
  • Python

A logistics data platform that answers in seconds

A drayage logistics operator needed dispatch and billing data to reach people inside a working shift. There was no warehouse to start from, the pipeline cycle took 11 to 16 minutes, and the Python dispatch engine at the centre of the work carried accumulated defects.

  • Built the warehouse and its pipeline from scratch, in layers, so raw data, cleaned data and reporting tables each have one job.
  • Timed every stage of the cycle and cut it in rounds; at the 50-second stage, 30 seconds of each cycle was repeated metadata checks rather than real work, and a cached refresh log removed that overhead in code.
  • Read the query plans for the container lookup, which is searched on nearly every keystroke, and added a trigram index for the long patterns people actually type.
  • Restructured the dispatch engine in a single commit, from 22 modules to 60, taking its type errors from 36 to 0.
  • Measured the repository with a code-health tool before and after, on the same settings, so the improvement is a reading and not an opinion.

The platform got faster through diagnosis and code, on the same server.

11–16 min<20 sPipeline cycleSee how it was measured31.4 ms1.19–1.59 msContainer lookup, searched on nearly every keystrokeSee how it was measured7.919.53Repository code healthSee how it was measured360Type errors after one restructureSee how it was measured

Read the case studySee how it was measured

Play both cycles

Both cycles on one clock

Before the fixes the cycle took 11 to 16 minutes. After the last round, 6.8 to 17.3 seconds, under 20 s. On one time axis the new cycle is a sliver at the start of the old one.

Both bars share one linear time axis from 0 to 16 minutes. Solid bars run to the fastest recorded cycle and the striped part to the slowest. The replay is compressed 120 times: 1 second on screen stands for 2 minutes of pipeline time.

How an engagement starts

Four steps, in this order, whatever the size of the work.

  1. A call about the problem

    You describe the system and what is wrong with it, in your own words; there is nothing to prepare. If the work is a fit, the next step is access. If it is not, you will hear that plainly.

  2. Get access and measure where things stand

    Aternex gets access to the code, the environments and the data it is allowed to see, runs the system end to end and measures it before anything changes: how long the slow parts take, where the time goes, which tests exist and which fail. That is the baseline every later claim is checked against.

  3. Ship a first fix behind tests

    The first change targets whatever dominates the problem. It goes in behind tests and through your own review process, so your team sees exactly what changed before it reaches production.

  4. Write down findings and next steps

    You get a written account of what was measured, what was fixed, what it changed, and what is worth doing next, in order. It stays useful whether or not the work continues.

Working examples

Apps Aternex built on made-up data to show the kinds of systems a business needs. None of them is client work. Open one and use it.

See all examples

Who you work with

Austin LippertFounder of Aternex LLC

I am Austin Lippert, a self-taught software engineer in Knoxville, Tennessee. I have been putting software into production since 2003, and on many of those projects I was the only engineer on the problem.

When you hire Aternex, you work with me directly, from the first call to the code running in production. I measure what I claim, and I fix the cause before anyone reaches for a bigger server.

Shipping software since
2003
Aternex LLC since
2022
Based in
Knoxville, TN
Read my story

Questions people ask first

Who will I actually work with?

Me, Austin Lippert, from the first call to the code in production. Aternex is my studio, and I do the work myself.

What does it cost?

Rates are agreed per engagement, after I see the details of the work.

Do you work remotely or in person?

Both. Remote anywhere in the US, and in person around Knoxville, Oak Ridge, Kingston and Lenoir City.

How do you use AI, and what happens to my data?

I use AI agents every day, and how they touch your data is agreed per project. Claude and Codex work on code and tasks that involve no private data. When data has to stay private, I run agents through zero-data-retention endpoints, where the provider keeps nothing, or on models that run entirely on local hardware, where it never leaves the machine.

How soon will I hear back?

I reply within two business days. If you would rather talk sooner, book a call at a time that suits you.

Can I check your work before we talk?

Yes. Every headline result on this site links to how it was measured, over what scope and what it does not prove, and the working examples run in your browser on made-up data. Figures from earlier roles that have no proof page are my own account, and the page says so.

Have a system that needs building or fixing?

Start with a short call about what is wrong or what you need, or write to me through the contact form. I reply within two business days.

Book a callStart a conversation