SAMUEL WALLACE
PROJECT PORFOLIO
What drives me.
I'm endlessly curious about how things could be better: more elegant, more efficient, more effective. I see problems as opportunities, and I’m wired to explore them through a different lens. Over time, I’ve realised I'm not just a conceptual thinker, I'm a builder. I don’t just chase ideas. I bring them to life.
Right now, I’m craving a new challenge. Something I can obsess over.
I want to dive deep into something cutting-edge, high-impact, and collaborative.
My Start-ups
01
Skillustrate | 2016
An intelligent recruitment network connecting students and graduates with employers by prioritising practical skills.
I believed I’d found a gap in digital recruitment: the lack of reliable, granular skill data. Skillustrate was designed to let recruiters search by skill, shortlist talent based on capability, and only pay to contact the right candidates. I also developed a unique endorsement system to replace the shallow, gamified approach of LinkedIn.
The plan was to prove the model and target an early acquisition. I was young, bold, and hadn’t yet learned what a red ocean was. Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn shortly after launch shifted the landscape and made market timing a serious challenge.
Still, Skillustrate taught me how to take an idea to reality, solve from first principles, and get real about market timing.
Skills acquired: SaaS Design · UX Logic · Business Model Innovation · Start-up Validation
02
Smart Tackle Club | 2017 - 2018
Australia’s first subscription box service for fishing lures.
The idea was simple: fishing lures have a high price-to-volume ratio, which meant I could ship a high-value box at minimal cost. That profile made it ideal for recurring revenue.
I was curious about ecommerce and digital marketing, and saw this as a chance to learn. The subscription box space was taking off, and I wanted to explore its economics from the inside.
I built supplier and customer lists to scale, and sold the business in 2018. By then, I’d proven the concept to myself, but also recognised it wasn’t going to scale profitably to the level I wanted. The timing for a clean exit was perfect.
Skills acquired: eCommerce · Growth Strategy · Digital Marketing · Supplier Management · Economics
03
Escape Walls | 2020 - 2021
Landscape photography curated from a group of travel photographers, printed on museum-grade adhesive canvas. Offered in panoramas and unique “window” formats.
By this point, I had a strong grasp of ecommerce and wanted to create a project that merged design, logistics, and lean operations. Escape Walls was born out of a rental house with bare walls and some imagination.
I designed the business to run print-on-demand, direct from China. I built a Shopify site and integrated an automated supplier ordering system, so all I had to manage was marketing and customer experience. The frame-less prints meant they could be stacked, rolled and shipped in tubes anywhere in the world for minimal cost.
The product sold decently, but I didn’t find a strong enough product–market fit for the business to reach profitability. I made the call to shut it down and apply the lessons to the next build.
Skills acquired: Product Design · Foreign Manufacturing · D2C · Automated Fulfilment · Shopify Dev & Logistics · Scaled Paid Ads
04
cucumber | 2023 - 2024
Ultra-comfy, heavy, super soft wearable doonas with thermo-regulating properties, made for hot sleepers and year-round use.
I’d been waiting for a unique play in the sleep space with scroll-stopping potential. After spotting a high-performing US duvet product, I tracked down their Chinese suppliers, ordered samples, and built a wearable prototype tailored for hot sleepers.
After several rounds of design iteration and optimisations with the supplier, I locked in a solid final product. I chose Kickstarter to fund the first order - a calculated bet given the upfront costs and size of the MOQ.
Despite strong early interest, I made two critical campaign mistakes that limited exposure and capped reach. The campaign didn’t fund. In hindsight, that may have been fortunate: the order volumes required to hit profitability didn’t match the risk profile I was willing to take.
Skills acquired: Product Sourcing · Wearable Product Design · Kickstarter Launch Strategy · Risk Profiling
05
SuperviseMe | Curiosity Project | Present
Built as a personal learning and curiosity exercise, SuperviseMe is a prototype clinical reasoning tool for allied health professionals. It uses a GPT-based agent stack to retrieve, analyse, and interpret research papers against a patient’s case context, suggesting scientifically grounded interventions.
I designed the product logic, built a custom RAG engine, and wrote the codebase myself using AI dev tools. After a series of backend, UX and debugging iterations, I deployed it on Vercel beta testing in my sister's OT clinic. However, trust and accuracy concerns have halted that step.
What began as a challenge to see if I could build a working AI health tool from scratch became a three week spare time sprint that resulted in a functioning MVP, capable of parsing real clinical queries and returning evidence-backed support. It’s still rough around the edges and there are some hallucinations with citations, but the core engine works. That was the point.
If you'd like to take it for a spin (not on mobile). A tester login is below. Pretend you're an OT or physio dealing with a case. Or, copy in the case below.
Username: supervisemetest@gmail.com
Password: Curiosity2025!
Case: A 5-year-old boy with autism struggles with sensory regulation in the classroom, frequently covering his ears and avoiding group activities. The teacher reports difficulty engaging him in structured tasks. Parents are seeking strategies to support participation and reduce distress during transitions.
01
Fitzroy to Gladstone Pipeline
Project Engineer – Polymer Generation, Storage & Dosing Systems
Contributed to the design, engineering, procurement and manufacturing of the polymer generation, batching, storage, and dosing systems for the Fitzroy to Gladstone Pipeline - a large infrastructure project delivering long-term water security to central Queensland.
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Coordinated with civil, mechanical, and process consultants to integrate polymer equipment within broader treatment infrastructure
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Navigated client-side expectations, contractor coordination, suppliers and evolving spec/design requirements on a live timeline
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This arm of the project is currently in the manufacturing phase after successful design submissions
02
Parker Point Desalination Plant
Project Engineer – Chemical Storage & Dosing Systems
Contributed to the design, engineering and specification of chemical systems for the desalination plant servicing Rio Tinto’s Parker Point port operations in Western Australia.
Designed and engineered bulk chemical storage and metering systems across key treatment stages
Collaborated with various teams to ensure spec, expectation and site alignment
Managed documentation reviews to meet the strict mining quality standards
03
Merrimac & Coombabah WWTPs
Project Manager – Polymer Preparation, Storage & Dosing Systems
Led the delivery of polymer preparation and dosing systems for two major wastewater treatment facilities on the Gold Coast: Merrimac and Coombabah. Each plant required tailored system integration to suit the new centrifuge and drainage deck treatment infrastructure and operational protocols.
Managed full project lifecycle from design, engineering, spec compliance, procurement, manufacturing and QA
Coordinated with stakeholders, consulting engineers, and site teams to align system design with plant-specific constraints
Delivered both projects on time, within scope and budget, and in compliance with all relevant standards
04
Iluka Balranald Mine
Project Manager – Hazardous Area Chemical Systems
Managed the design and engineering of HA-compliant chemical storage and dosing systems for frother and collector reagents at Iluka’s Balranald mineral sands project. The systems handle exotic and highly volatile materials, including amyl xanthate - a chemical that decomposes to carbon disulphide with a flash point of 30°C and high toxicity.
Designed and engineered everything for hazardous reagents in strict accordance with IECEX and AS/NZS 60079 compliance
Navigated complex risk layers to satisfy mining HA classification while maintaining constructability and cost feasibility
Engineered containment, ventilation, dosing control, and electrical systems to greatly mitigate thermal and ignition risks
Balanced complex compliance/client demands with project scope through efficient workflows and contract negotiation
Coordinated with the process consultants and engineers to meet expectations and deliver satisfaction