Bret Barkelew
Principal Software Engineer Lead at Microsoft
Seattle, Washington, United States
Summary
👤
Senior🎓
Top SchoolBret Barkelew is a Principal Software Engineer Lead at Microsoft with nine years of professional experience focused on platform software, firmware, and security across Windows Core OS and UEFI BIOS. He blends low-level expertise (BIOS, OS drivers, UEFI security) with high-level skills in web development, database design, and networking, routinely operating at the intersection of hardware and software. Known internally as a “chief commit wrangler,” he drives platform architecture and energy-efficiency work while mentoring teams and incubating morale-boosting initiatives. His career began in hands-on computer repair and small business tech leadership, giving him pragmatic customer-focused instincts uncommon in senior firmware engineers. Bret holds advanced studies in computer science and engineering from Georgia Tech and UIUC and brings a habit of “paradigm-shifting” creativity to thorny security and platform problems. Outside core duties he actively explores open-source projects and Microsoft’s internal talent landscape, combining curiosity with opportunistic collaboration.
9 years of coding experience
13 years of employment as a software developer
Computer Engineering, Computer Engineering at Georgia Institute of TechnologyBachelor of Science Computer Engineering, Bachelor of Science Computer Engineering at SPSUMaster's degree Computer Science, Master's degree Computer Science at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Github Skills (62)
staging10
visual-studio-code10
uefi10
python10
electron10
microsoft10
firmware10
typescript10
edk210
editor10
designer10
minimum10
qemu9
sublime-text9
intel9
Programming languages (11)
Github contributions (5)
corthon/edk2-staging
Jul 2019 - Jan 2020
EDK II new feature staging
Contributions:2 PRs, 117 pushes, 42 branches in 6 months
staging
corthon/edk2
Jan 2020 - May 2022
EDK II
Contributions:125 pushes, 39 branches in 2 years 3 months
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