Lucas Elzinga
Lab Engineer and Full Stack Developer with 12+ years at Microsoft, focused on datacenter lab automation, hardware validation pipelines, and internal tooling. I build the systems that keep labs running — from bare metal provisioning to CI/CD pipelines to custom inventory platforms.
Skills & Technologies
PowerShellAzure DevOps PipelinesLab AutomationHardware ValidationASP.NETSvelte / SvelteKitTypeScriptHyper-VWinPE / WDS / MDTDHCP / NetworkingInfiniBandFirmware ToolingInventory SystemsPowerBI / Microsoft Fabric
Experience
Lab Engineer, Automation Specialist, & Full Stack Developer (Contracted)
Microsoft - Wipro (Tukwila & Redmond, WA)
- Manage multi-lab environments including space planning, power capacity, networking, and spare parts inventory
- Run performance, functional, and build verification tests for new hardware releases through Azure Pipelines
- Write troubleshooting guides that reduced repeat escalations for common customer issues
- Build PowerBI dashboards (Microsoft Fabric) tracking hardware vulnerabilities, test pass rates, and performance trends
- Own and maintain automation pipelines in Azure DevOps for recurring lab operations
- Extend existing PowerShell automation modules to cover new hardware platforms and deployment scenarios
Lab Engineer, Automation Specialist, & Full Stack Developer (Contracted)
Microsoft - TCS (Redmond, WA)
- Built and maintained Azure DevOps pipelines automating firmware updates, diagnostics, and build testing across multiple labs
- Authored PowerShell modules used daily by the team for consistent server provisioning and data collection
- Led response on high-priority customer-facing issues, coordinating across teams to restore lab availability
- Tracked down complex hardware and networking failures spanning multiple racks and lab sites
- Handled remote and direct firmware upgrades/downgrades to specific revision levels
- Documented configuration and troubleshooting procedures adopted as team-wide references
- Mentored multiple high school interns on lab operations and scripting fundamentals
Lab Engineer, Automation Specialist, & Full Stack Developer (Contracted)
Microsoft - HCL (Redmond, WA)
- Built PowerShell modules for automated server provisioning, firmware reporting, and lab-wide diagnostics
- Designed an inventory management system that tracked power usage estimates and hardware status across multiple lab environments
- Developed the system validation component integrated into Analytical Platform Systems (APS) software
- Created bare metal deployment tooling using WDS, DHCP, MDT, Hyper-V, WinPE, and PowerShell — from PXE boot to production-ready
- Ran test passes using Microsoft internal tooling (WTT) for hardware certification
- Mentored high school interns on scripting, lab workflows, and debugging techniques
Lab Technician & Junior Software Developer (Contracted)
Microsoft - Xtreme (Redmond, WA)
- Built a ticketing system with time tracking, file attachments, and reporting from scratch (ASP.NET)
- Built a companion inventory app tied to the ticketing system for tracking lab hardware lifecycle
- Added remote firmware reporting and WMI-based diagnostic data collection to existing lab tools
- Diagnosed and fixed issues in Analytical Platform Systems (APS) deployments
- Wrote automation scripts for local and remote diagnostic data collection across lab servers
Lab Technician (Contracted)
Microsoft - CompuCom (Redmond, WA)
- Racked, cabled, and configured Dell, HPE, and Quanta servers across multiple lab buildouts
- Set up Ethernet and Mellanox InfiniBand switch fabrics for high-performance lab networking
- Planned and coordinated hardware deployment schedules for lab expansion projects
- Wrote step-by-step wiring and configuration documentation still referenced by the team
- Performed bulk firmware upgrades across large server fleets using scripted rollout processes