Ky Young

Overview

Areas of specialty

• Native Apple softwareApps for iPhone, Apple Watch and Mac in Swift and SwiftUI, from design to release, and the servers behind them: Handbook, Spectre and DuoChart.
• Precision machiningCNC turning and milling, manual machining and fitting, programmed at the control and in Fusion CAM, across agricultural, mining and food-processing work.
• Hardware and embeddedCircuit design and firmware: Blackjack, an eight-layer board built around the RP2350 that debugs an iPhone’s processor over Lightning.
• Systems and portingBringing large codebases to platforms they were never written for: GTA V compiled natively for Apple silicon, a car’s head unit booted in an emulator, and new control software for a CNC mill.
• Reverse engineeringLearning how undocumented hardware and legacy software work, carefully enough to build new tools on top of them: computer peripherals, workshop machinery and their control software.
• Private AI and infrastructureSelf-hosted AI, virtualisation, storage and networking, designed, built and run in house, so the company’s data and its users’ data stay on hardware it owns.
• Security researchLow-level research on Apple hardware and software, with vulnerability reports to Apple credited and rewarded through its security bounty programme.
• Workshop leadershipLean workflow and 5S improvement, setup documentation that makes handovers consistent, team meetings, and mentoring apprentice intakes.

Experience

1. 2022 to present

   Co-founder, Engineering

   Deoxy Labs, New South Wales

   Leads engineering across the company’s software, hardware and research.

   • Designed and built Handbook for iPhone and Apple Watch, a reference of more than a hundred tools for fitters and machinists, and its assistant, Spectre.
   • Designs, builds and runs the company’s own infrastructure: GPU servers for private AI, virtualised services, storage and networking, on which Spectre and the company’s services run.
   • Created DuoChart, a rhythm game for iPhone and Mac, released publicly in 2026.
   • Designed the circuit and wrote the software for Blackjack.
   • Led GTA V on Apple Silicon, Rosetta and the Head Unit Emulator.
   • Built Peripherals, a native Mac app for computer peripherals, on control protocols worked out from the devices themselves.
   • Security research credited and rewarded through Apple’s security bounty programme.

2. 2022 to present

   Fitter and Machinist

   Collier & Miller (C&M), Griffith, NSW

   Started part-time in 2022 and completed an apprenticeship there. Workshop and on-site work across agricultural, mining and food-processing machinery.

   • Programming, setup and operation of DMG MORI NLX2500 and Mori Seiki NL2500 turning centres.
   • Programming and running ProtoTRAK SMX and MSX850III CNC mills for short-run and prototype work.
   • Fusion CAD/CAM for part design and toolpaths, with tool library management and manufacturer feeds and speeds to cut cycle times.
   • Manual lathes, vertical and horizontal mills, a horizontal borer, radial arm drill and slotter, in precision setups across a wide range of materials.
   • On-site and workshop repair, overhaul and manufacture of industrial equipment.
   • Reverse engineered the workshop’s undocumented dynamic balancing software and built Libra, a new operator interface on the same measurements and records.
   • Mentoring apprentice intakes in machine operation, workshop safety and trade fundamentals; running team meetings; leading lean and 5S improvement and writing setup documentation.

3. From 2021

   Design and Operations

   Internal Archive

   Joined John McAllister’s community documenting Apple prototype hardware and pre-release software in August 2021, looking after its design and operations. Internal Archive led to Deoxy Labs.

Education and qualifications

1. In progress

   Certificate IV in Leadership and Management (BSB40520)

   Expected May 2027

2. May 2026

   Statement of Attainment: Supporting your TAFE NSW Manufacturing Apprentice (402-000005)

   TAFE NSW

3. March 2026

   Certificate of Proficiency, Engineering – Mechanical

   NSW Commissioner for Vocational Training

   The NSW trade certificate, awarded under the Apprenticeship and Traineeship Act 2001 on completing the apprenticeship, on 17 March 2026.

4. November 2025

   Certificate III in Engineering, Mechanical Trade (MEM30219)

   TAFE NSW, Wagga Wagga. Fitting and machining.

   Completed early through competency-based completion, combining on-the-job training at Collier & Miller with block release on campus.

Projects

• HandbookDesign and engineeringEvery chart, table and calculation a fitter or machinist reaches for.
• DuoChartDesign and engineeringA rhythm game for iPhone and Mac.
• SSpectreDesign, engineering and serversHandbook’s assistant, on servers Deoxy Labs owns.
• BBlackjackCircuit and softwareAn alternative to Apple’s Kanzi and Koba debug probes.
• GGTA V on Apple SiliconEngineeringA Windows game engine, native on the Mac and iPhone.
• RosettaEngineeringNew control software for the ProtoTRAK SMX knee mill.
• HHead Unit EmulatorResearchA car’s infotainment system, booted on a Mac.
• LLibraDesign and engineeringA balancing machine’s undocumented software, reverse engineered and given a new interface.
• PPeripheralsReverse engineering and softwareA keyboard and mouse, reverse engineered and driven natively from the Mac.
• IInfrastructureDesign and operationsThe servers, storage and network behind Deoxy Labs, including private AI.
• HHelixHardwareThe 2022 Lightning debug cable that led to Blackjack.

Skills and tools