Ahmad Malik

I'm a Developer

About

  • Hi, I’m Ahmad! I’m an Embedded Software Engineer with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. I currently work at Grenova, developing firmware for the latest generation of TipNovus machines—used in laboratories globally to clean labware efficiently and sustainably. On the side, I evaluate AI-generated code for LLMs at Scale AI. I’ve also worked in the MEP field, designing power layouts and electrical schematics for various construction projects.
  • Notable projects include building a self-balancing robot, creating an 8-bit computer from scratch, and designing ICs at the semiconductor level. These experiences deepened my knowledge of computer architecture and circuit design and honed my programming skills (C, C++, Python, and Verilog), among other projects.
  • In my free time, I enjoy working in my mini-lab, practicing SMD micro soldering, and diagnosing and repairing faults on GPUs and laptop motherboards. I also love building radio-controlled models, drones, and electric vehicles.
  • Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn!

Resume

Explore my educational and professional background where I strengthened my skils in electrical engineering and computer science.

Education

Bachelors in Electrical Engineering

May 2024

The Cooper Union (New York, NY)

  • Computer Programming (C/C++/Python)
  • Data Structures and Algorithms
  • Computer Architecture
  • Mechatronics
  • Hardware Design
  • Circuit Analysis
  • Integrated Circuits VLSI
  • Communication Networks
  • Operating Systems

Advanced Regents Diploma

June 2019

Aviation Career & Technical Education High School (Long Island, NY)

  • Fulfilled over 1000 hours of FAA-certified classes covering aircraft Power Plant and Airframe.
  • Gained extensive knowledge in aircraft systems and practical skills relevant to aviation technology

Experience

Firmware Engineer

February 2025 - Present

Grenova (Richmond, VA)

  • Developed firmware for STM32-based microcontrollers (ARM Cortex-M7) using FreeRTOS.
  • Designed and maintained a CMake-based build system integrating 50+ dependency repositories, including hardware abstraction layers, interface libraries, and class definitions.
  • Implemented drivers for various sensors, RTC, EEPROM, and MMC, providing reliable communication while maintaining backward compatibility between successive controller board generations.
  • Designed a unified data-collection and crash-reporting system that improved reliability and uptime by 450% through enhanced diagnostics, fault isolation, and automated recovery.
  • Improved machine reliability by creating automated stress-testing tools used in QC manufacturing processes.

Coding Specialist

June 2024 - Present

Scale AI (San Francisco Bay Area · Remote)

  • Evaluated the quality of AI-generated code and developed functional, efficient code to support high-quality deliverables.
  • Built ground-truth datasets to train large language models (LLMs).
  • Audited and coached contributors to ensure alignment with project requirements, driving performance improvement and operational efficiency.

Software Engineer

July 2024 - Sept 2024

Headstarter AI Fellowship (San Francisco Bay Area · Remote)

  • Completed a 7-week summer fellowship focused on building AI projects.
  • Actively participated in hackathons, showcasing innovative problem-solving skills.
  • Successfully launched a project aimed at acquiring 1,000+ users.

Electrical Engineer

July 2023 - Oct 2023

Tietjen Venegas Consulting Engineers PLLC (Rye, NY)

  • Issued electrical schematics for permit approval for various construction projects.
  • Provided load calculations and layout for power distribution, receptacles, lighting, and fire alarm.
  • Communicated with architects and contractors to align designs with their requirements while ensuring compliance with code.

Teacher Assistant

Aug 2021 - Jan 2022

The Cooper Union (New York, NY)

  • Assisted in grading and mentoring students in a Digital Logic Design class.

Office Assistant

Oct 2018 - Aug 2019

LaGuardia College (New York, NY)

  • Worked in the filing department; verified documentation and timesheets in the database.

Skills

Portfolio

I have experience in circuit design, hardware design, and embedded systems. The projects below showcases my expertise in applying engineering concepts to practical applications. Hope you find them interesting!

  • All
  • Signal Processing
  • Computer Architecture
  • Integrated Circuits VLSI
  • Firmware Development
  • AI Web Apps

Self Balancing Robot

The robot utilized closed-loop stepper motors, a 6-axis gyroscope, a 2.4GHz transmitter/receiver, and a PIC18 microcontroller, with PID control theory applied for stabilization. I2C, PWM, and UART protocols were used for inter-component communication.

8-bit Computer

Constructed an 8-bit computer from discrete logic ICs. Incorporated ALU, RAM, Registers, Program Counter, and flags to achieve Turing completeness. An EEPROM was programmed to with a custom instruction set.

2.4GHz Two-Stage OPAMP

Designed a low-power, high-gain 2.4GHz two-stage operational amplifier using TSMC 65nm CMOS technology.

VGA interface using Xilinx Zynq-7000

Implemented a VGA interface system using the IP integrator on Vivado. Image data was generated via MATLAB, compiled with Xilinx SDK, and outputted to a VGA monitor.

Sumo Robot

Designed and built a competitive Sumo Robot prototype using an ATMega8P processor which was mostly programmed in C, but some AVR assembly. Integrated ultrasonic and IR sensors.

Single-Cycle 32-bit MIPS Processor on Xilinx

Programmed and Simulated a single-cycle 32-bit MIPS processor in Verilog on a FPGA development board. Ran simulations and tested functionality using Vivado Design Suite.

Differential Colpitts Oscillator

Designed a differential Colpitts oscillator with a FBAR resonator. Balanced loop gain, phase noise, and power consumption for Wifi/Bluetooth Application.

NTSC Video Decoder to XYZ Analog Oscilloscope

Decoded NTSC video using logic gate ICs to extract horizontal and vertical sync signals, color burst, and clock. Generated inverted ramps for oscilloscope XY inputs with brightness and contrast controls, and outputted audio through an amplifier and speaker.

SMD Micro Soldering and Chip-Off

Set up a lab for experimenting and repairing motherboards, GPUs, and various ther electronic components. Practiced NAND chip replacement, data recovery, and swapping various BGA and IO chips.

Amplifiers and Oscillators on LTspice and Cadence

Designed and simulated various amplifiers and oscillators using LTspice and Cadence, focusing on performance metrics like gain, bandwidth, and stability.

Digital Logic Design: Tic-Tac-Toe

Designed a digital logic system for Tic-Tac-Toe using Logicism and simulated it with Tinkercad.

Building Long Range FPV drone systems

This is more of a hobby. I like to build drones that I can fly long range with live video feed (typically 15 miles range depending on location). Typical operating frequencies of the video and radio transmitter are 900MHz, 2.4GHz, and 5.8GHz. Usually run INAV or ArduPilot on the onboard fight computer.

AI Chatbot

Created an AI Chatbot Assistant designed to help users make sustainable life choices. The website is hosted on AWS EC2 Servers and deployed with Amazon Route 53.

RateMyProfessor - RAG

Designed and deployed a RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) app that delivers AI-driven recommendations for RateMyProfessor utilizes OpenAI embeddings.

AI Flashcards - Quizzme

Developed a Flashcard app using Next.js/React, Firebase, Clerk, and Stripe that generates AI-powered flashcards through OpenAI integration. The app is hosted on Vercel.