Sakthivel Ponnampalayam Sivakumar | Embedded and Firmware Engineer Portfolio

Email
sakthivel.psivakumar@gmail.com
Birthday
July 30
Location

Boston, MA, USA

Welcome to My Portfolio

Hello! I'm Sakthivel P S (Sakthi), a Firmware Engineer passionate about embedded systems and the fascinating intersection where code meets silicon. I'm finishing my Master's in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Northeastern University (Dec 2026) and looking for full-time roles starting January 2027. I'm driven by curiosity and the desire to build intelligent solutions that make a real-world impact.

Similar to most folks, I'm also fascinated by Tech and the impact it brings in our lives. My undergraduate degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering gave me a good view and understanding of the Computing Industries and the importance of Electronics. Few years down the lane, now I am designing RISC-V processors on FPGAs, developing hard real-time control systems for medical equipments and also following my passion for automotive Electronics.

Beyond the technical realm, I'm a person who values balance and cherish giving back to the community. On my leisure days you'll find me exploring new places, volunteering for good and making friendships with new people, or enjoying my time playing any racket sport (mostly pickleball nowadays😁).

What I'm Doing

Firmware Development

Writing low-level software that controls hardware device's specific functions with optimal performance.
Embedded Systems

Designing dedicated computer systems within larger mechanical or electrical systems.
IoT Solutions

Building smart IoT projects with seamless data transfer, cloud storage, and real-time monitoring capabilities.
Prototyping

Building preliminary models to test concepts and iterate on designs rapidly.

Resume

Download Resume

Education

Northeastern University — Boston, USA
Expected Dec 2026
Master of Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Coursework: Computer Architecture, Operating Systems, Computer Networks & Security, Real Time Systems

GPA: 3.6
Anna University — Chennai, India
May 2024
Bachelor of Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Minor in Internet of Things (IoT)
Coursework: Digital Design, Embedded Systems, Digital Signal Processing, Internet of Things

GPA: 3.6 Mahatma Gandhi Merit Scholar

Experience

NodeGlobe Inc — Embedded Engineer Co-op
Dec 2025 — Apr 2026 | Boston, MA
• Built C firmware on Zephyr RTOS (nRF Connect SDK) for a screenless nRF52840 wearable, with a 4-thread architecture and drivers for the PDM microphone, 2 MB QSPI flash, NVS storage, touch input, and DRV2605L haptics
• Secured BLE audio with AES-128-CCM on the CryptoCell-310 via PSA Crypto, using per-packet nonces and authentication tags, and wrote a Python tool to verify decryption
• Profiled an on-device TinyML wake-word (VAD) model under full system load, verifying reliable inference within the nRF52840's 256 KB RAM / 1 MB flash budget
• Evaluated the TPS63900 as a replacement for the TPS63020 buck-boost converter, modeling ~34% longer battery life

Zephyr RTOS nRF52840 BLE TinyML
Northeastern Electric Racing (FSAE) — Firmware Engineer
Sep 2025 — Present | Boston, MA
• Implemented a feedforward temperature controller in Rust (Embassy async) that adjusts thermal response ahead of measured deviation, improving responsiveness over PID-only control
• Developed Cruise Control drive mode with CAN speed-limit input, MPH-to-RPM conversion, and linear pedal-torque derating to hold a driver-set speed via the motor controller API
• Built closed-loop thermal control for the LV box: read SHT30 temperature, computed a linear 0-100% PWM duty cycle, and sent it over CAN to the vehicle compute unit, updating the shared CAN database

Rust Embassy CAN Control Systems
Movement Neuroscience Lab — Research Intern
May 2025 — Present | Boston, MA
• Built real-time C++ modules on RTXI (Xenomai/EVL Linux, 10 kHz loop) for a closed-loop neurostimulation platform that synchronizes a force-tracking task with tES, temporal interference, and TMS output
• Implemented a real-time EEG pipeline (LSL ingest, TMS-artifact reconstruction, notch/bandpass filtering, FFT band power) that modulates tES/TI amplitude in closed loop
• Kept the real-time thread deterministic using lock-free atomic handoffs and by moving Qt/X11 calls off it, avoiding Xenomai secondary-mode switches

C++ Xenomai Real-time Systems EEG
Northeastern University — Teaching Assistant
May 2025 — Dec 2025 | Boston, MA
• Guided 50+ students in learning the OSI fundamentals with conceptual and Wireshark based laboratory assignments
• Conducted weekly office hours on socket programming in Python and routing protocols (TCP/IP), and helped 15+ students build RISC-V single-cycle processors on Pynq-Z2 FPGA using Xilinx Vivado

Computer Networks Wireshark RISC-V Xilinx Vivado

Core Competencies

Programming Languages

C, C++, Rust, Python, Assembly, MATLAB

Embedded

ZephyrRTOS, FreeRTOS, nRF Connect SDK, Embassy, Embedded Linux, TinyML

Tools

Git, CMake, Docker, GDB, Vivado, Altium, Oscilloscope, Logic Analyzer, Wireshark

Hardware

nRF52, STM32, ESP32, RPi, Pynq-Z2 FPGA

Protocols

CAN, BLE, UART, SPI, I2C, JTAG, TCP/UDP, MQTT, ThreadX

Experience

NodeGlobe Inc — Embedded Engineer Co-op
Dec 2025 — Apr 2026 | Boston, MA
• Built C firmware on Zephyr RTOS (nRF Connect SDK) for a screenless nRF52840 wearable, with a 4-thread architecture and drivers for the PDM microphone, 2 MB QSPI flash, NVS storage, touch input, and DRV2605L haptics
• Secured BLE audio with AES-128-CCM on the CryptoCell-310 via PSA Crypto, using per-packet nonces and authentication tags, and wrote a Python tool to verify decryption
• Profiled an on-device TinyML wake-word (VAD) model under full system load, verifying reliable inference within the nRF52840's 256 KB RAM / 1 MB flash budget
• Evaluated the TPS63900 as a replacement for the TPS63020 buck-boost converter, modeling ~34% longer battery life

Zephyr RTOS nRF52840 BLE TinyML
Northeastern Electric Racing (FSAE) — Firmware Engineer
Sep 2025 — Present | Boston, MA
• Implemented a feedforward temperature controller in Rust (Embassy async) that adjusts thermal response ahead of measured deviation, improving responsiveness over PID-only control
• Developed Cruise Control drive mode with CAN speed-limit input, MPH-to-RPM conversion, and linear pedal-torque derating to hold a driver-set speed via the motor controller API
• Built closed-loop thermal control for the LV box: read SHT30 temperature, computed a linear 0-100% PWM duty cycle, and sent it over CAN to the vehicle compute unit, updating the shared CAN database

Rust Embassy CAN Control Systems
Movement Neuroscience Lab — Research Intern
May 2025 — Present | Boston, MA
• Built real-time C++ modules on RTXI (Xenomai/EVL Linux, 10 kHz loop) for a closed-loop neurostimulation platform that synchronizes a force-tracking task with tES, temporal interference, and TMS output
• Implemented a real-time EEG pipeline (LSL ingest, TMS-artifact reconstruction, notch/bandpass filtering, FFT band power) that modulates tES/TI amplitude in closed loop
• Kept the real-time thread deterministic using lock-free atomic handoffs and by moving Qt/X11 calls off it, avoiding Xenomai secondary-mode switches

C++ Xenomai Real-time Systems EEG
Northeastern University — Teaching Assistant
May 2025 — Dec 2025 | Boston, MA
• Guided 50+ students in learning the OSI fundamentals with conceptual and Wireshark based laboratory assignments
• Conducted weekly office hours on socket programming in Python and routing protocols (TCP/IP), and helped 15+ students build RISC-V single-cycle processors on Pynq-Z2 FPGA using Xilinx Vivado

Computer Networks Wireshark RISC-V Xilinx Vivado
Emertxe — Embedded and IoT Engineer Intern
Jan 2023 — Jun 2023 | Bangalore, India
• Designed a Bash-based system monitoring tool in Linux to automate CPU, memory, and disk usage data collection every 2 hours, improving visibility into resource utilization
• Built a low-cost ($15) real-time health monitoring system using ESP32, MAX30102, and OLED, measuring SpO2, BPM, and body temperature, storing data in ThingSpeak Cloud for remote patient tracking

ESP32 Linux IoT

Projects

EV CAN Network: Simulation and Hardware Validation

Hardware / Embedded
Sep 2026 - Present
• Developed a 3-node ESP32 CAN testbed emulating an EV's ECUs with real sensors, and a SimPy discrete-event simulator of the same network, validated against analytical worst-case response-time bounds
• Measured message latency, jitter and deadline misses across bus loads up to 95%, bitrates and fault scenarios, using logic-analyzer timing and 95% confidence intervals to compare simulation with hardware

ESP32 CAN SimPy Python
Miniature Desalination Sensor & Visualizer

Hardware / Embedded
Nov 2025
• Built an ESP32-based desalination sensor measuring temp (NTC thermistor) and conductivity using an and custom electrode probe
• Developed C++ firmware with oversampled ADC reads, Beta-curve calibration, and temperature-compensated salinity modeling
• Integrated a WS2812B LED bar-graph for real-time visualization of water quality with blue to red gradient

ESP32 C++ KiCAD ADC
View on GitHub
Various Architecture Benchmarking

Software / Systems
Sep 2025 - Oct 2025
• Benchmarked Dhrystone across ARMv8 and x86_64, profiled with GPROF, and analyzed assembly-level hotspots
• Optimized LINPACK on x86-64 by experimenting with compiler flags, BLAS/math libraries, and FP extensions
• Produced comparative ISA analysis by compiling Dhrystone basic blocks for ARMv8 vs x86

C ARM_v8 x86_64 Linux
View on GitHub
Development of OS Primitives

Software / Operating Systems
Feb 2025 - Mar 2025
• Built a Bare-Metal OS implementation in C, creating custom system call wrappers (read, write, exit), ELF executable loader, and dynamic memory management using mmap
• Implemented multi-threaded context switching and stack allocation (4096-byte stacks) to enable yield-based task scheduling

C Linux SSH
View on GitHub
Reliable Data Transport Protocol

Software / Networking
Oct 2024 - Dec 2024
• Implemented Alternating Bit and Go-Back-N protocols in C++, achieving 95%+ packet delivery rates under varied network loss/corruption conditions
• Conducted performance analysis across 1000+ transmissions and 6+ network scenarios, ensuring protocol correctness through checksum validation

C++ WSL SSH Vim
View on GitHub
Recommendation System for Housing in Cities

Software / Machine Learning
Sep 2024 - Dec 2024
• Implemented the K-Nearest Neighbors (K-NN) algorithm to identify housing recommendations based on location, budget, and amenities. Metrics Used in K-NN is cosine
• Built an interactive and user-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) using Flask, ensuring ease of use and accessibility

Python K-NN Flask Web Scraping
View on GitHub
Dynamic Traffic Monitoring and Controlling System

Hardware / IoT
Oct 2023 - Apr 2024
• Implemented a vehicle detection module using cameras and the YOLOv5 algorithm
• Simulated a traffic light intersection using Python on a dedicated machine (RPi), generating traffic for 300 seconds
• Achieved a 27% increase in the passage of vehicles at the junctions

Data Analysis Machine Learning Raspberry Pi YOLO OpenCV
IoT Enabled Solar Tracker

Hardware / IoT
Nov 2023 - Dec 2023
• Developed an IoT-enabled solar tracker using Arduino UNO, LDR sensors, and servo motor for real-time sunlight alignment
• Programmed an autonomous control loop with sensor feedback to optimize power output without external energy input
• Collaborated in a 3-member IoT team to prototype and deploy a 20 W solar tracking unit with cloud-ready monitoring capability

Arduino C Team Leadership
Battery Management System

Hardware / Embedded
Oct 2022 - May 2023
• Developed a converter-based active cell balancing BMS using microcontroller control and CAN/Wi-Fi communication for EV and renewable energy systems
• Implemented real-time voltage, current, and temperature sensing with SD-card logging and cloud connectivity to monitor State-of-Charge (SoC) and State-of-Health (SoH)

Microcontroller CAN Wi-Fi