Tektronix 7 Series firmware engineer — one of two people who owns the full embedded stack of a flagship professional oscilloscope
Delivered full-stack hardware products for two independent startup clients — smart rings and GPS tracker, schematic through firmware through mobile app
Available for full firmware ownership through November 2026, plus sustaining work based on early customer feedback
Founder-facing summary
Chris is one of two engineers who owns the full embedded stack of Tektronix's highest-specification oscilloscope — from power sequencing and thermal regulation to 600 Mbps USB interfaces and custom probe communication. He takes hardware startups from schematic to production-ready firmware as a single point of contact, with a track record of catching hardware problems before they become expensive respins. Best matched to early-stage founders with BLE, IoT, or sensor products who need one engineer to own the full stack without handoffs.
LinkedIn verified
GitHub reviewed
Tektronix employment confirmed
Written Q&A completed
Client reference confirmed
01Technical stack
Primary — core to his professional work
TI Microcontrollers (TM4C, MSPM0, MSP430)Power Management & SequencingThermal Regulation & PIDBLE Firmware & GATT DesignUSB Device Firmware (USBTMC / NI-VISA)C / C++RTOS & Bare MetalCustom OTA BootloaderCalibration Routine Development
Tektronix 7 Series DPO — Flagship Oscilloscope Firmware
One of two firmware engineers responsible for the entire embedded stack of Tektronix's highest-specification oscilloscope. Personal scope: power management micro, analog front end boards, PMBus communication, SPI to host processor, startup sequencing, thermal PID, emergency shutdown, and bootloaders with OTA across all subsystems. Designed a custom predictive overload algorithm that increased the product's allowable voltage range by 15%. Redesigned USB control interface achieving 3× throughput improvement (600 Mbps stable). Developed a custom probe interface supporting the full legacy probe catalog across three different protocols.
TM4CMSPM0MSP430PMBusUSB / FPGAPIDShipped
Smart Ring — Hardware + Firmware + BLE (2 clients)
Full end-to-end design for two independent clients: custom PCB schematic and layout on a 7mm wide flex PCB with impedance-matched chip antenna, ESP32-C6 firmware, sensor integration, custom GATT BLE protocol, and a dual-partition OTA bootloader with CRC verification. Companion beta apps for iOS and Android built to validate BLE stack in real time.
ESP32-C6BLEFlex PCBOTAIn progress
Smart GPS Dog Collar
Full hardware and firmware design with LoRa communication for long-range GPS tracking. End-to-end ownership from schematic to firmware to field testing.
LoRaGPSShipped
03Verified technical highlights
USB throughput redesign
Identified sequential propagation delay across host processor DMA → PCIe → FPGA → FX3 USB chain. Implemented rotating double-buffer queues, traced missed FPGA flag events causing full packet stalls. Result: 200 Mbps inconsistent → 600 Mbps stable, 25 → 75+ commands per second vs. legacy platform.
Overload calibration & thermistor tolerance fix
Discovered thermistor tolerances far exceeded hardware spec across 0–40°C range, causing both false trips and missed overloads. Built scatter-plot dataset, fit a quadratic curve to thermal behaviour, designed per-unit calibration routine. Turned a hardware defect into a tighter-spec product.
Multi-protocol probe interface
Designed a single two-wire interface supporting three generations of Tektronix probes: dumb analog voltage dividers, standard I2C, and a proprietary high-speed protocol. Solved 5V-to-3.3V level shift constraint using analog switches, active drive level shifters, and non-inverting buffers on a custom bit-banged interface.
OTA bootloader on constrained flex PCB
Rejected standard A/B dual-bank OTA in favour of a minimal persistent bootloader with CRC verification on startup. Holds in bootloader state on corrupt image. Preserves maximum flash for user data storage on a 7mm flex PCB where every byte counts.
04How he works with founders
First move on every project
Requests schematic, BOM, and datasheets before writing a line of code. Verifies hardware design first, identifies problems early, requests a physical board for lab testing. Validates hardware and feeds findings back before the next board spin — saving founders from expensive respins caused by firmware-discovered hardware errors.
Scope change handling
Distinguishes between planned-but-reprioritised features and genuine new scope. For new scope: explains impact clearly, prices it, gets agreement before proceeding. Pushes back constructively when added features are not critical to core product function.
Post-launch support
Available for sustaining work based on early customer feedback after initial delivery. Firmware products rarely end at handoff — bugs surface in the field, customers request changes, hardware revisions happen. Chris stays available through that cycle.
Documentation approach
Documentation is a running deliverable, not an end-of-project dump. Early design documents include block diagrams and firmware architecture outlines before any code is written. Core feature milestones recorded as demo videos showing functionality independent of the full system.
05Contract, pricing & payment structure
Milestone 1 — 30%
Architecture & design documentation
Milestone 2 — 40%
Core feature completion & demo
Milestone 3 — 30%
Full system handoff & documentation
Pricing breakdown
Engineer rate (full firmware ownership through November 2026)€26,000
Funds held by neutral third party. Released per milestone. Neither side carries risk.
Availability
Full ownership through Nov 2026
Plus sustaining work post-launch based on early customer feedback.
Working style
Async, milestone-gated
Documented deliverables at every stage. Demo videos for core features.
06Project fit
Best fit for
Early-stage founders needing one engineer to own hardware + firmware + host interface
BLE consumer devices — smart wearables, health tracking, connected accessories
IoT products with custom sensor integration and wireless connectivity
Products requiring power management, thermal design, or calibration routines
Founders who want hardware validated before firmware begins
LoRa-connected GPS or telemetry products
Prototypes heading toward a first production run
Not the right fit for
Embedded Linux projects
CAN bus — limited experience
FPGA development requiring Verilog or VHDL
Safety-critical or regulated domains — medical, automotive, aerospace
Projects requiring immediate full-time dedication — currently employed full-time at Tektronix
07Background
Aug 2022 — Present
Firmware Design Engineer
Tektronix, Beaverton OR — Full-time
One of two engineers owning the full embedded stack of the 7 Series DPO flagship oscilloscope. Subsystems include analog front end, power management, USB control, probe interface, thermal regulation, and OTA bootloaders across multiple TI MCUs.
Ongoing
Independent Hardware Consultant
tech-random.com — Founder
Provides full-stack hardware prototyping to founders — schematic through firmware through mobile app. Smart ring and GPS collar contracts delivered independently.
Jun — Dec 2021
Computer Engineering Intern
Tektronix, Beaverton OR
Pre-hire internship at Tektronix, directly leading to full-time firmware role on 7 Series development.