What was wrong with WordPress

The immediate trigger was trying to restore a site for a friend. The backup had two files: a .sql dump and a tar.gz of the WordPress files. Both were empty shells. The backup script had run successfully every night against volumes that were never actually populated.

Longer term, every WordPress install I run is a maintenance surface:

• Core updates (security patches, roughly monthly)
• Plugin updates (weekly, some with breaking changes)
• Theme updates
• MySQL container that needs its own backup strategy
• PHP-FPM that can silently break if the container restarts in the wrong order

For a personal portfolio site that I might not touch for three months at a time, that’s a lot of overhead.

What Hugo is

Hugo is a static site generator — a single Go binary that takes a folder of Markdown files and compiles them into plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The output is a folder. You point nginx at that folder. Done.

No database. No PHP. No runtime of any kind. A static HTML file served by nginx:alpine uses about 5 MB of RAM at idle, compared to ~250 MB for a WordPress stack.

The deployment pattern

My home server already runs a static nginx container for another site (99-names). Hugo fits the same pattern exactly:

services:
  mohamed-personal-site:
    image: nginx:alpine
    container_name: mohamed-personal-site
    volumes:
      - ./site/public:/usr/share/nginx/html:ro
    networks:
      - npm_net

Build with Hugo, output goes to site/public/, Nginx Proxy Manager routes mohamed.sirwalterlibrary.ddns.net to this container. Identical to what I already knew.

Backup is now just git

The entire site — content, configuration, theme — lives in a git repository. Backing up means git push. Restoring from scratch means git clone && hugo.

No more praying that the mysqldump captured something useful.

What I gave up

The WordPress admin dashboard. For now that’s fine — I’m the only person editing this site. If I ever want collaborators, I’ll look at Decap CMS or Pages CMS, both of which layer a web editor on top of a static site without adding a database.

Outside of work I teach Islamic studies to students ages 7–13, run a homelab that I use for self-hosting, networking, and tinkering, and am working on expanding into data science and machine learning.

Work

Systems Application Engineer I — SICK Inc. (June 2022 – Present)
Bloomington, MN

• Developed 100+ Python scripts for data extraction, TCP/IP logging, automation, and visualization
• Aided installation of Track and Trace systems on 40+ tilt tray sorters at FedEx and UPS sites
• Troubleshot and tested 15+ sensor solutions for barcode scanning and dimensioning systems
• Involved in obtaining NTEP certification on 2 Track and Trace systems

Design Engineering Co-op — Emerson Automation Solutions (Jan – Sep 2021)
Shakopee, MN

• Built a pipe fixture to test Emerson’s X-well temperature sensor beyond 300°C
• Implemented a data acquisition system using LabVIEW with Emerson’s 848TX transmitter
• Conducted cost analysis on in-house injection molding vs. outsourcing

Education

B.S. Mechanical Engineering — University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (2018–2022)
Relevant coursework: C++, Statistics, Intro to Machine Learning, Systems & Modeling, Control Systems

Skills

Engineering & Systems: Python, TCP/IP, Linux/SSH, sensor systems, IoT devices, computer networking
Data & ML: pandas, NumPy, matplotlib, scikit-learn, SQL, Bash, feature engineering
Infrastructure: Git/GitHub, Docker, self-hosted Linux servers, OPNsense, Nginx

Teaching & Volunteering

• Islamic Studies Teacher (Sep 2024 – Present) — Teaching students ages 7–13 in storytelling, jurisprudence, and manners
• Tutor (2019–2022) — K–8 students in mathematics, social sciences, and language arts
• Open Arms of MN (2023) — Volunteering to deliver medically tailored meals to community members with life-threatening illnesses

Languages

• English — Native / Bilingual
• Somali — Professional Working Proficiency

• Network & IT / Systems Engineering version — focused on sensor systems, TCP/IP, IoT, and infrastructure
• Data Science version — focused on Python, pandas, ML, and data analysis

Quick Summary

Mohamed Mohamed — Systems Engineer
SICK Inc., Bloomington MN · U of M Mechanical Engineering ‘22
studentmohamed1881@gmail.com · LinkedIn · GitHub