npw.net

Philipp A. Baer, Dr.-Ing.

Product Security Engineer • Systems Architect • DevSecOps • Computer Scientist & Roboticist

Location: Munich Area, Bavaria, Germany
Web: npw.net • LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/philipp-baer • GitHub: github.com/phbaer • Code: git.baer.one/phbaer • Mastodon: baer.im/@phbaer

Professional Summary ​

I am a Computer Scientist (Dr.-Ing.) specializing in product security and systems architecture, with more than 15 years of experience spanning medical device software, engineering infrastructure, and research leadership.

At GE HealthCare, I assess security and architecture across products, drawing on hands-on experience in product engineering, DevSecOps, threat modelling, and security testing. My background also includes leading a research group at DFKI and developing engineering infrastructure for teams across the US, Europe, and India.

Core Skills & Technical Expertise ​

Technical Overview

  • Product Security Assessment: Threat modelling, penetration and security testing, network security, security requirements, architectural assessment, and consultation with product and engineering teams.
  • DevSecOps & Site Reliability: Continuous integration (Jenkins, GitLab CI), threat and vulnerability management, Dependency-Track, software bills of materials (SBOM; CycloneDX, SPDX), secure delivery pipelines.
  • Systems Architecture & Security: Distributed systems, secure system engineering, Proxmox VE and Proxmox Backup Server, Ceph storage, 100 GbE Mellanox networking, applied cryptography.
  • Programming & Scripting: Python (current primary language); Groovy (previously used daily); C/C++ (previously used weekly); Bash, PowerShell, C#, Rust, Java, and JavaScript/TypeScript (working knowledge).
  • Embedded Development & Home Automation: ESP32 and similar microcontroller platforms, embedded software development, Home Assistant and ESPHome integration, and basic electronics.
  • Compliance & Medical Software: IEC 62304 medical device software lifecycle, software supply chain security, IQTIG quality assurance interfaces, ICD-10-GM and OPS medical coding.
  • AI Infrastructure: Local large language model (LLM) deployment using Ollama and NVIDIA A4000, A6000, and L40S GPUs.
  • Research & Project Leadership: Public research funding (BMBF, BMWi, DFG, EU), budget responsibility, team leadership, and agile methods.

Professional Experience ​

Product Security Assessment Engineer | GE HealthCare ​

Remote | Oct 2026 – Present

Focus on security and architecture across products, bringing a product engineering background to a broader assessment role. Identify shared challenges and develop solutions applicable across products and teams. Continue supporting previous responsibilities during the ongoing handover.

  • Security and architecture: Assess product security and architectural decisions throughout the product lifecycle, including vulnerability management and software supply chain risks.
  • Threat modelling and testing: Develop threat models and conduct penetration and security testing to identify weaknesses and assess mitigations.
  • Consultation: Advise product and engineering teams on security requirements, architectural decisions, and risk mitigation.
  • Tools and standards: SBOM in standard formats, including CycloneDX and SPDX; IEC 62304.

Staff Infrastructure Architect | GE HealthCare ​

Munich, Bavaria, Germany (Hybrid) | Mar 2023 – Sep 2026

Software and infrastructure architect focused on global engineering productivity, platform reliability, regulatory compliance, and cybersecurity.

  • Infrastructure architecture: Architected and operated a high-density, bare-metal Proxmox engineering cluster with AMD EPYC processors, 1,248 physical cores, and a 100 GbE NVIDIA/Mellanox SN3700C backbone. The platform supported engineering teams across the US, Europe, and India.
  • Security & DevSecOps: Applied threat modelling to product and infrastructure changes. Led implementation of product SBOM generation in standard formats, including CycloneDX and SPDX, and software supply chain security. Owned the automated product vulnerability management system, integrating Dependency-Track, DefectDojo, and custom automation.
  • Compliance: Maintained product software architecture documentation and supported medical device software lifecycle compliance with IEC 62304:2006.
  • AI tooling: Built and supported private, locally hosted LLM environments using Ollama and NVIDIA A4000, A6000, and L40S GPUs for secure developer workflows.
  • Technologies: Python, Groovy, C++, Rust, Linux, Windows, Proxmox VE, Proxmox Backup Server, Ceph, Dependency-Track, SBOM formats including CycloneDX and SPDX, Threat & Vulnerability Management.

Senior Build & Release Engineer | GE HealthCare ​

Munich, Bavaria, Germany (Hybrid) | Oct 2018 – Feb 2023

Concurrent responsibilities alongside the Senior Software Engineer role, focused on scaling global engineering systems and improving release reliability.

  • Infrastructure engineering: Built the initial Proxmox cluster and led its development, using AMD EPYC processors and Ceph over 100 GbE to support test orchestration and daily builds.
  • Tooling & continuous integration: Designed Jenkins pipelines and build orchestration tools for fast, reproducible builds of medical imaging and reporting systems.
  • Software architecture: Took technical ownership of legacy component modernization and automated code-scanning workflows, incorporating threat modelling into engineering decisions.
  • Technologies: DevSecOps, Continuous Integration (Jenkins), Python, Groovy, Linux, Proxmox VE, Ceph, Bash.

Senior Software Engineer | GE HealthCare ​

Munich, Bavaria, Germany | Apr 2012 – Feb 2023

Core engineering team member for ViewPoint, a medical reporting, image storage, and workflow system connecting ultrasound equipment with healthcare information systems. From October 2018 to February 2023, held this role alongside Senior Build & Release Engineer responsibilities.

  • Regulatory software engineering: Specified and implemented the German medical quality assurance interface for IQTIG QSKH-RL reporting, aligned with G-BA requirements and used by hospitals nationwide.
  • Medical standards: Led implementation of medical coding support for DIMDI, ICD-10-GM, and OPS-301.
  • Product security: Applied threat modelling throughout product development and performed security testing, including network security testing. Led technical work on applied cryptography, security requirements engineering, and integration of static and dynamic application security testing (SAST/DAST).
  • Technologies: C++, Python, Windows, Linux, Applied Cryptography, CI/CD, Software Delivery, Requirements Engineering.

Project Coordinator & Senior Engineer | Robotics Equipment Corporation GmbH ​

Munich, Bavaria, Germany | Jul 2011 – Mar 2012

  • Managed and co-designed BioMiC (Bionic Manipulator Control), a collaborative research project valued at more than €1 million with Festo AG & Co. KG and funded by Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
  • Developed neural control systems and inverse kinematic models for bio-inspired robotic arm manipulation.
  • Technologies: MATLAB/Simulink, C++, Robot Control, Project Management.

Postdoctoral Researcher | German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI GmbH) ​

Bremen, Germany | Mar 2009 – May 2011

Senior researcher and founding head of the Mobility and Manipulation (M&M) department at DFKI's Robotics Innovation Center (RIC).

  • Research leadership: Built and led a team of more than 10 researchers working on field robotics, cooperative robot behavior, and distributed control systems.
  • Grant acquisition: Co-developed proposals and secured public funding for research programs in cooperative robotics (IMPERA / BMWi), cognitive robotics (VirGo4 / BMWi), and exoskeletons for teleoperation and rehabilitation (CAPIO / BMBF).
  • Technologies: C++, Distributed Architectures, Robotics, Research Leadership, Systems Engineering, Budgeting.

Research Scientist | University of Kassel ​

Kassel, Germany | Dec 2004 – Dec 2008

Researcher in the Distributed Systems group and co-founder of the Distributed Autonomous Systems Laboratory (DAS-Lab).

  • RoboCup team leadership: Founded and led the "Carpe Noctem" Middle-Size League (MSL) robot soccer team, which placed seventh at the 2006 RoboCup World Championship in Bremen (Kassel annual report, p. 14). Continued supporting the team in 2009 after stepping back from active involvement.
  • Tournament leadership: Served as Middle Size League Chair at the RoboCup German Open in 2008 (dissertation acknowledgements, p. xiii).
  • Teaching and supervision: Taught operating systems, distributed architectures, and mobile robotics; supervised more than 30 bachelor's and master's students.
  • Technologies: C#, C++, Distributed Programming, Multicast Network Protocols, Real-time Systems.

Education ​

Doktor der Ingenieurwissenschaften (Dr.-Ing.) ​

Doctoral degree in Computer Science

University of Kassel, Germany | 2004 – 2008

  • Specialization: Distributed Systems, Cooperative Robotics, Software Architecture
  • Thesis: Platform-Independent Development of Robot Communication Software (Full text, Kassel University Press, DNB record)
  • Advisors: Prof. Dr. Kurt Geihs, Prof. Dr. Gerhard Kraetzschmar †
  • Grade: magna cum laude
  • Activities: Founder/Lead of Carpe Noctem RoboCup Team; Kassel Student Workshop on Security.

Diplom-Informatiker (Dipl.-Inf.) ​

Master’s-equivalent degree in Computer Science

University of Ulm, Germany | 1999 – 2004

  • Specialization: Applied Cryptography, Distributed Systems, Networks
  • Thesis: Group Authentication and Encryption in Distributed Environments (Supervisor’s thesis listing, Related paper in workshop proceedings)
  • Grade: 1.0
  • Activities: Developed mobile robot software for "The Ulm Sparrows" RoboCup team. Began hands-on security testing and network security work through personal projects during university studies.

Technical Projects & Open Source ​

Dependency Track Vulnerability Processor (DTVP) | Source Code ​

  • Role: Primary Author & Architect (Active)
  • Goal: Developed a Python toolchain that ingests, filters, and formats Dependency-Track alerts for development teams, reducing noise and helping maintain clear records of product security status.

Home Assistant Birthday Calendar | Source Code ​

  • Role: Author & Publisher (Active)
  • Goal: Built a lightweight, locally hosted birthday calendar integration for Home Assistant and published it as a custom HACS component. It keeps personal data within the user's smart home, without external cloud integrations.

WallDisplay | Source Code ​

  • Focus: ESP32-S3 wall-panel firmware and Home Assistant integration for displaying household information and controlling devices through MQTT.
  • Implementation: Built with ESP-IDF and LVGL, with configurable weather, media, and control pages, device diagnostics, and HTTPS firmware updates with rollback support.
  • Role: Software Architect for development teams; earlier Feature Owner for customer customization.
  • Clinical reporting: Developed functionality for IQTIG quality reporting and German birth statistics, and integrated ICD/OPS coding into the application.
  • Software architecture: Worked on the overall application architecture and supported development teams in architectural design and implementation decisions.
  • Build systems: Worked on both the core product build system and the overall product build system.
  • Customer customization: Initially owned features that enabled customers to adapt forms to their specific workflows and reporting needs.

Selected Publications & Thesis Contributions ​

Languages ​

German and English.

Professional Training ​

  • Presentation Skills – GE Crotonville / GE HealthCare, 2015
  • Fundamentals for Software Technologists (FFT.SW) – GE HealthCare, 2014
  • Communication and Leadership for Project Leaders – DFKI, 2011
  • Professional Project Management – DFKI, 2011
  • Time and Self-Management – DFKI, 2011