DEBUGGING ⚡ · SANDIA NATIONAL LABS · ALBUQUERQUE, NM

Jesus embedded·sw·engineer · Sandia · 2022—present Minjares

Embedded software engineer at Sandia National Laboratories. Three-plus years developing real-time embedded systems, HWIL infrastructure, and avionics interfaces for mission-critical applications.

ROLEEmbedded SW Engineer
TENURE3+ years · SNL
FOCUSHWIL · C/C++ · FPGA
STUDYINGM.S. AI · UT Austin
SPEAKSEnglish · Español
SCROLL · 06 SECTIONS
01 · About

I'm an embedded software engineer at Sandia National Laboratories. For the past three-plus years I've developed real-time embedded systems, HWIL infrastructure, and avionics interfaces for mission-critical applications. My work combines low-level C/C++ development with FPGA-based sensor emulation across lab and test environments.

Recent projects include FPGA-based IMU emulation on Speedgoat, isochronous serial interfaces through Microgate SyncLink, bit-banged I²C drivers for the NI 6509, and hardened OTA firmware updates with dual-stage hardware version validation to prevent incompatible deployments.

I'm also pursuing an M.S. in Artificial Intelligence at UT Austin (4.0 GPA) alongside full-time work, building toward avionics systems that combine deterministic embedded code with learned models in the same control loop.

/01 — TENURE
0+ yrs
at Sandia National Labs
embedded software
/02 — LEAD ROLE
0
chassis-specific iHawk
models led & sustained
/03 — VALIDATION
0
HWIL chassis covered
by validation software
/04 — IN FLIGHT
0.0
M.S. AI GPA · UT Austin
alongside full-time work
02 · Currently building

Currently
building.

03 spotlights · SNL active
SPOTLIGHT · 01

FPGA-Based IMU Emulator
on Speedgoat

Implemented an FPGA-based IMU emulator on Speedgoat using MATLAB/Simulink and HDL Coder, generating a 2400 Hz SDLC-framed bitstream for avionics integration testing. The output matches the flight computer's expected IMU interface.

  • MATLAB/Simulink to FPGA: Translated IMU behavior from a Simulink model into deterministic FPGA logic using HDL Coder.
  • Flight-computer interface fidelity: Produced the 2400 Hz SDLC-framed sensor stream expected by the avionics software.
  • Real-time HWIL target: Deployed on Speedgoat as a deterministic real-time target for avionics integration testing.
MATLAB / Simulink HDL Coder Speedgoat 2400 Hz FPGA
SPOTLIGHT · 02

Isochronous Serial IMU
over Microgate SyncLink

Developed a 1 MHz bidirectional IMU serial interface between the iHawk HWIL chassis and the flight computer using a Microgate SyncLink GT PCIe card. The link recreates the flight computer's expected IMU bus behavior, including timing, framing, and command/response traffic, so avionics software can be tested against realistic serial communication before the physical flight hardware is available.

  • Raw isochronous SyncUART at 1 MHz: Used the SyncLink GT clocking path to generate a deterministic serial interface from the card's base clock through the BRG.
  • Closed-loop flight-computer traffic: Enabled bidirectional command and response exchange between the test chassis and flight computer.
  • Protocol-accurate HWIL testing: Provided realistic IMU bus behavior during integration testing without requiring the final flight hardware in the loop.
C++ SyncLink GT RS-422 1 MHz
SPOTLIGHT · 03

Hardened OTA Firmware Updates
with Dual-Stage Hardware Validation

Implemented dual-stage hardware version validation for OTA firmware updates on deployable sensor nodes. Firmware compatibility is validated once when update packets are received and again at bootloader startup, preventing mismatched builds from being installed or executed on incompatible hardware.

  • Dual-stage verification: Checked hardware compatibility at packet receipt and bootloader startup.
  • Mismatch prevention: Blocked firmware intended for a different hardware revision.
  • Remote update safety: Reduced the risk of bricking deployed sensor nodes during OTA updates.
  • Per-target deployment support: Strengthened release safety for hardware-specific firmware builds.
OTA updates Bootloader Embedded C/C++ GitLab CI/CD V&V
03 · Selected work

Selected
work.

Hardware, firmware, and the side projects that taught me everything school didn't.

01 / 06
/01 power chain sensing solar panel battery charger boost converter battery pressure sensor amplifier + rc lp 3.3 V analog comms in SIM33EAU · GPS HC-05 · BT MSP432 · FreeRTOS acquisition · 8 kHz · 12-bit ADC DSP · anti-alias · framing tracker control loop · timer ISR closes the power loop PWM SG90 · solar tracker orient panel toward sun field · battery-powered capstone · 2020
SENIOR CAPSTONE · UTEP2020

Intelligent Portable Infrasound Array

A field-deployable infrasound sensor array running real-time embedded software on FreeRTOS. Pressure-sensor acquisition with anti-aliasing, Bluetooth (HC-05) over UART, GPS with NMEA parsing, and a solar tracker for the battery charger. The senior capstone that committed me to real-time embedded as a career.

FreeRTOSReal-timeDSPPCB DesignGPS / NMEA
View repo
/02 high-voltage rail esp32 control AC in wall input transformer step-down 164 V rail 3.3 V → 164 V ESP32 controller · firmware HV gpio switching SPDT relay array · surface-mount routes high voltage to selected electrodes switched HV actuation EWOD electrode grid droplet actuation · electrowetting on dielectric use software-defined fluid routing across a 2D grid · lab-on-a-chip kicad · pcb · esp32 firmware senior project · 2022
SENIOR PROJECT · UTEP2022

EWOD digital microfluidics driver

A high-voltage switching board for electrowetting-on-dielectric microfluidics — my Spring 2022 senior project, designed in KiCad. ESP32 controller, surface-mount SPDT relay array, AC input through a step-down transformer, and on-board test points across the full rail (3.3 V → 164 V) used to actuate the electrodes.

ESP32PCB · KiCadHigh-V · 164 VMixed signal
View repo
/03 power sensors USB-C 5 V in 3V3 LDO regulator CR2032 · RTC backup timestamp continuity I²C bus addressable GPIO digital 3.3 V data mcu ESP32 esp-idf · freertos · multi-task scheduler acquisition · timestamping · log writer SPI · log microSD storage timestamped sensor logs toolchain github actions · ci builds · doxygen api docs esp-idf · custom pcb · iot personal · 2023
PERSONAL · IoT2023

ESP32 Sensor Data Logger

An ESP32 sensor data logger built with ESP-IDF and FreeRTOS. Sensor acquisition over I²C and GPIO, persisted to microSD on a custom PCB. Doxygen API documentation and GitHub Actions CI/CD make it a clean reference design. Hardware: USB-C power, micro-SD slot, coin-cell RTC backup.

ESP32ESP-IDFFreeRTOSCPCB · KiCad
View repo
/04 phone reader flex pcb · ntag portfolio phone nfc-enabled tap (≤ 4 cm) 13.56 MHz flex PCB 2-layer · KiCad NTAG IC passive no battery · no app URL portfolio jminjares4. github.io opens in browser how it works step 1 · induce phone's RF field powers the NTAG chip no battery needed step 2 · transmit NTAG reads URL out of stored memory ~ instant step 3 · open phone navigates to the portfolio url no app required design low-profile NTAG IC · 2-layer flex stack-up · credit-card form factor flex pcb · kicad · ntag personal · 2022
PERSONAL · PCB2022

Custom NFC Business Card

A two-layer flex-PCB NFC business card. KiCad layout, low-profile NTAG IC, no battery, no app. Tap to land on a portfolio.

PCB · 2-layerKiCadNFC · NTAG
View repo
/05 power motion sensing Li-ion battery 3V3 regulator on-board USB · charge + data 90 Ω impedance-matched lines ADXL335 · 3-axis accel analog X · Y · Z outputs tilt + motion input animation responds to head motion 3.3 V analog mcu RP2040 · dual ARM Cortex-M0+ freertos · custom drivers animation engine · low-power mode led data display UTEP pickaxe LED layout addressable RGB · school-themed animation form factor 2-layer KiCad PCB · 4.74" × 4.74" · 45° rotation rp2040 · freertos · wearable pcb personal · 2022
PERSONAL · WEARABLE2022

PCB Graduation Cap

UTEP-themed PCB graduation cap, worn at my master's commencement. RP2040 running FreeRTOS, with ADXL335 motion input, custom drivers, and low-power mode driving an addressable RGB matrix laid out as the school pickaxe.

RP2040FreeRTOSADXL335RGB LEDsWearable PCB
View repo
/06 msp432 launchpad · embedded c basics /01 · hello world printf · setup module 01 /02 · gpio blink · button module 02 /03 · port irq interrupts · debounce module 03 timing /04 · timera capture · compare module 04 /05 · systick millis · delay module 05 /06 · pwm duty cycle · servo module 06 peripherals /07 · uart serial · printf module 07 /08 · lcd character display module 08 /09 · adc analog · 14-bit module 09 custom hardware LCD Booster-Pack custom 2-layer pcb drops onto launchpad headers open-sourced · for the next cohort utep · 2022
EDUCATION · UTEP2022

MSP432 Lab Templates

Nine reference firmware modules for UTEP's microprocessor course — from Hello World and GPIO through PWM, UART, LCD, and ADC. Each lab is a clean, commented C template, paired with a custom LCD Booster-Pack PCB that drops onto the LaunchPad headers. Open-sourced for the next cohort to build on.

MSP432Embedded CCurriculum
View repo
04 · Technical stack

Technical
stack.

Eight domains, no padding. The tools that show up in my actual HWIL, avionics-interface, and firmware work — not a survey of everything I've ever touched.

/01 Embedded & Real-Time
  • ARM Cortex-M
  • ESP32
  • FreeRTOS
  • Bare-metal firmware
  • Bootloader development
  • OTA updates
/02 Communication Protocols
  • I²C — bit-bang & HW
  • SPI
  • UART
  • RS-232 / 422
  • Isochronous serial
  • HDLC / SDLC
/03 HWIL & Test Systems
  • Sensor emulation
  • Avionics integration
  • Hardware validation
  • NI 6509
  • Speedgoat
  • iHawk SimWB
/04 DSP & FPGA
  • FIR filtering
  • Signal decimation
  • HDL Coder
  • MATLAB / Simulink
/05 Programming
  • C
  • C++
  • Python
  • MATLAB
  • Bash
/06 Software Engineering
  • GitLab CI/CD
  • Git
  • CMake
  • Doxygen
  • V&V
  • Requirements dev
/07 Test & Measurement
  • Oscilloscope
  • Digital multimeter
  • Logic analyzer
  • PCB bring-up & debug
/08 Hardware Design
  • KiCad
  • Eagle CAD
  • Schematic capture
  • Lab debugging
05 · Trajectory

The
path here.

First-gen · El Paso to Albuquerque
2027 · expected
Austin, TX · remoteGPA · 4.0 / 4.0

M.S. Artificial Intelligence

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

Part-time graduate study alongside full-time Sandia work. Building ML and AI fluency on top of a deep embedded foundation — aimed at the systems that need both.

2022 · present
Albuquerque, NM

Embedded Software Engineer

SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES

Lead engineer across seven chassis-specific iHawk models, with validation software covering eight HWIL chassis. Built FPGA-based and isochronous-serial IMU emulators (Speedgoat, Microgate SyncLink), authored a C++ bit-banged I²C driver for NI 6509, hardened OTA with dual-stage hardware version validation, and migrated legacy firmware onto GitLab CI/CD. Coordinate across ground software, flight software, and HWIL electrical teams.

2021 · 2022
El Paso, TX

Graduate Research Assistant

cSETR AEROSPACE CENTER · UTEP

Co-led firmware on a 3U CubeSat in a five-person team spanning mechanical, electrical, and software. Wrote C firmware for three flight microcontrollers — data acquisition, control loops, and fault handling. Designed and brought up custom flight PCBs from schematic capture through bench debug with scope and DMM. Migrated the lab to Git and Doxygen so the next cohort wouldn't inherit a tangle.

2021 · summer
Laurel, MD

Software Engineer Intern

JOHNS HOPKINS APPLIED PHYSICS LAB

First time inside a production codebase. Wrote a C++ physical-layer signal-processing component for a deployed RF communications system — and learned what code review, Git, Jira, Docker, and GNU Radio look like in production practice.

2022 · awarded
El Paso, TXGPA · 3.81 / 4.0

M.S. Computer Engineering

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO
2020 · awarded
El Paso, TX

B.S. Electrical Engineering

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO

First-generation engineering graduate. UTEP is where I learned C, FreeRTOS, and that real-time embedded was the career I wanted. The IPIA capstone (slide /01 in Selected Work) is the project that confirmed it.

06 · Get in touch

Let's
build.

Open to senior roles in embedded software, HWIL, FPGA development, and AI for embedded systems. Email is best — I read everything within a day.

Email jesusminjaresjr@gmail.com → Phone (915) 269-2065 → LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/jesusminjares → GitHub github.com/jminjares4 → Résumé jminjares4.github.io/resume →