Jeremy Mulenex
Story About Work Geospatial Invest Build Contact

Build · Chapter 04

Making & systems

My office has 3D printers and a laser engraver/cutter. I use both to make things for the house, solve problems that don't have a part, or skip buying one I can fabricate myself. Same instinct as product work: name the need, build something real, improve it until it earns a place in daily use.

Focus
Making · systems
Tools
3D print · laser · homelab
Stance
Maker
3D printer in a workshop

Printers & laser

I 3D print and laser-engrave or cut parts for the house: organizers, fixtures, brackets, and one-off fixes when the right part doesn't exist or isn't worth buying. I've made pieces for friends and family the same way. During COVID I printed PPE for healthcare workers.

Server and networking equipment in a homelab

Homelab & local AI

I run a homelab, host services at home, and work with local models. Understanding hardware, networking, and reliability end to end keeps my product instincts honest about what "shipped" actually requires.

Workshop tools representing making and personal agentic experiments

Personal agentic workflows

I experiment with structured discovery, prototyping, and critique loops on my own time, separate from Centene. Patterns that survive home testing are the ones I bring to the team with clear guardrails.

The loop

Whether it's a bracket for the house or a design ops workflow, I use the same sequence:

  • Discover Name the decision, constraints, and what "done" means before building.
  • Prototype Ship something small enough to fail cheaply: a print, a cut, a script, or HTML with real interactions.
  • Critique Test with real use: does it hold up after a week, not just a demo?
  • Handoff Document what worked so the next iteration starts from truth, not memory.

Work crossover lives in the professional chapter. Agentic design ops at Centene is how I operationalize what I learn here.

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