The range of a team, without hiring one.
I take embedded systems from concept to production — circuit design, PCB layout, firmware, RF, sensors, controls, prototyping, and the fabrication to make it real. Fifteen-plus years building safety-critical, high-reliability systems from prototype through field support.
My background runs across five fields — IT, computer engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and physics. In practice, that means one person can design the board, write the firmware, handle the comms, make it fit the enclosure, stand up the servers behind it, and explain it all to your team.
Perhaps you need embedded, PCB, firmware, and prototype work but can't hire a whole hardware team? Fractional hardware engineering — the full breadth, on demand.
Overflow capacity, design reviews, or firefighting. I specialize in the kind of cross-domain problems that sometimes fall between disciplines. I’m also an excellent cross-domain translator so your software, circuits, and mechanical guys all understand each other's constraints. I can help you find the perfect balance point in your projects.
Custom workshops, team upskilling, and team-building with fun engineering challenges. I love teaching and creating custom events tailored to your needs.
Lead offerings
Embedded systems, PCB design & prototyping
The full hardware + firmware lifecycle: analog and digital circuit design, PCB layout through fabrication and bring-up — including design review before manufacturing — microcontroller firmware, embedded OSs, communications, and server integrations. Concept → working prototype → production-ready.
AI-accelerated engineering
I am at the frontier of integrating AI into the engineering loop to compress timelines, expand engineering teams' capabilities, and expedite analysis, debugging, and documentation. AI isn't a replacement for people — it multiplies their capabilities. I can help develop tools and strategy to accelerate your team's capabilities while maintaining rigor and quality.
The rest of the menu
Secure hardware & firmware development
Security considered from the start. I’ve built hardware-attack tooling — power glitching, side-channel power analysis — so when needed I design with those attacks and other best practices in mind. Too often embedded systems are the weak link in the security profile.
See Glitchy →Electrical–mechanical integration
Boards that fit the mechanical reality: enclosure fit, connector placement, thermal and space constraints, design-for-manufacture.
IoT & connected devices
End-to-end: the device, the firmware, the networking, the servers, and the integration between them.
RF, antennas & SDR
RF systems, antenna work, software-defined radio, and signal chains.
Thermal & cooling controls
Control structures for advanced cooling systems, including 2-phase, and other thermal-management problems where the physics and the firmware meet.
Technical audits & design reviews
An honest written assessment with prioritized recommendations — observations, risks, timeline, reliability, and cost. Before manufacturing is the cheap time to find out.
Workshops, classes & team-building
Custom classes for any audience — children to professional teams — corporate team-building with engineering challenges, electronic puzzles, and educational kits. Think tailor-made high-tech games featuring your brand and culture. A genuine specialty, not a sideline.
Fractional hardware engineering
The full hardware + software + fabrication breadth for startups that can’t hire a whole team — ongoing, scoped to what you need.
The toolbox
Where the breadth comes from
I spent roughly ten years as an IT professional — networking, servers, systems — before 15 years doing electrical engineering and physics jobs. I have experience operating in both secure and commercial environments, developing commercial goods and safety-critical systems.
Where I tend to help most
- I excel at cross-domain problems and debugging.
- I can generally get you to a proof of concept or MVP design very quickly.
- My philosophy is to focus on client needs and integrate them into the development process to ensure what they envision is what's being built, not just fulfill a requirements list.
- I am often an effective "firefighter" hunting down a tough and urgent problem with a fresh set of eyes.
Where I work
Based in Northern Virginia and easy to reach across the DMV for on-site work. Most engagements run remotely — I do much of my design, firmware, and debugging work virtually — and I'm happy to travel for events, workshops, and installs.
Have a project — or a problem?
Every engagement is scoped and quoted individually, so the first step is always a conversation. Tell me what you're building, or what's broken.