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Electronic Design Consultant
Matthew Griffiths
,
Bristol, United Kingdom
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I am an experienced electronic engineer who has worked in a wide range of industries and sectors in a variety of roles and been involved from initial design, through to manufacture. The core of my design experience is designing Embedded Systems based on microprocessors.
I have a “Systems” attitude of designing from concept to manufacture (including test) and looking at the complete product lifecycle and product range, this helps me add Design for Test, Manufacturability & Sustainability into products from concept rather than an afterthought and allows rationalisation of designs across products.
I have a “Systems” attitude of designing from concept to manufacture (including test) and looking at the complete product lifecycle and product range, this helps me add Design for Test, Manufacturability & Sustainability into products from concept rather than an afterthought and allows rationalisation of designs across products.
Markets
United States
(Remote
only)
Canada
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only)
United Kingdom
France
Germany
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only)
Lithuania
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only)
Denmark
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only)
Norway
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only)
Sweden
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Finland
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Industries
Language
English
Fluently
Ready for
Larger project
Ongoing relation / part-time
Full time contractor
Available
My experience
2018 - ?
freelance
Electronic Design Consultant
Aedapt.
Working in contract-based roles for Defence Companies.
Working as a Design Consultant, I have been working for Thales Underwater Systems. This has involved getting a sub-project of an autonomous system with COTs and custom electronics working and into production. This has required fault finding and testing to prove hypotheses of issues within the COTs parts.
Utilising Sonar, Gigabit ethernet, fibre optic, low power, low noise, navigation and motion technology and systems, the project required several major circuits to be re-designed to get working to the required level.
The system is now being re-designed to meet a higher shock requirement and become a more integrated and easily assembled product. I have been responsible for working with the mechanical team and push new techniques and technologies into the product design. When issues were discovered in the primary system and that team were struggling to resolve the issues, I was lent across to quickly discover and implement solutions to get the system working.
During the Covid lock-down period, I have been working from home designing, building and testing boards. Working with the mechanical team, to integrate the electronics into the mechanical and also provide some mechanical solutions.
Working as a Design Consultant, I have been working for Thales Underwater Systems. This has involved getting a sub-project of an autonomous system with COTs and custom electronics working and into production. This has required fault finding and testing to prove hypotheses of issues within the COTs parts.
Utilising Sonar, Gigabit ethernet, fibre optic, low power, low noise, navigation and motion technology and systems, the project required several major circuits to be re-designed to get working to the required level.
The system is now being re-designed to meet a higher shock requirement and become a more integrated and easily assembled product. I have been responsible for working with the mechanical team and push new techniques and technologies into the product design. When issues were discovered in the primary system and that team were struggling to resolve the issues, I was lent across to quickly discover and implement solutions to get the system working.
During the Covid lock-down period, I have been working from home designing, building and testing boards. Working with the mechanical team, to integrate the electronics into the mechanical and also provide some mechanical solutions.
Design, Product Design, Technology, Testing, Electronics, Power, Production, Product development, Hardware development, Electronics development, Electronics consultant, PCB design, PCB layout
2018 - 2018
job
Senior Electronic Engineer
Avon Protection.
Pushing a project to completion to meet regulatory and delivery targets.
I started work for Avon protection after being persuaded they had enough future projects to sustain my role. I was responsible for bringing cohesion to a group of engineers who had developed an underwater rebreather for military use.
Quickly compiling the project requirements from customer and regulatory needs, I liaised with the customer to establish an agreed project timeline and deliverables. Pushing the re-design of the electronics and influencing the mechanical design to improve performance, packaging and reliability, I took responsibility for ensuring all regulatory and internal testing was completed and documented.
When the electronics failed its EMC testing, I investigated the cause, implemented circuit changes and re-tested for compliance. This was accomplished using an in-house testing facility which I setup alongside a magnetic testing range.
Working with the team, we were able to meet the tight deadline to deliver the first production batch of rebreathers to the customer. Whilst I had been involved with smaller projects during this time, there were no significant new projects on the horizon.
I started work for Avon protection after being persuaded they had enough future projects to sustain my role. I was responsible for bringing cohesion to a group of engineers who had developed an underwater rebreather for military use.
Quickly compiling the project requirements from customer and regulatory needs, I liaised with the customer to establish an agreed project timeline and deliverables. Pushing the re-design of the electronics and influencing the mechanical design to improve performance, packaging and reliability, I took responsibility for ensuring all regulatory and internal testing was completed and documented.
When the electronics failed its EMC testing, I investigated the cause, implemented circuit changes and re-tested for compliance. This was accomplished using an in-house testing facility which I setup alongside a magnetic testing range.
Working with the team, we were able to meet the tight deadline to deliver the first production batch of rebreathers to the customer. Whilst I had been involved with smaller projects during this time, there were no significant new projects on the horizon.
Design, PCB layout, Hardware development, Mechanical design, Compliance, Testing, Regulatory, Production, Microcontroller, EMC, Electronics development, Embedded, Electronics, PCB design, Analogue electronics, Packaging
2016 - 2017
job
Design Manager
Cubik Innovation.
Providing Technical leadership and line management to a small team of engineers.
Cubik Innovation is an electronic design and manufacturing consultancy specialising in aiding start-ups and entrepreneurs. As part of their re-location to larger premises, they decided to expand the business and separate the management of the design team to allow the MD to concentrate on sales.
I was taken on to lead the design team and to provide technical leadership in hardware, software and mechanical design as well as resource management. Working with the project managers to capture customers requirements and deliver the project through to completion. Working on between 15 and 20 projects at one time, the company used a stage gate process to get customer sign off at each stage of the development.
With projects ranging from Raspberry Pi and Arduino capes and motherboards, through to high tech inspection equipment and aerospace products, the department was always busy with projects at various stages. Part of my role was to try and maintain a work schedule even though customers might not sign a phase off for over a month.
Cubik decided to set aggressive growth targets for the department and this started to affect staff moral and performance. This led to several staff leaving or taking sabbaticals. This led to me having to spend more time engineering than managing and working evenings and weekends. This was especially critical for PCB layouts as the only PCB engineers in the company (a senior one at that) decided to take a year's sabbatical.
This left me with no PCB resource other than an apprentice who worked in the department 2 days a week, so I ended up doing the majority of the PCB layouts on evenings or weekends. With pressure to deliver the financial targets increasing on myself and the department, the company lost 2 project managers and 2 engineers.
Cubik Innovation is an electronic design and manufacturing consultancy specialising in aiding start-ups and entrepreneurs. As part of their re-location to larger premises, they decided to expand the business and separate the management of the design team to allow the MD to concentrate on sales.
I was taken on to lead the design team and to provide technical leadership in hardware, software and mechanical design as well as resource management. Working with the project managers to capture customers requirements and deliver the project through to completion. Working on between 15 and 20 projects at one time, the company used a stage gate process to get customer sign off at each stage of the development.
With projects ranging from Raspberry Pi and Arduino capes and motherboards, through to high tech inspection equipment and aerospace products, the department was always busy with projects at various stages. Part of my role was to try and maintain a work schedule even though customers might not sign a phase off for over a month.
Cubik decided to set aggressive growth targets for the department and this started to affect staff moral and performance. This led to several staff leaving or taking sabbaticals. This led to me having to spend more time engineering than managing and working evenings and weekends. This was especially critical for PCB layouts as the only PCB engineers in the company (a senior one at that) decided to take a year's sabbatical.
This left me with no PCB resource other than an apprentice who worked in the department 2 days a week, so I ended up doing the majority of the PCB layouts on evenings or weekends. With pressure to deliver the financial targets increasing on myself and the department, the company lost 2 project managers and 2 engineers.
Resource management, Manager, PCB design, Software, Development, Microcontroller, Design, Engineering, Mechanical design, Arduino, Management, Leadership, Innovation, Electronics development, Raspberry Pi, Hardware development, PCB layout, Embedded software
2013 - 2016
freelance
Senior Systems Engineer
Rolls Royce Nuclear Services.
Contract position with potential to turn into UK Lead Engineer.
Rolls Royce Nuclear Services provides robotic inspection & test equipment and services to the nuclear sector. US based, the company setup a UK office and looked to establish a UK based electronics team to compliment the US based team and work with other teams in the different arms of Rolls Royce Nuclear.
My main contributions during my time at Rolls Royce were to introduce a systems design attitude. This was used successfully on several new projects including a clean sheet design for a robotic inspection arm.
Working with the mechanical team, we established the customer requirements and designed a distributed processor embedded system to control all the motor, video and control functionality. This was previously done using a PLC and a large control box connected to the arm by several multi-way cables.
I have also designed a few smaller systems for robotic inspection and liaised with engineers in the US and Derby to delegate work packages out for completion and review.
Rolls Royce Nuclear Services provides robotic inspection & test equipment and services to the nuclear sector. US based, the company setup a UK office and looked to establish a UK based electronics team to compliment the US based team and work with other teams in the different arms of Rolls Royce Nuclear.
My main contributions during my time at Rolls Royce were to introduce a systems design attitude. This was used successfully on several new projects including a clean sheet design for a robotic inspection arm.
Working with the mechanical team, we established the customer requirements and designed a distributed processor embedded system to control all the motor, video and control functionality. This was previously done using a PLC and a large control box connected to the arm by several multi-way cables.
I have also designed a few smaller systems for robotic inspection and liaised with engineers in the US and Derby to delegate work packages out for completion and review.
Design, Video, Test, Electronics, Hardware development, Electronics development, Embedded, Software development, PCB design, PCB layout, Power Electronics, Motor control, Compliance, Microcontroller
2013 - 2013
job
Principal Electronics Engineer
Ultra Electronics.
Designing avionics equipment for major defence customers.
Designing safety critical control systems for the avionics and defence industries.
This role was meant to lead into a Team Lead position but soon became apparent that the company was re-structuring and the role would not be developing.
Designing safety critical control systems for the avionics and defence industries.
This role was meant to lead into a Team Lead position but soon became apparent that the company was re-structuring and the role would not be developing.
Electronics, Electronics Engineer, Hardware development, Electronics development, Analogue electronics, PCB design, PCB layout, Power Electronics
2012 - 2012
job
Senior Electronics Engineer
G4S Technology.
Adding High speed processor design and EMC experience to the electronics team.
I was taken on to design the next generation of core product based on high speed processors and capable of video streaming. The project was very badly defined from the systems viewpoint and I successfully pushed for a review to properly define the requirements. This led to the project being put back 12 months whilst management worked out exactly what they wanted.
During my time at G4S, I also improved the EMC performance of several products that were failing to pass EMC testing and specified a base line in-house capability for pre-compliance EMC testing.
I was taken on to design the next generation of core product based on high speed processors and capable of video streaming. The project was very badly defined from the systems viewpoint and I successfully pushed for a review to properly define the requirements. This led to the project being put back 12 months whilst management worked out exactly what they wanted.
During my time at G4S, I also improved the EMC performance of several products that were failing to pass EMC testing and specified a base line in-house capability for pre-compliance EMC testing.
Design, Compliance, Testing, Electronics, EMC, Hardware development, Electronics development, Embedded, PCB design, PCB layout, Firmware, FPGA, IMX6, Microcontroller
2010 - 2012
job
Lead Senior Electronics Engineer
Allen Vanguard.
Leading the Electronic Hardware Team in designing and maintaining products across the ROV, Search and ECM product lines.
Allen Vanguard is an Anglo-Canadian manufacturer of counter terrorist equipment. I was employed to take over leading the hardware team due to an internal promotion. I quickly got involved in supporting legacy issues with existing systems, most of which were past their EOL dates.
This included supporting their main client, an American defence company who purchase an ECM system from Allen Vanguard. The ROV product line consists of 2 robots, one which needed its design documentation, test specifications and design validation completed. The other needed constant obsolescence & legacy support. I was then able to complete a skills matrix for the hardware team to identify bottlenecks and training requirements to help develop the team members.
This revealed how under resourced the team was and that critical design information was not being completed, this and the previous team lead leaving the company allowed me to strengthen the team with a new member, this position was filled by an engineer I worked with previously at Coopers.
Being able to delegate the ECM product line to that engineer, allowed me to focus on the ROV line and sorting out its historic problems.
This resulted in a major software and hardware update programme to deal with the revealed system level problems that were un-covered. Working with software, production and service, we developed the update to minimise the amount of board replacement work that was needed.
As part of the obsolescence issues, I developed the concept for a new command console which would allow greater flexibility, reduce inventory costs and reduce overall ROV package costs whilst giving the user a more modern command interface. This was in the process of being fully developed after it was chosen over other external offerings.
The solution was also be the 2nd product to use a universal Arm-8 Processor / Ethernet-switch board that I developed to reduce costs via quantities and to allow design leverage from both a software and hardware perspective.
Allen Vanguard is an Anglo-Canadian manufacturer of counter terrorist equipment. I was employed to take over leading the hardware team due to an internal promotion. I quickly got involved in supporting legacy issues with existing systems, most of which were past their EOL dates.
This included supporting their main client, an American defence company who purchase an ECM system from Allen Vanguard. The ROV product line consists of 2 robots, one which needed its design documentation, test specifications and design validation completed. The other needed constant obsolescence & legacy support. I was then able to complete a skills matrix for the hardware team to identify bottlenecks and training requirements to help develop the team members.
This revealed how under resourced the team was and that critical design information was not being completed, this and the previous team lead leaving the company allowed me to strengthen the team with a new member, this position was filled by an engineer I worked with previously at Coopers.
Being able to delegate the ECM product line to that engineer, allowed me to focus on the ROV line and sorting out its historic problems.
This resulted in a major software and hardware update programme to deal with the revealed system level problems that were un-covered. Working with software, production and service, we developed the update to minimise the amount of board replacement work that was needed.
As part of the obsolescence issues, I developed the concept for a new command console which would allow greater flexibility, reduce inventory costs and reduce overall ROV package costs whilst giving the user a more modern command interface. This was in the process of being fully developed after it was chosen over other external offerings.
The solution was also be the 2nd product to use a universal Arm-8 Processor / Ethernet-switch board that I developed to reduce costs via quantities and to allow design leverage from both a software and hardware perspective.
Design, Test, Hardware, Electronics, Software, Production, Microcontroller, Motor control, TCP/IP, Ethernet, PCB design, PCB layout, Analogue electronics, Power Electronics, Video systems
2008 - 2010
job
Senior Embedded Design Engineer
Cooper Controls Ltd.
Design & Development of electronic products for the intelligent lighting system & entertainment markets.
Having decided to move to Wales and wanting to take my skills into a new market sector, I joined Cooper Controls, part of Cooper Industries. Working as part of a small design & development team over several international sites, designing architectural lighting systems for offices & high-end hotels and lighting desk for the entertainment industry.
Working with predominantly a CAN based system with low voltage HMI's and heavy mains control gear type equipment consisting of dimmers, switch units etc. Designing and supporting different mains voltage lighting dimmers with leading & trailing edge triac dimming and also sine wave dimming.
One of my first projects was to coordinate the final design, development, testing and introduction to production of the company's flagship product. This involved working with engineers from all sites and ensuring the electrical & PCB design met UL standards and authoring the Technical Construction File.
I managed my own projects and others at all stages of the design cycle and chaired cross site design reviews. I helped the Cwmbran department earn the reputation for sorting out designs and getting things done by helping to get other projects back on track or completed.
I completed project timelines and other DMEDI paperwork to manage my projects resources and provide sufficient documentation which I presented to pass through project tollgates. I also developed systems and processes to enable control of electronic design data across sites including modular test reports.
I used my experience & knowledge of electronics, electrical & mechanical to help guide other engineers into finding solutions for their problems and provide support for their own personal development
Having decided to move to Wales and wanting to take my skills into a new market sector, I joined Cooper Controls, part of Cooper Industries. Working as part of a small design & development team over several international sites, designing architectural lighting systems for offices & high-end hotels and lighting desk for the entertainment industry.
Working with predominantly a CAN based system with low voltage HMI's and heavy mains control gear type equipment consisting of dimmers, switch units etc. Designing and supporting different mains voltage lighting dimmers with leading & trailing edge triac dimming and also sine wave dimming.
One of my first projects was to coordinate the final design, development, testing and introduction to production of the company's flagship product. This involved working with engineers from all sites and ensuring the electrical & PCB design met UL standards and authoring the Technical Construction File.
I managed my own projects and others at all stages of the design cycle and chaired cross site design reviews. I helped the Cwmbran department earn the reputation for sorting out designs and getting things done by helping to get other projects back on track or completed.
I completed project timelines and other DMEDI paperwork to manage my projects resources and provide sufficient documentation which I presented to pass through project tollgates. I also developed systems and processes to enable control of electronic design data across sites including modular test reports.
I used my experience & knowledge of electronics, electrical & mechanical to help guide other engineers into finding solutions for their problems and provide support for their own personal development
Design, Test, Support, HMI, Development, Electronics, International, Production, PCB, Electronics Engineer, Hardware development, Embedded, Embedded software, PCB design, PCB layout, Analogue electronics, Power Electronics, Microcontroller, ARM Processor
2002 - 2008
job
Product Manager - Electronic Systems
Colston Manufacturing Ltd.
Design, Development & Production of mobile hospital catering equipment.
I joined Colston to trouble shoot their latest electronics system which had been designed by an external design house. The system was unreliable and was the centre of a dispute between the hardware designers and the software house.
As I had no access to the source code or schematics, I tracked down the faults in the hardware and the software bugs by working through the original specification and turning into a list of requirements. I then got all parties to resolve the issues to make the product line reliable.
I then specified a new line of electronic systems based around a modular system of boards and wiring looms. This reduced stock levels and prices of the component parts. Working as a small team with a Mechanical Designer, the electronic systems were incorporated into 2 new product lines which proceeded to take the market by storm and led to the opening up of export markets for the products.
I travelled to overseas to visit the customers of the American distributor and get their specific needs catered for; I also visited the UL laboratories to help complete the UL listing of the products.
The products proved so successful that the company was acquired by French multinational company Socamel for the rights to the products.
I joined Colston to trouble shoot their latest electronics system which had been designed by an external design house. The system was unreliable and was the centre of a dispute between the hardware designers and the software house.
As I had no access to the source code or schematics, I tracked down the faults in the hardware and the software bugs by working through the original specification and turning into a list of requirements. I then got all parties to resolve the issues to make the product line reliable.
I then specified a new line of electronic systems based around a modular system of boards and wiring looms. This reduced stock levels and prices of the component parts. Working as a small team with a Mechanical Designer, the electronic systems were incorporated into 2 new product lines which proceeded to take the market by storm and led to the opening up of export markets for the products.
I travelled to overseas to visit the customers of the American distributor and get their specific needs catered for; I also visited the UL laboratories to help complete the UL listing of the products.
The products proved so successful that the company was acquired by French multinational company Socamel for the rights to the products.
Design, Production, Hardware development, Electronics development, Software development, Embedded, Power Electronics, Motor control, Control systems, PCB design, PCB layout, Analogue electronics
2000 - 2002
freelance
Self Employed
Self Employed.
Contract Design, Development & Production of electronic products for a variety of markets.
Having been made redundant, I set up my own company at the request of a couple of existing customers who wanted me to continue to serve them by offering contract electronic design, development & production.
I increased my customer base due to referrals from those customers and suppliers. I designed a wide variety of products using embedded microcontrollers / microprocessors and interfaced them to meet the customer's objectives in very different markets including industrial, scientific and medical.
To reduce one customers cost and stock levels, I developed a board, which replaces five other varieties of the board. The unit is programmed after final assembly thus reducing the number of completed units held in stock and costs less than any of the original boards. This product went on to be fitted in every major UK airport as well as other locations.
Having been made redundant, I set up my own company at the request of a couple of existing customers who wanted me to continue to serve them by offering contract electronic design, development & production.
I increased my customer base due to referrals from those customers and suppliers. I designed a wide variety of products using embedded microcontrollers / microprocessors and interfaced them to meet the customer's objectives in very different markets including industrial, scientific and medical.
To reduce one customers cost and stock levels, I developed a board, which replaces five other varieties of the board. The unit is programmed after final assembly thus reducing the number of completed units held in stock and costs less than any of the original boards. This product went on to be fitted in every major UK airport as well as other locations.
Design, Production, Project Management, Hardware development, Software development, PCB design, PCB layout, Power Electronics, Analogue electronics, Electronics consultant, Embedded, Microcontroller
1996 - 2000
job
Technical Manager
Avin Electronics.
Designing and Developing a wide range of electronic products for various companies.
From intelligent sensors through to 19" rack mounted KW DC Power Supplies.
Avin Electronics was a sub-contract electronic manufacturer. I was employed to increase the Design & Development capability of the company, which up to that point had been mainly production orientated.
The role was created as part of an expansion program to take the company forward. This also included taking on more production staff, gaining ISO9000 approval and relocating to new premises.
I developed business relationships with new companies as well as converting several existing customers to using our design capacity. We were made the design authority for three companies. This included providing support for their sales teams and attending meetings with prospective clients.
My positions responsibilities included: Managing internal staff & external design contractors, meeting with customers to agree specifications on new products, turning concepts into circuit diagrams, PCB layouts and software.
Introducing internal Quality Procedures for design, development and production. Writing and compiling Technical Construction Files for products to meet LVD, EMC, BS60950 & other BS standards.
Supplying sufficient information to enable production of new products. Sourcing and approving equivalent components. Developing test procedures and ATE.
From intelligent sensors through to 19" rack mounted KW DC Power Supplies.
Avin Electronics was a sub-contract electronic manufacturer. I was employed to increase the Design & Development capability of the company, which up to that point had been mainly production orientated.
The role was created as part of an expansion program to take the company forward. This also included taking on more production staff, gaining ISO9000 approval and relocating to new premises.
I developed business relationships with new companies as well as converting several existing customers to using our design capacity. We were made the design authority for three companies. This included providing support for their sales teams and attending meetings with prospective clients.
My positions responsibilities included: Managing internal staff & external design contractors, meeting with customers to agree specifications on new products, turning concepts into circuit diagrams, PCB layouts and software.
Introducing internal Quality Procedures for design, development and production. Writing and compiling Technical Construction Files for products to meet LVD, EMC, BS60950 & other BS standards.
Supplying sufficient information to enable production of new products. Sourcing and approving equivalent components. Developing test procedures and ATE.
Design, Test, Sourcing, Support, Development, Electronics, Software, Power, Production, EMC, PCB, Manager, PCB design, PCB layout, Analogue electronics, Electronics development, Hardware development, Prototypes, Digital design
1992 - 1996
job
Technical Manager
Quintek.
Controlling a small team responsible for the Concept, Design, Development and Support of RISC processor based Image Processing and Embedded Systems.
Quintek produced a range of Transputer boards for embedded users. I was taken on to help develop new products and increase production efficiency by using newer parts available in Surface Mount Technology etc.
We developed several new products, which opened up new markets and increased production 300%; this included a DSP based board featuring an FPGA as a configurable front-end processor.
The final family of boards I designed were used in Image Capture, Signal Processing, Streaming Digital Video and Virtual Reality applications.
Quintek produced a range of Transputer boards for embedded users. I was taken on to help develop new products and increase production efficiency by using newer parts available in Surface Mount Technology etc.
We developed several new products, which opened up new markets and increased production 300%; this included a DSP based board featuring an FPGA as a configurable front-end processor.
The final family of boards I designed were used in Image Capture, Signal Processing, Streaming Digital Video and Virtual Reality applications.
Design, Video, Virtual reality, Technology, Embedded, Support, Development, DSP, FPGA, Production, Signal processing, PCB design, PCB layout, Analogue electronics, Embedded software, Transputers, Parallel programming
My education
1977
-
1983
Bedminster Down Secondary School
A & O levels, Physics, Electronics, Engineering, Chemistry, Math's, English
A & O levels, Physics, Electronics, Engineering, Chemistry, Math's, English
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