During September 2025, Ant Klein focused on enhancing firmware reliability by addressing certificate data alignment issues in the microsoft/mu_tiano_plus and tianocore/edk2 repositories. Working in C within embedded systems and firmware development, Ant implemented and validated 4-byte alignment fixes for XDR certificate data handling, correcting offset calculations that previously led to data access errors. These targeted patches improved the robustness and security of the certificate processing pipeline, reducing boot-time risk across multiple firmware components. Ant’s approach emphasized upstream-friendly patch management and clear traceability, ensuring consistent alignment logic and reliable data handling throughout the affected firmware modules.