Okay, let’s tackle this. So Meng Zhu has a strong technical background with expertise in operating systems and programming languages. He’s located in Santa Clara, California, which is a hub for tech companies. The average salary for a software engineer in this location is around $124 per hour, according to various sources. Considering his skills, I’d estimate his hourly rate to be around $125, which is slightly above the average. This is because his expertise in operating systems and Linux kernel is in high demand, especially in the tech industry.