Bane Sullivan
Senior Engineer · Geophysicist · Open-Source Developer
I build tools and platforms that make complex spatial data intuitive and accessible. My open-source work is used by thousands of researchers and engineers worldwide, with projects reaching 500k+ monthly downloads and adoption across 2,000+ codebases.
My background is in applied earth sciences (B.Sc. Geophysics, M.Sc. Hydrology, both from Colorado School of Mines). That foundation led me to the intersection of 3D visualization, geospatial data, and reproducible workflows, which eventually led me to building software platforms full-time. I've shipped products at research-driven startups and enterprise R&D organizations, from early prototypes to production systems used across entire companies.
I genuinely believe that scientific findings should be reproducible, not only by other researchers but also by the stakeholders of the science at hand. I carry this sentiment in everything I build.
Experience
KoBold Metals Senior Software Engineer
Developed and deployed a collaborative analysis and 3D visualization platform bridging geologists and data scientists. Pushed adoption of cloud-native geospatial standards (STAC) and streamlined access to computational tools across the organization.
Kitware, Inc. Senior R&D Engineer
Lead developer for Pan3D (3D visualization for PanGeo) and ResonantGeoData (geospatial data management). Built enterprise-scale systems and helped procure $1.8M+ in commercial contracts and government grants.
Colorado School of Mines Graduate Researcher
Explored the intersection of 3D visualization, geoscience, and reproducible workflows. Created PyVista and other open-source tools to make 3D scientific computing accessible. Awarded the Mendenhall Prize for outstanding M.Sc. student in Geophysics.
Open Source
PyVista
3D visualization and mesh analysis through a streamlined interface for VTK. Used by 2,000+ open-source projects and 600+ downstream packages across engineering, geophysics, and scientific computing.
localtileserver
Dynamic tile serving for interactive visualization of large geospatial rasters directly in Jupyter notebooks.
ResonantGeoData
Geospatial data management and search API built on Django, designed for cataloging and serving large imagery assets in machine learning pipelines.
Education
M.Sc. Hydrology
Colorado School of Mines · 2018–2020 · Hydrological Science & Engineering
B.Sc. Geophysics
Colorado School of Mines · 2014–2018 · Minor in Computer Science
Beyond all the coding and science, I'm a trail runner, mountain biker, and general human-powered adventure enthusiast. Feel free to reach out, I'm always happy to talk about earth science computing, open-source software, or epic outdoor activities.