Ruan de Clercq — Software Engineer
The first time my code didn't meet the performance requirements under load, it wasn’t a mysterious input that killed it. It was the CPU. The architecture was fine on paper, but the caches, memory, and I/O were screaming. That moment pulled me into a career of making real‑world networked systems behave the way the benchmarks promised. Today, I’m a software engineer at Dendrite Cyber, building high‑performance networking systems that move packets at blistering speed without any drops. I spend my days in C++, DPDK, and P4, turning hardware constraints into design choices: from an MPLS decapsulation device that can handle 32×100 Gbps, to a 32×100 Gbps traffic deduplication system, to a DPDK‑based network health monitor that gives deep, live visibility into what’s really happening on the wire. Before Dendrite, I worked at Netronome / Mira Security on TLS inspection devices that decrypts traffic at line rate. That meant sweating every CPU cycle, memory access, and I/O path while also hardening the cryptography stack by adding new cipher suites and TLS extensions, integrating HSMs, and keeping FIPS‑grade key management and certificate validation solid under pressure. I came into industry from a PhD in computer security, where I published 11 peer‑reviewed papers and learned how to tackle hard systems problems with researchers, cryptographers, and engineers in the same room. That research mindset still shapes how I work: measure first, understand the architecture, then tune. These days, my niche is the intersection of performance and security in real systems: how CPU and cache behavior, memory layouts, and protocol choices show up as latency, throughput, and resilience on real networks. I share what I learn - experiments, diagrams, and war stories - so other engineers can build faster, safer systems without reinventing every wheel. If you’re pushing the limits of packet processing, low‑latency C++ or secure high‑throughput infrastructure, I’d love to compare notes. Always happy to talk about packets, caches, or that one optimization that finally made your code fly.
Stackforce AI infers this person is a high-performance networking systems expert with a focus on security and cryptography.
Location: Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Experience: 18 yrs 9 mos
Skills
- Networking Systems
- C++
- P4
- Dpdk
- Traffic Management
- Tls Interception
- Cryptography
- Security
- Software Development
Career Highlights
- Expert in high-performance networking systems.
- PhD in computer security with 11 publications.
- Specializes in performance and security intersection.
Work Experience
Dendrite Cyber
Engineering Specialist (2 yrs 2 mos)
VASTech
Engineering Specialist (8 mos)
Mira Security
Principal Software Engineer (1 yr 11 mos)
Netronome
Principal Software Engineer (2 yrs 2 mos)
Lead Software Engineer (1 yr 6 mos)
KU Leuven: ESAT/COSIC
PhD (4 yrs 3 mos)
Saab Systems Grintek
Software Engineer (1 yr)
LQS International Limited
Software Developer (6 yrs)
Education
Doctor of Philosophy - PhD at KU Leuven
Master's degree at KU Leuven
Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) at University of Pretoria
