Electronics
PCB Design
I design custom PCBs end-to-end: schematic capture, component selection, layout, design-rule checking, fabrication file generation, bring-up, and debugging. My boards have ranged from single-prototype sensor nodes to production-intent multi-family embedded systems. I work with mixed-signal boards combining microcontrollers, wireless radios, power regulation, analog sensing, and high-current switching.
Full electrical stack - UW Human Powered Submarine
On the UW HPS project I designed the entire electronics stack from the ground up. This included a pilot control board handling joystick input and mode selection, a power distribution board managing battery power routing and protection across multiple subsystems, a data-logging board capturing sensor streams during competition runs, and the drive electronics for a custom variable-pitch propeller mechanism. Each board was designed, fabricated, assembled, and validated in-house under my direction.
The submarine environment imposes hard constraints: everything runs on battery with no user access during a dive, so every board had to work reliably from the moment the hatch closed. Robust power sequencing, fault protection, and conservative thermal margins were non-negotiable.
Three custom PCB families - Ethereal Matter MEK haptics platform
For the Ethereal Matter MEK full-body VR haptics platform I designed three distinct PCB families, each with different requirements. BLE hand-controller boards paired a compact microcontroller with a Bluetooth LE radio, optimized for small form factor and low power. Armature control boards drove motors and read load-cell amplifiers for force feedback sensing, requiring careful analog layout to keep the amplifier input noise floor low. Foot-platform motion boards handled higher-current actuation with isolated drive circuitry.
Designing multiple related but distinct boards for a single product forced disciplined component library management and a consistent connector strategy so firmware could share drivers across families with minimal changes.
End-to-end IoT sensor node - 4–20mA LoRa wireless network
For an industrial wireless sensor network I designed a custom ESP8266-based PCB integrating a Seeed Studio LoRa module, 4–20mA current-loop input conditioning, and a regulated power supply. The board needed to live in a field enclosure, read industrial process sensors, and transmit data reliably over long range - all while drawing low enough average current to run for extended periods on a small supply.
The design went through full validation: bench-top bring-up, range testing, and field deployment where data was confirmed against the AWS MQTT backend. The system was delivered functioning.
Process and tooling
I work in KiCad and Altium Designer depending on project requirements. My process follows a consistent flow: block-diagram architecture, schematic capture with explicit power net annotation, pin-assignment review before layout begins, layer stack planning based on signal integrity and thermal needs, layout with controlled impedance for high-speed signals, DRC sign-off, and gerber/BOM/CPL generation for the fab. For hand-assembled prototypes I do the assembly myself; for production-intent boards I generate pick-and-place files and work with the CM.