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Vol. 01 · Issue 09
Electronics · Embedded · RF · Power

Built
To
Last

Hardware that works the first time, every time — from schematic to silicon to shipping. I lead mixed-signal bring-up, EMC hardening, and design reviews for teams shipping globally.

Electronics Engineer PCB Design FPGA Embedded Systems RF Design
See My Work → Get in Touch ↗
Nadia Okonkwo
Senior Electronics Engineer · London, UK · Remote
11+
Years Experience
42
PCB Designs Shipped
18
Patents Filed
8
Countries Deployed
NO
Nadia Okonkwo
Senior Electronics Engineer
📍 London, UK · Remote
PCB Design ✦ FPGA Development ✦ RF & Microwave ✦ Power Electronics ✦ Embedded C/C++ ✦ Signal Integrity ✦ IoT Systems ✦ Altium Designer ✦ SPICE Simulation ✦ EMC / CE Marking ✦ PCB Design ✦ FPGA Development ✦ RF & Microwave ✦ Power Electronics ✦ Embedded C/C++ ✦ Signal Integrity ✦ IoT Systems ✦ Altium Designer ✦ SPICE Simulation ✦ EMC / CE Marking ✦
Engineer Profile

About Nadia

"I don't just design circuits — I design confidence. Every pad, every via, every trace is a decision I own."

I'm Nadia Okonkwo, a Senior Electronics Engineer with 11+ years of experience across consumer electronics, industrial automation, and defence-grade systems. I graduated with First Class Honours in Electronics Engineering from University College London and went on to build hardware that has shipped to over a million users worldwide.

My work sits at the intersection of precision analog design, high-speed digital systems, and RF engineering. I hold 18 patents, have spoken at IET and IEEE conferences, and mentor junior engineers through structured technical apprenticeships.

I believe great hardware engineering is invisible — it's the product that just works, the battery that lasts, the signal that doesn't drop. That's what I build.

01
First-pass PCB success rate: 94%
Rigorous pre-layout simulation, DRC scripting, and peer review process means fewer costly respins.
02
Managed hardware teams up to 14 engineers
Built and led cross-functional hardware teams across London, Lagos, and Singapore offices.
03
18 filed patents across 4 companies
Patents in GaN power management, MEMS sensor interface ICs, and phased-array RF modules.
04
IET Member & IEEE Senior Member
Active professional community contributor — technical committee member, reviewer, and conference speaker.
11+
Years building hardware that ships
42
PCBs Shipped
18
Patents Filed
8
Countries
94%
1st-Pass Rate
Technical Expertise

Core Domains

01 / Featured
🔌
PCB Design & Signal Integrity

Multilayer PCB layout up to 20 layers. DDR5 memory routing, high-speed differential pairs, controlled impedance stackups, thermal management, HDI microvias, and DFM/DFT practices. Altium Designer and KiCad expert. Pre-layout simulation using HyperLynx for signal integrity validation before a single trace is placed.

Altium DesignerKiCad 8DDR5HDIHyperLynxDFM / DFTImpedance Control
02
⚡
Power Electronics

GaN/SiC switching converters, LLC resonant topologies, battery management systems, wireless charging, and PFC circuits up to 10kW.

GaN / SiCSMPSBMS10kW
03
📡
RF & Microwave

Antenna design, LNA/PA, frequency synthesisers, impedance matching, and regulatory compliance from 400 MHz to 77 GHz.

ADSCST5G NRmmWave
04
🔲
FPGA / HDL Design

Xilinx and Intel FPGA development in VHDL and Verilog. Custom IP cores, DSP pipelines, high-speed serial interfaces, and timing closure.

VHDLVerilogVivadoSERDES
05
💻
Embedded & IoT

ARM Cortex-M/A, FreeRTOS, Zephyr RTOS, BLE 5.3, LoRaWAN, Matter protocol, and ultra-low-power sensor node design with 10-year battery targets.

ARMFreeRTOSBLE 5.3LoRaWAN
Selected Work

Design Projects

Featured · PRJ-001 · In Production
Next-Gen Wearable ECG + SpO₂ Platform
Medical Device · BLE 5.3 · Analog AFE · FDA 510(k)
96hr
Battery Life
8-Layer
HDI PCB
±1bpm
Accuracy
// Project Overview

Led hardware design of a medical-grade wearable vital signs monitor from concept to FDA 510(k) clearance. Designed custom analog front-end for 12-lead ECG, PPG-based SpO₂ sensing, and motion artefact cancellation using 3-axis MEMS accelerometer. Power architecture achieved 96hr battery life on a 200mAh cell — 60% improvement over previous generation.

Wireless
BLE 5.3
Layers
8-Layer HDI
Size
18×32mm
Regulation
FDA 510(k)
Altium Designer ARM Cortex-M4 BLE 5.3 Analog AFE FDA 510(k) SMPS 1.8V/3.3V
View Project Details →
Defence · Radar · FPGA
Ku-Band FMCW Radar Signal Processor

FPGA-based real-time range-Doppler processing for UAV collision avoidance radar. Xilinx KU115, custom FFT pipeline, 10 Gbps LVDS interface, -45 dBc sidelobe suppression.

VHDLXilinx KU115FMCW
Details →
EV · Power · GaN
7.2kW Bidirectional On-Board EV Charger

GaN totem-pole PFC bidirectional charger. 97.8% peak efficiency, V2G capable, IEC 61851-1 compliant. Shipped to two automotive OEMs across Europe.

GaN 650VV2G7.2kW
Details →
IoT · Industrial · LoRa
10-Year Battery LoRaWAN Sensor Node

Ultra-low-power predictive maintenance node. 900nA sleep current, MEMS vibration and temperature sensing, LoRaWAN 1.1 Class C, conformal-coated IP67 housing.

LoRaWANSTM32L4900nA
Details →
Career

Professional History

2021 — Present
Arm Holdings plc
Cambridge, United Kingdom
Principal Hardware Engineer — Silicon IP

Leading physical implementation and evaluation of Arm Cortex-M85 and Cortex-A720 processor IP. Responsible for reference platform PCB design (silicon validation boards), signal integrity analysis, and hardware bring-up support for IP licensees.

→Designed 20-layer DDR5-7200 validation board with <0.3% bit-error rate at Nyquist — industry leading for platform.
→Filed 7 patents in low-power interface design and adaptive voltage scaling circuits.
→Built and mentored a 14-engineer hardware validation team across Cambridge, Austin, and Bangalore.
→Keynote speaker at Arm DevSummit 2023 — "Signal Integrity at the Speed of Modern AI Silicon."
DDR5LPDDR5XSignal Integrity20-Layer PCBTeam Leadership
2018 — 2021
Dyson Ltd
Malmesbury, United Kingdom
Senior Electronics Engineer — Motor Drive

Senior engineer on the digital motor drive team. Designed GaN-based inverter circuits for Dyson's 170,000 RPM brushless motor platform. Responsible for EMC pre-compliance, thermal design, and production handoff.

→Designed GaN inverter achieving 98.5% efficiency at full load — 4% improvement over SiC predecessor.
→Resolved critical EMC failure on production units — root-cause identified in 72 hours, saving £2.1M recall.
→Filed 6 patents in GaN gate driver topology and dead-time optimisation algorithms.
GaN InverterBLDC MotorEMC/CELTspice
2014 — 2018
BAE Systems
Rochester, United Kingdom
Electronics Engineer — Avionics Systems

Avionics hardware engineer designing flight-critical electronics for fixed-wing and rotary-wing platforms. DO-254 DAL-A qualification, MIL-STD-461 EMC compliance, and redundant power supply architecture for airborne systems.

→Designed triple-redundant power supply module for Typhoon fighter aircraft — first unit qualified to DO-254 DAL-A.
→Graduated from BAE Systems Advanced Apprenticeship Programme — top 5% cohort ranking.
DO-254 DAL-AAvionicsMIL-STD-461Power Design
Credentials

Licenses & Certs

🏅
Active
Chartered Engineer (CEng)
Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET)
Chartered 2020 · Active
🎓
Awarded
B.Eng Electronics (First Class)
University College London
Graduated 2014 · Dean's List
🔲
Active
Xilinx Certified FPGA Designer (XCFD)
AMD / Xilinx Academy
Certified 2022 · Renewed 2024
🔌
Active
Certified PCB Designer CID+
IPC — Advanced Level
Certified 2019
✈️
Active
DO-254 / DO-178C Awareness
RTCA / EUROCAE Certified
Certified 2017 · Renewed 2022
⚡
Due 2025
Functional Safety Eng (IEC 61508)
TÜV Rheinland
Certified 2021 · Renewal Due
📡
Active
RF/Microwave Engineer Cert
IEEE MTT-S
Certified 2020
🌐
Complete
AWS IoT Solutions Architect
Amazon Web Services
Certified 2023
Peer Reviews

What People Say

"

Nadia is the most technically complete hardware engineer I have ever worked with. She sees failure modes three design revisions ahead of everyone else in the room. Having her on a project is the difference between a product launch and a costly respin.

DK
Dr. David Kessler
VP Hardware Engineering · Arm
"

Nadia single-handedly saved a production launch by tracking down an EMC issue in 72 hours that three other engineers had spent weeks on. Her systematic approach to debugging is remarkable.

SM
Sarah Moreau
Director of Engineering · Dyson Ltd
"

One of the clearest technical communicators I've met. Nadia can explain a DDR5 routing constraint to an executive and a board fabrication engineer with equal clarity. Incredibly rare skill.

TC
Thomas Chen
Principal Engineer · BAE Systems
Get In Touch

Let's Build Something

"Available for senior hardware roles, contract design work, and interesting engineering challenges worth solving."

Open to Principal / Staff Engineer roles, hardware consulting, contract PCB design and FPGA development, and speaking engagements. Based in London — open to hybrid and international remote.

📧
Email
nadia.okonkwo@eng.io
🔗
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/nadia-okonkwo-ee
💻
GitHub
github.com/nadia-hw
📍
Location
London, UK · Open to International Remote
Send an Enquiry
Response within 48 hours · All enquiries welcome
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