PCB Traces

Engineering
Intelligent Systems

Bridging the gap between Embedded Hardware, Machine Learning, and Secure Infrastructure.

View Projects
szymon@homelab: ~
~ ./system_status.sh --verbose=debug --host 0.0.0.0 -m
[10:42:01] INFO Initializing session for user: Szymon Podlak
[10:42:02] INFO Loading competency profile... Architect / ML Eng
[10:42:02] INFO Detecting infrastructure... Hybrid Cloud
[10:42:03] DEBUG Running subsystem diagnostics...
├─ Neural Engines (Hailo-8L) ....... OK
├─ Embedded Core (STM32) ........... OK
├─ Gateway Auth (Keycloak) ......... OK
└─ Uplink (OpenWrt/LTE) ............ FAILOVER
~

01. Profile

I am an Automation & Robotics Engineer (M.Sc.) obsessed with the convergence of hardware and software. I don't just write code; I build ecosystems.

My expertise spans the full stack of physical computing: from designing custom PCBs and writing firmware, to deploying ML models at the edge and managing cloud infrastructure.

I bridge the gap between "it works on my machine" and "it works in the field." I am currently seeking complex engineering challenges in Software Development and MLOps.

02. Education

M.Sc. Engineering

2023 — Present

Automation & Robotics

University of Zielona Góra

B.Sc. Engineering

2019 — 2023

Automation & Robotics

University of Zielona Góra

Mechatronics Tech.

2021

EE.02 & EE.21 Quals

CKZiU Nr.2 "Elektronik"

End-to-End System Architecture

A holistic engineering approach: From identifying the problem to delivering the physical and digital solution.

01. Concept & Design

  • Analysis: Requirements gathering.
  • Feasibility: Component selection.
  • Architecture: System logic design.

02. Hardware & Firmware

  • MCU: Firmware development (C/C++).
  • PCB: Custom circuit design.
  • Sensors: Data acquisition.

03. Mechanical Design

  • CAD: 3D modeling (Fusion 360).
  • Enclosure: Custom mounts & housing.
  • Prototyping: 3D Printing / manufacturing.

04. Backend & Infrastructure

  • API: Python services (FastAPI/Flask).
  • Database: SQL architecture.
  • Ops: Containerization (Docker).

05. Intelligence & ML

  • Forecasting: Predictive analytics.
  • Processing: Data classification.
  • Deployment: Edge AI optimization.

06. Client Interface

  • Web: Dashboard development.
  • Mobile: Android applications.
  • UX: Data visualization.

Operational History

Current Role

Remote support technician

Ekoenergetyka Service

03.2025 — Present

Managing telemetry and diagnostics for high-Power EV charging infrastructure.

  • ▹Performing deep-dive analysis of system logs to diagnose hardware/firmware faults remotely.
  • ▹Monitoring live telemetry data streams to preemptively identify critical system failures.
  • ▹Coordinating on-site repair teams and managing technical support tickets in English.

Electronics assembler & tester

Calmet Sp. z o.o.

11.2023 — 06.2024
  • ▹Executed precision assembly and QC of energy meter calibrators and reference voltage sources.
  • ▹Performed hardware verification and calibration strictly according to metrological standards.

Automation Intern

MPLAB Robotics

2021
  • ▹Programmed Siemens S7-1200 PLCs (TIA Portal) and integrated Machine Vision systems for quality control.
  • ▹Prefabricated control cabinets, wiring relays, power supplies, and I/O modules based on electrical schematics.

Certifications

SEP 1kV Qualification

Association of Polish Electrical Engineers

Authorized for operation, maintenance, and measurement of electrical installations up to 1kV.

Issued July 2025

PLC Programming

Siemens Academy

Advanced training in SIMATIC S7 controllers and industrial automation systems logic.

Issued 2023
Driving License Cat. B

Technical Projects

Selected works in Robotics, ML Systems, and Infrastructure.

ML Pipeline Distributed

Hypersearch Engine

A distributed Neural Architecture Search (NAS) system that orchestrates GPU training nodes and visualizes 3D network topologies via WebSockets. It benchmarks TFLite models on Raspberry Pi edge devices using a custom raw-TCP protocol.

Features a custom latency-aware objective function (MSE + LatencyPenalty) to optimize for real-time edge performance, utilizing Optuna pruning to terminate inefficient architectures early.

OptunaTensorFlowSocket.IOThree.js
Infrastructure Split-Stack

Zero-Trust Cloud

A centralized IDP architecture using Keycloak and Nginx. Implements Identity Propagation to inject user headers into backend apps, enabling Just-In-Time (JIT) provisioning without local password databases.

Architected as a Split-Stack Hybrid Cloud: A public VPS acts as the secure ingress gateway, tunneling heavy traffic to a private home lab via a monitored OpenVPN split-tunnel network.

KeycloakNginxOpenVPNDocker
Edge Vision 13 TOPS

Component Vision System

A real-time object detection system running on Raspberry Pi 5 + Hailo-8L. Trained a custom YOLOv8 model on a manually annotated dataset of 40+ electronic components (capacitors, batteries, modules).

Engineered the full compilation pipeline: Quantization, conversion to ONNX, and compilation to HEF (Hailo Executable Format) for hardware acceleration.

YOLOv8Hailo DFCRaspberry Pi 5Computer Vision
Robotics

RW2 Robotic Arm

A planar robotic arm for hazardous liquid distribution. Powered by STM32F303 running FreeRTOS. Features a custom C++ Inverse Kinematics (IK) solver and a 3D-printed differential drive mechanism designed in Fusion 360.

C++STM32FreeRTOSKinematics
Embedded GUI

Universal RC Controller

High-performance remote built on STM32H7. Runs a 60fps TouchGFX interface on FreeRTOS. Handles 5 analog channels, bidirectional UART/XBee telemetry, and context switching for multiple vehicle profiles.

TouchGFXFreeRTOSUARTC++
REST API

Fleet Management API

A multi-user REST API with a Split-Stack architecture (Public VPS frontend, Private Homeserver DB). Relies on Nginx/Keycloak for auth and uses HTTP Headers for JIT user provisioning.

FlaskMariaDBSplit-Stack
Networking

OpenWrt 4G Multi-WAN

Custom router built on Raspberry Pi 5 with PCIe 4G modem. Implements `mwan3` for load balancing between Landline and LTE. Features a custom SMS control daemon and automated PCIe device recovery scripts.

OpenWrtBashHardware
Automation

Netrunner Env Manager

A Python-based orchestrator for creating isolated, reproducible Docker environments (Sandbox/CTF). Generates Dockerfiles from JSON config, handles SSH keys, and manages container lifecycle via an interactive CLI.

PythonDocker SDKCLI
Graphics

3D Terminal Renderer

A lightweight graphics engine written in C that renders 3D .obj models directly in the terminal using ncurses. Features a custom rasterization pipeline, Z-buffering, particle effects, and billboard text support.

CNcursesMath

Hybrid Infrastructure

A hybrid-cloud environment where the Public VPS handles security and ingress, while heavy compute and ML tasks are tunneled to the Private Home Lab.

OVH Cloud VPS

The Public Entrypoint

Nginx Reverse Proxy
Authentication Hub

Private Compute Node

Ubuntu • ML Worker

GTX 1650 (CUDA)
Docker Host

Custom Edge Router

Raspberry Pi 5

OpenWrt Custom Build
4G/LTE Failover

Prusa MK4

Rapid Prototyping

PETG / ABS
Prototyping Parts

Technical Arsenal

Languages & Core

Python C / C++ SQL (MariaDB) Bash

AI & Machine Learning

TensorFlow / Keras Optuna TensorFlow Lite ONNX OpenCV Hailo / Edge AI

DevOps & Cloud

Docker Nginx Reverse Proxy Keycloak (OAuth2) Linux Admin Git

Embedded & Hardware

STM32 FreeRTOS Siemens PLC (TIA Portal) PCB Design Fusion 360