Kurt VanDusen

Founder & Lead Developer

Grand Rapids, MIkurtvandusen@gmail.comlinkedin.com/in/kurtvandusengithub.com/equationalapplicationsequationalapplications.com

Summary

Founder of Equational Applications LLC, building Clanker — an open-source AI character platform with real-time voice, agentic memory, and cross-device tools — and the LLM Wiki memory libraries (core-llm-wiki, expo-llm-wiki, react-llm-wiki) used in production AI apps. Full-stack developer with 6+ years shipping mobile and web products to the App Store, Google Play, and web. Deep experience in React Native, Expo, Firebase, Google Cloud Vertex AI, Gemini Live, subscription billing, and spec-driven development with AI agents.

Skills

AI & Cloud
Vertex AIGemini LiveAgent Development KitAnthropic ClaudeGoogle CloudFirebaseCloud SQLCloud RunLangFlowChromaDBLangChain
Frontend
React NativeExpoReactTypeScriptExpo RouterTailwind CSSReact Native PaperGemini Live WebSocket clients
Backend
Node.jsPostgreSQLApollo GraphQLFirebase FunctionsStripeSupabaseREST APIWebSocket streamingRevenueCat
DevOps
GitHub ActionsExpo EASDockerKubernetesSemantic ReleasexStateTanStack QueryBrowser extension (MV3)

Experience

Founder & Lead DeveloperMar 2020 – Present
Equational Applications LLC
  • Founded Equational Applications LLC; lead developer of Clanker — open-source AI character platform (React Native, Expo, Vertex AI, Gemini Live, Firebase, Cloud SQL). Shipped real-time voice calls, browser bridge extension, and on-device edge agent loop.
  • Author and maintainer of LLM Wiki Memory packages (@equationalapplications/core-llm-wiki, expo-llm-wiki, react-llm-wiki) — agentic memory with semantic search, ontology graphs, and episodic fact extraction.
  • Built `@equationalapplications/core-llm-tools` for agent tool definitions and permission policies.
  • Freelance full-stack and mobile contracts; marketing agent on GCP Vertex AI ADK.
Full Stack & Mobile EngineerOct 2023 – Mar 2026
Spectrum Net Designs, Inc
  • Full-stack and mobile development for Auctioneer Software across React, React Native (Expo), and Node.js.
  • Deployed and maintained applications on bare-metal Kubernetes infrastructure.
  • Managed Play Store and App Store release pipelines using Expo EAS and GitHub Actions.
  • Contributed across the entire stack from PostgreSQL schema design to mobile client.
Independent Web Developer2015 – 2020
Self-Employed
  • Maintained legacy client websites on WordPress, Drupal, PHP, and MySQL.
  • Pursued ongoing self-study in modern web development and software architecture.
Web Developer2001 – 2015
Alley Cat Bead Company
  • Developed and maintained Drupal e-commerce website for online retail store.
Owner2005 – 2010
Webstore Specialist
  • Website development for e-commerce clients and SEO services.

Projects

Clankerclanker-ai.com

Open-source AI character platform built in public. Custom characters with real-time Gemini Live voice calls (barge-in, echo-cancelled speakerphone), LLM Wiki persistent memory, document understanding (PDF/Word/image upload), live web search, browser bridge, edge agent orchestration, Stripe subscriptions. iOS, Android, and web.

React NativeExpoTypeScriptVertex AIClaudeFirebasePostgreSQLStripeGitHubReal-Time VoiceApp StoreGoogle Play
LLM Wiki Memory Platformequationalapplications.com/products/memory

Platform-agnostic agentic memory engine and React Native/React bindings. Semantic search, ontology graphs, episodic extraction. Powers Clanker and available on npm.

TypeScriptSQLiteLLMAgentic MemorynpmProduct Pagecore-llm-wikiGitHub
Marketing Agent — GCP + Vertex AI ADKgithub.com/equationalapplications/marketing-agent-gcp-adk

Hybrid marketing agent using Vertex AI Agent Builder and Cloud Run for production deployment.

Google CloudVertex AICloud RunADKGitHub
Firebase Auth → Supabase Bridgegithub.com/equationalapplications/firebase-auth-supabase-bridge

Exchange a Firebase Auth token for a real Supabase session without the Supabase SSO add-on.

Firebase AuthSupabaseNode.jsJWTGitHub

Certifications

Google Cloud Certified — Associate Cloud Engineer · GoogleAug 2023 · Expires Aug 2026
General Coding Assessment · CodeSignalDec 2022

Education

Honors Physics & Honors Calculus — University of Chicago1989 – 1990
Self-Taught DeveloperSince childhood

Created one of the first 3D first-person shooters in 1983. Built an artificial neural network on an Amiga in 1991.