PsyPhi

Bespoke Hosting & Software Solutions

About Me

Hi, I'm Roger Pettett, a dedicated web application developer and systems architect with over 25 years of experience in building scalable, high-performance web solutions, high-throughput bioinformatics solutions including several LIMS and tera-/peta-scale next-gen sequencing data management systems.

By day, until recently I served as Vice President of Informatics at Oxford Nanopore Technologies PLC, building and leading a talented team of developers, bioinformaticians, and IT professionals in creating cutting-edge genomic analysis solutions.

By night, I run PsyPhi Network, providing bespoke computing and software development services to a select group of clients who appreciate quality and attention to detail.

My technical expertise spans modern and retro - Linux, Perl, JavaScript, MySQL, and modern web frameworks, with a particular focus on creating elegant, maintainable code that stands the test of time. My current longevity records for commercial software I've written personally stand at 8 years of service for a LIMS product, and 10 years of service for a SaaS bioinformatics analysis platform product, both still with releases every fortnight by the time they were decommissioned.

Culture Scaling Startups Ubuntu Debian Slackware Perl NodeJS/JavaScript DevOps Confluence JIRA Gitlab MySQL Web Development Web Architecture Data Architecture HPC Scalable Systems Distributed Systems High Throughput Computing Linux CI/CD Kaizen UI / UX Automation Lean Agile

Featured Projects

Hatfield Forest District Scouts

A promotional website for Scouting in Hatfield Forest District, Essex UK, showcasing groups, contact information, activities and events. Management of district IT and office/collaboration services.

TailwindCSS Github-CI Google Workspace
hatfieldforestdistrictscouts.org.uk

Dunmow Rifle Club

A refreshed website with integrated event fixtures, news, and Google Apps for a local rifle and pistol club.

Gitlab-CI jQuery Bootstrap
dunmowrifles.co.uk

Our Lady & St. Anne Line

A basic promotional website with some automation for an Essex parish.

TailwindCSS jQuery Gitlab-CI
stanneline.org.uk

Our Lady & The Holy Spirit

A basic promotional website with some automation for an Essex parish.

w3.css jQuery Gitlab-CI
bardfieldandthaxted.org.uk

Centurion Explorer Scout Unit

A promotional website for the Hatfield Forest District 14-18yrs Explorer Scout Unit, showcasing activities and information about the unit.

Bootstrap Gitlab-CI
centurions.uk

Legacy Projects

DECIPHER

A groundbreaking clinical database for chromosomal imbalance and phenotype using Ensembl Resources.

Perl MySQL prototype.js
decipher.sanger.ac.uk

Oxshott Sports

Website refresh and optimization with Google Apps integration for a local sports retailer.

HTML/CSS Perl Google Apps
ovsc.co.uk

Wrens Preschool

A communication-focused website for a preschool that significantly increased parent enquiries.

DHTML Perl prototype.js
wrenspreschool.co.uk

St. Margaret Mary Church

IT, networking, backup and office collaboration services, plus a comprehensive website with CMS, document search, and integrated Google Apps services for a Hampshire parish.

Perl jQuery Google Apps
stmm.org.uk

IOTA Marathon

A web application developed for the RSGB for managing and scoring IOTA Maration ham radio competition entries with ADIF log file parsing and automated scoring.

Perl jQuery MySQL
iotaevents.org

Professional Journey

2009 - 2025

Vice President of Informatics

Oxford Nanopore Technologies

Building, leading and nurturing a department of software developers, bioinformaticians, and IT professionals in designing, developing and supporting cutting-edge, high-throughput genomic analysis solutions. Co-developing product and business functions supporting novel, groundbreaking science.

2007 - 2009

Team Leader, Next-Gen Pipelines

Wellcome Sanger Institute

Built and managed the institute's LIMS, pipelines, data management and HPC support for 42 Illumina GA2s generating ~1TByte/machine/week. Both technical deliverables and building, mentoring and running a team.


1999 - 2007

Team Leader, Web Team

Wellcome Sanger Institute

Managed the institute's public service architecture, software development and web operations function/team, supporting 15M+ weekly requests. Significant, founding contributions to projects like Ensembl, COSMIC, and DECIPHER.

1998 - 1999

C++ Developer, Electronic Publishing

Chadwyck-Healey Ltd.

C++ and Perl development for multimedia CDROM and web-based full-text literature tools (NewLION, now O'Reilly Safari).

1995 - Present

Founder & Technical Director

PsyPhi Network

Providing bespoke computing, support, web hosting and software development services to a growing client base since 1995.