# Kunal Patel

> Principal Software Engineer at Citrix

Location: Danville, California, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/kunalpatel

Principal Software Engineer with 17+ years of experience.  Key driver of technical excellence, innovation, and performance optimization, operating at the cross-section of leadership and hands-on technical expertise, guiding and influencing cutting-edge solutions with transformational technology. Strong background in TCP/IP, Network Security and Cryptography.

●  Leading architecture design and implementing scalable, high-performance software systems
●  Collaborating with cross-functional teams, aligning software solutions with business goals
●  Mentoring and guiding junior engineers and promoting a culture of continuous learning
●  Championing agile methodologies to enhance team productivity and project delivery
●  Conducting code reviews to ensure quality and alignment with architectural standards
●  Maintaining awareness of industry trends and emerging technologies for adaption.

Technical Expertise(non-exhaustive):
●  Expertise in FIPS 140-2/3 certification process
●  Expertise in technologies including API Gateway, API Security, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), Secure Socket Layer (SSL), DTLS, Internet Key Exchange v1 (IKEv1), IKEv2, IPSEC, VPNs and HTTPS. 
●  Excellent C and Python programming skills

## Work Experience
### Principal Software Engineer @ Cloud Software Group
Jan 2022 – Present
Cloud Software Group/Citrix delivers mission-critical enterprise software at scale, delivering high-performing applications and desktops from any cloud or on-premises data center. Support hybrid work environments and flexible infrastructure.

Highlights:
●  Lead architecture responsible for design and development of FIPS 140-2/3 certification for software and hardware platforms, enabling sales in federal space by addressing compliance gaps and converting them into actionable engineering requirements.
●  Lead Engineer for design and development of API gateway solution in AWS, simplifying customer pain points by deploying and securing new APIs with a few clicks and providing reach feedback and visibility for API traffic analytics.
●  Designed and implemented a unique key encryption key (KEK) algorithm using HKDF to transform plaintext into ciphertext (encryption) and vice versa (decryption) to store sensitive information, including passwords. 
●  Integrated PFS ciphers in DTLS and SSL stack with Thales and Safenet hardware security model (HSM)

### Principal Software Engineer @ Citrix
Jan 2019 – Jan 2022 | Santa Clara, California

### Staff Software Engineer @ Citrix
Jan 2017 – Jan 2019 | Santa Clara, California

### Staff IOT Security Engineer @ GE Digital
Jan 2016 – Jan 2016
Work on security features on predix machine stack.

### Staff Engineer/Technical Leader @ Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company
Jan 2015 – Jan 2016
I am part of the team that is developing next generation cloud based WLAN controller.

Some of the projects I have worked on: 
●  Design and develop VPN Concentrator infrastructure for cloud aware WLAN controller.
●  Work on Zero touch provisioning infra which does auto configuration of managed devices.This allows plug and play type of capabilities for managed devices
●  Work on provisioning new Code Signing Server for Aruba OS
●  Work on several customer requested features 
●  Work with support team to resolve critical customer bugs

### Senior Software Engineer @ Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company
Jan 2013 – Jan 2015
Work on FIPS certification of Aruba products. Software developer for VPN/Security protocols for Aruba’s WLAN controller and Access-Points.

### Senior Software Engineer @ Cisco Systems Inc.
Jan 2012 – Jan 2013 | San Jose, CA
Work on the Cisco's Application Delivery Controller for data centers and cloud architecture. My focus area is to work on the next generation platforms (including virtualized ACE) for load balancing SSL/HTTP traffic

### Software Engineer @ Cisco Systems Inc.
Jan 2007 – Jan 2012
I am part of the VPN group that manages PKI and SSL in IOS

Some projects that I have worked on:
●  Design and implemented High Availability (HA) infrastructure for PKI 
●  Integrated OpenSSL into IOS to support SSL protocol exchange. Also integrated IOS PKI and IOS crypto engine with OpenSSL so that SSL exchange can use FIPS certified IOS implementation of PKI and Crypto
●  Part of the team that implemented NSA Suite-B related algorithms in IOS. Was responsible for design and development of Suite-B Certificate and CRL profile in PKI as well as implementing ECDSA authentication method for IKEv2 as per RFC 4754
●  Part of the team that developed IKEv2 protocol (RFC 4306) in IOS. Was responsible for multiple features including NAT-T, DPD, Integration of AAA with IKEv2, CAC (Call admission Control for protecting against DDOS attack).


## Education
### MS CS in Computer Science
Texas A&M University

### BE IT in Information Technology
Sardar Patel University


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kunal-patel-8a307223

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Source: https://flows.cv/kunalpatel
JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/kunalpatel/resume.json
Last updated: 2026-04-12