HI, I’m JOE
I make cool things
I design hardware and software for FPGAs, embedded systems, IoT devices, and everything in-between!
In my free time, I love to play and design games, hike, paint, and take things apart to figure out how they work. (and sometimes I even put them back together)
My life mission is to “make cool things”, so this website is a collection of my personal history and various projects I’ve worked on over the years.
Here I am on top of Herzogstand Mountain just south of Munich, Germany
Make cool things
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Make cool things •
fpga engineer consultant @ DDC
Here I am judging the Fall 2023 IPRO competition at IIT
Working at Digital Design Corporation has been a great opportunity to build up my skills in an environment where learning is rewarded.
I’ve had the opportunity to work on a lot of interesting FPGA projects and designs, and over a wide variety of industries from medical and automotive to even military and aerospace projects.
My primary focus here has been on image-processing and transmission, design verification, and clock-domain-crossing and timing analysis.
I’ve also had the opportunity to create a sponsorship for a student project at my alma-mater, IIT!
independent embedded systems consultant @ mhub
Working out of mHUB, I was part of an incredibly talented community of engineers and makers.
I worked primarily on IoT products, and I did everything from component selection and PCB / Schematic design, to prototype assembly and testing.
I started out as an intern in the summer of 2020, and turned it into a career as a full-time independent consultant and designer.
I got to design and build products for everyone from small entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 companies!
Here’s a product I have a patent pending for! Check it out in my portfolio
President of Robotics 2019-2020
In college I was the president of Illinois Tech Robotics, a robotics club that participated in the Midwest Robotics Design Competition, MRDC.
I was the President of the club from Spring 2019-Spring 2020, which was an amazingly fun and challenging experience. I organized events within our college, worked with IIT faculty to coordinate budgets and travel logistics, and managed teams working on a variety of robotics projects.
Depicted here are 5 of our competition Robots we brought to MRDC 2018. I am proud to say that Goliath (the wedge-shaped robot on the right) has won the demolition round in MRDC 2018 and MRDC 2019!
Idea Shop Lab Mentor
Outside of my clubs at IIT, I also worked at a Maker Space on Campus called the Idea Shop. This was a fun experience helping other people make cool things!
I got the opportunity to assist students working on projects and prototyping designs. I also taught students how to use various shop tools and produced a safety video demonstrating safety techniques and rules! And I even got to design printed circuit board (PCBs) and electronics for university projects. You can find these in my Portfolio.
Working at the Idea Shop in the new Kaplan Institute building opened exciting opportunities for me. In 2019, I presented our Form 2 3D printers at the Obama Summit 2019. In this picture I’m describing the 3D printing process to Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo, President of the Obama Foundation.
College Work Experience
Intern - Fortville Feeders 6/2019-7/2019
Worked with company SQL database to create reports for payroll, production control, and quoting
Integrated quoting software into company Enterprise Resource Planning software and SQL database
Learned about programming and usage of Programmable Logic Controllers
Tested controllers from outside manufacturers, wrote a report given to manufacturers based on results
Lab Mentor/Video Producer | Illinois Tech Idea Shop 3/2018 to 2019
Assisting students working on projects and prototyping designs
Teaching students how to use various shop tools and produced a safety video demonstrating safety techniques and rules
Presenter at Obama Foundation Summit 2019
Teaching Assistant | ECE 100 - Introduction to Profession I 8/2018 to 12/2018
Supervised and assisted college students working with a prototyping robotics kit
Facilitated teamwork, leadership, prototyping and writing skills
