Hi There!

Nice to meet you!

Allow me to introduce myself a little bit. My name is Aaron Zhou. I’m a seasoned embedded software engineer living in San Francisco Bay Area. I have a full time job at a startup. In my spare time I like to contribute to open source software and blog.

I have a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a focus on Embedded Control. I’m also the senior member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). My professional life has alternated between control system design/architecture, embedded firmware development and Agile release. I have 15 years of experience in design, development, testing and product release of mission critical real-time and embedded software/firmware applications. I have also managed all aspects of the development process for small to medium-sized companies.

My engineering forte is in system architecture design, firmware and application development, modern software development methodologies such as test driven development (TDD), hardware-in-the-loop, X-in-the-loop, continuous integration, and test automation. I enjoy system architecture and design the most, and enjoy seeing a complete system come together and work.

Below is a summary of my domain expertise:

System Control and Engineering

  • Ph.D. majored in System Control Engineering, 10+ years hands on domain experience in high voltage and power electronics, signal processing, utility grid connectivity, wireless network, and test automation
  • Rich experience in Hardware in the loop (HIL), Agile development , test driven development (TDD), model based design for embedded system

Embedded Firmware Development

  • 10 + years’ experience as a firmware developer in embedded system design using C/C++, Python.
  • Hands on experience in embedded Linux, FreeRTOS board bring-up, u-boot, device drivers, and file system
  • Fully own the complete end-to-end FW development lifecycle from concept development through post-launch

Project Management

  • 4+ years’ cross-functional and multi-platform experience in project and product management with “hands-on” and proven ability to manage and deliver projects independently. Experience in managing offshore teams.
  • Project Management Certification program at UC Berkeley, to be completed soon

I am excited about new technologies and love to see how they change people’s lives. As a quote by Leonardo da Vinci everything connects to everything else goes, I believe that with the help of Internet, internet of things, we are able to connect the dots that are separated and invisible to use before.

My mantra is “Network to Succeed", which I apply to both my personal life and career building.

Here are some details about me:

Work Experience

  • I am currently working at a startup company in silicon valley.
  • I’ve completed various programming side projects for fun, sharpening my skills, and learning new staffs. These side projects are uploaded to my Github
  • I enjoy reading technical books and professional blogs. I am trying to organize my thoughts and sharing what I have learnt, which comes to this blog. Best of all, I think trying to explain what you think you know could lead you to discover knowledge gaps, which motivates more learning.

See My Resume for my skills and experience or see below for a summary of my employment history.

  • Smart Wires Inc, Union City, CA

    Principal Engineer 02/2018-Present

    • Lead firmware development over three product lines, managing and supporting our global firmware development team of over 15 engineers in India, Pakistan, Canada and the U.S.
    • Own full development lifecycle for embedded software team and associated documentation (requirements, systematic, risk assessment, prototyping, development, testing, and software releases).
    • Drive technical development across a variety of areas ranging from board bring up, inter-node communication protocols, cybersecurity, and safety algorithms

    Smart Wires Inc, San Leandro, CA

    Senior Controls Engineer, Team Lead 02/2014 -02/2018

    • Lead the architecture design for power conversion control system, ensuring each of the developed electronic control unit meet requirements and specifications through a combination of SIL, HIL, and automated testing.
    • Participate in cross functional coordination with other teams to have Failure Mode Effect Criticality Analysis( FMECA) fault tree analysis for safety critical, high reliability, and fault tolerant system design

    Principal Firmware Engineer

    **Varentec Inc, San Jose, CA ** 09/2012-02/2014

    • Led the Firmware development team of five engineers in development of a power electronics control system. Advanced all facets of firmware infrastructure and implementation, including code standards, static code analysis, code review, software release, coordinated engineering efforts.

    • Developed the SOC based firmware. Responsible for kernel configuration, cross tool chain and root file system creation, bootloader development, interface driver development, and SPI flash over the air update

    • Designed and implemented real time control algorithms, data logging and monitoring by Cellular and Zigbee.

    • Collaborated cross-functionally with hardware engineering, software engineering, solution team, suppliers, and other experts, successfully delivering three products and solutions in 2 years.

    Sr. Software Engineer

    Magnetek Inc, Menomonee Falls, WI 10/2008-08/2012

    • Served as technical lead on power electronics control system development. Evaluated, designed, and revamped a customized controller board with TI OMAP-L137 for new inverter controller board.
    • Development of a high performance power electronics embedded control system based on an OMAP-L137 processor (DSP + ARM9) and FPGA. Responsible for TI EMIF(External Memory Interface), SDRAM device drivers, SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) and NV-RAM device driver development.
    • Development of a test rig for the verification of solar inverter control algorithms, using Concerto F28M35Hx (C28x and ARM Cortex-M3), IGBT converters and permanent magnet synchronous machines.
    • As a key team member (software and system control lead), contributed to pass the UL 1741 certification with an efficiency of 97% in 45 days.

    Firmware Engineer

    Schneider Electric (formerly Xantrex Technology), Livermore, CA 08/2007- 10/2008

    • Developed DSP and FPGA firmware for a new control board for use in PV inverters power train(100kw – 630kw );
    • Functionality debugging and testing of PWM, PV inverter state machine, UL test, data logging control system with Ethernet, RS485, Modbus protocols etc.

    **Key Tools: RS485, Ethernet, Code Composer/TMS6713, Code Warrior/ MCF5282

Education

  • Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH, 2007
  • Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification at UC Berkley, expected to complete by 2020

My Super Power

My super power is “can do” altitude and “make it happen” philosophy.

Can Do!: Our mind is truly a marvel. A can do attitude is the attitude that no matter what comes my way and no matter what life may have in store for me, I will come out ahead and can make it. If I want something, I will go out and either take or create it. There is no other option.

Make It Happen! : If I decide that a certain project is worthwhile, it won’t matter how impossible it seems, how much resistance comes my way, or how much work I’ll have to do…I will devise creative solutions, convince everyone around me to get on board, and Make It Happen!

Being action and result-driven, I’m dedicated to working out the way even if they are not so glorious or interesting. My ability to prioritize helps me work strategically and smartly applying resources.

What I value

I like the following guiding principles that I have leant at Smart Wires, and have been practiced them for over 5 years:

  • Communication

  • Courage

  • Curiosity

  • Innovation

  • Impact

  • Integrity

  • Judgment

  • Passion

  • Safety

  • Selflessness

  • Do Not Harm to the Grid

The are the values that I have cherished and It had slowly embedded to my DNA and guided my daily life.

PS: This website is useing Hugo for the static site generator engine and inspired by Xiaoyun Yang’s beautiful tranquilpeak theme. I’m hosting it from github.

This repository serves as the “homepage” of me. It’s mainly about the tech side of me, but also has the links to the other repositories I consider important.

Have fun!

Best, Aaron