Hello, I'm Miguel

Electrical and Computer Engineer building embedded systems

M.S. ECE at Carnegie Mellon. Previously EV hardware at Ford.

Miguel Salvacion
About

Hardware + firmware.

M.S. ECE at Carnegie Mellon, focused on embedded systems, PCB design, and firmware.

At Ford, I improved EV power delivery and led a cross-functional hardware audit. At CMU, I deployed automated RF matching at Hacker Fab, mentored embedded students, and shipped projects from a real-time vehicle to robotics and desktop hardware.

Ford return offer CMU M.S. ECE Deployed RF matcher
Embedded Systems PCB Design EV Hardware Semiconductor Design C / C++ RTOS RF Automation Python SolidWorks
My Career

Experience, 2021 — present.

Ford Motor Company logo Ford Motor Company

Hardware Systems Intern

Delivered EV hardware integration across three vehicle programs ahead of schedule, resolving voltage-drop issues and specification gaps across 50+ underbody requirements while driving component cost optimization—earning a return offer from Ford’s eBeam group.

CMU Hacker Fab logo CMU Hacker Fab

Embedded Systems Researcher

Built an open-source automated RF matcher for $636 that sustains ~1.2 VSWR at 95W forward power for 60+ minute depositions, using real-time coordinate descent on a Teensy 4.1 to drive air-variable capacitors via a shielded custom PCB.

Carnegie Mellon logo Carnegie Mellon University

18-349 Teaching Assistant

Guide 60+ students through preemptive RTOS debugging with GDB and OpenOCD, STM32 register-level firmware and serial peripherals, and end-to-end autonomous vehicle bring-up from 2-layer PCB reviews through PID tuning and assembly.

Ford Motor Company logo Ford Motor Company

Vehicle Hardware Intern

Resolved a 5.8V drop across an EV control unit through schematic review and corrective hardware proposals, cleared 10+ specification misalignments across three programs auditing 50+ requirements, and delivered a 5% cost reduction on key underbody components.

Carnegie Mellon logo Carnegie Mellon

18-100 Teaching Assistant

Taught weekly labs for 100+ undergraduates in introductory ECE, covering breadboard circuit design, lab instrumentation, structured debugging workflows, and hands-on troubleshooting.

SATA Inc. logo SATA Inc.

Aerospace Engineering Intern

Built a VAN’s RV-12 with Southern Arizona Teen Aviation over 200+ hours, leading airframe assembly, systems installation, and FAA-compliant avionics integration as a core build-team contributor.

My Projects

Built end to end.

Engineering projects

Assembled embedded vehicle with STM32 carrier PCB and motor system
Embedded · CMU

Real-Time Embedded Vehicle

STM32 vehicle stack with a custom RTOS, ARMv7-M boot code, preemptive scheduling, PID speed control, UART telemetry, and LCD state updates.

STM32 Cortex-M4RMS scheduler<10% steady-state error
Trash collection robot chassis with robotic arm and electronics
Electrical · CMU

Trash Collection Robot

Autonomous bottle-collection robot with Raspberry Pi vision, Arduino motor control, UART command protocol, custom power delivery, and arm actuation.

Raspberry Pi CVArduino control9V quad H-bridge

Independent builds

Kirby Companion embedded device Kirby Companion embedded device with its touch display active
Product · 2 weeks

Kirby Companion

ESP32-S3 smart display in a custom Kirby enclosure with touch UI, weather, alarms, timers, minigame screens, Wi-Fi, and I2S audio.

2-inch touch displayMAX98357 audio3D-printed shell
Kirby-shaped LED keychain PCB
Analog · 3 weeks

Kirby LED Keychain

Pure analog LED chaser on a custom Kirby-shaped PCB with 555 timer sequencing, decade counters, exposed HASL art, and coin-cell auto-shutoff.

No microcontrollerAuto-shutoffCustom PCB art