EMMA-JANE MACKINNON-LEE

Emma-Jane MacKinnon-Lee — confidential computing engineer and electronics builder, portrait.

Introduction

EMMA-JANE MCKINNON | 09 April 1989

I’m Emma, a confidential computing engineer, electronics builder, and systems tinkerer who believes the best technology should be trusted because you can test it, open it, and understand how it works. From chasing faults on messy boards to building secure hardware demos and privacy-first tools, I bring a hands-on, full-circuit process to everything I make. My journey started in the South Island of New Zealand with broken gear, music spaces, borrowed tools, and a habit of opening things before throwing them away.

That curiosity grew into work across embedded systems, electronics, confidential computing, open-source hardware, and machine trust. Whether it’s a secure enclave prototype, a sensor board, a hardware installation, or a stubborn demo that refuses to behave five minutes before it matters, I work through the whole thing with focus, grit, and a healthy suspicion of black boxes. With every project, I’m not just trying to make the machine run, but to make the system clearer, safer, stranger, and more useful for the people who actually have to live with it.

Emma-Jane MacKinnon-Lee — electronics engineer and hardware systems engineer, close-up portrait.
Emma-Jane MacKinnon-Lee — secure systems engineer and embedded electronics builder, portrait.

There and Back Again:

Confidential Computing and Hardware Systems Engineer

Independent / freelance · Amsterdam and remote
2023 to present

Building secure hardware prototypes, confidential computing demos, encrypted workflows and small electronics systems for research teams, artists and independent studios.

Working with trusted execution environments, embedded boards, open-source hardware, device testing, documentation and practical threat modelling.

Projects include secure local data capture, privacy-first sensor systems, machine trust experiments, hardware demos for research presentations and electronics support for installation-based work.

Secure Systems and Electronics Developer

DIGITALAX · Amsterdam, Netherlands
2021 to 2024

Worked on confidential computing, secure enclaves, hardware demos and open-source electronics for a studio or research lab working between technology, applied systems and experimental media.

Built and tested prototypes using embedded boards, sensors, encrypted storage, local networks and secure execution environments.

Collaborated with researchers, engineers, artists and producers to turn technical ideas into working demos, installations and documentation that non-specialists could understand.

Supported hardware setup, debugging, system diagrams, written notes, live testing and public-facing technical presentations.

Embedded Systems and Privacy Tools Developer

DIGITALAX · New York, United States
2018 to 2021

Worked on small devices, sensor boards, privacy tools and embedded prototypes for independent technology and research projects.

Designed and tested hardware systems, supported firmware development, prepared documentation and helped translate privacy requirements into working technical workflows.

Worked with microcontrollers, local data storage, device communication, encrypted files, hardware debugging, basic enclosure prototyping and artist-facing technical support.

Electronics Repair and Venue Tech

Independent music venues and repair work · Dunedin / Christchurch, New Zealand
2016 to 2018

Repaired and maintained audio gear, cables, small electronics, projectors and basic venue equipment.

Supported live events, projection setups, DIY audio builds, small hardware fixes and emergency technical problem-solving.

Built early experience in soldering, fault-finding, signal flow, cheap equipment, bad power and the difference between something working once and something actually working.

Selected Projects

Secure Field Box

A privacy-first hardware system for collecting local sensor data without sending raw files to a cloud service. Built around encrypted local storage, simple physical controls and clear device-state indicators.

Enclave Demo Kit

A working demonstration setup for explaining confidential computing to non-specialist teams. Included diagrams, test scripts, hardware notes and a plain-language walkthrough of what the system protects and what it does not.

Noise Floor

An electronics and sound project using broken audio gear, handmade circuits and small sensors to turn hardware faults into live signals for performance.

Open Switch

An open-source hardware experiment around physical consent in digital systems. Designed as a small device where a user can clearly see when capture, storage or transmission is active.

Black Box Funeral

A small research and documentation project looking at sealed devices, repair refusal, broken consumer electronics and the politics of tools that cannot be opened.

Worked with artists, musicians, researchers, small studios and independent technical teams across New Zealand, Amsterdam and New York.

Experience in DIY music spaces, installation support, live technical setups, public demos, artist labs, repair work and practical documentation.

Interested in privacy, repair culture, open tools, punk technology, machine trust and systems people can actually understand.