Sérgio Raposo
Principal Embedded Systems Engineer | Hardware & Bare-Metal Firmware | Real-Time & Harsh Environments | Industrial, Energy & Defense Systems
Salary / Daily rate
Maricá, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Freelance, open to permanent contract
Can come onsite
Skills
Languages
About me
Intro
Senior Embedded Systems Engineer with over 20 years of experience designing and delivering mission-critical hardware and firmware for industrial, energy, and defense-related environments. My work focuses on embedded systems that must operate reliably under real-world constraints: severe EMI, limited resources, corrosive atmospheres, and strict real-time requirements. I develop bare-metal firmware when required by timing, memory, or safety constraints, and design analog, digital, and mixed-signal hardware validated through long-term field operation (24/7, multi-year deployments). I am the founder and technical leader of an embedded-systems company, where I have been directly responsible for the entire product lifecycle: system architecture, hardware design, firmware development, manufacturing coordination, field support, and long-term maintenance. This role also required hands-on involvement in customer engagement, technical sales, proposal development, pricing discussions, and contract negotiation — providing a practical understanding of how engineering decisions impact business sustainability. My background includes ECU development for Otto and Diesel engines, wireless protocol analysis and security assessment hardware, and systems deployed in harsh industrial and marine environments. I am open to senior engineering, technical leadership, and consulting roles involving embedded systems, real-time firmware, hardware-software integration, and long-lived industrial products.
Work experience
Chief Development Officer and company representative
AC Automação e Controle - Indústria, comércio e serviços Ltda/Motor Spice
Mar 2007 - Present
19 years 8 months
Niterói, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Founder and technical leader of a privately held embedded-systems engineering company delivering end-to-end hardware and firmware solutions for industrial and energy applications. Independently responsible for complete product development cycles, from system architecture and hardware design to firmware development, manufacturing coordination, testing, logistics, and long-term field support. Designed and deployed two ECU product families (8-bit and 32-bit) for stationary and vehicular Otto and Diesel engines (50–500 kVA), integrating electronics, firmware, and electromechanical actuators. Architected ignition systems without flywheel sensors to reduce system cost and increase compatibility across engine models, accepting increased firmware complexity as a deliberate engineering tradeoff. Met strict real-time and deterministic timing requirements imposed by the application, achieving 2.5 ms latency on constrained 8-bit MCUs and 200 ns on 32-bit platforms. Systems designed to meet customer requirements for continuous 24/7 operation, validated in field deployments exceeding 8 years. Deployed in customer environments with severe EMI exposure and corrosive marine and sulphurous atmospheres, without forced cooling. Consistently delivered robust solutions under strict budget constraints through careful tradeoff analysis, creative problem-solving, and efficient resource utilization. In addition to technical leadership, directly responsible for customer engagement, technical sales, proposal preparation, pricing discussions, and contract negotiation to ensure business sustainability.
Computer Forensic Expert
Self-employed
Dec 1998 - Present
27 years 11 months
Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Consulting and assessment on: * intellectual property violations (piracy, non-authorized usage/copy) * disputes regarding software&hardware contracts * evidence production for lawsuits * Technical support for judge and lawyers in lawsuits regarding computer-related lawsuits.
Software Engineer
Módulo Security
Feb 1997 - Dec 1998
1 year 11 months
Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Development and maintenance of system-level code (C/C++ and eventually Assembly) of network (Windows and Novell) security and management and local data security.
Technical director and developer
Sofdata Ltda.
Oct 1994 - Oct 1997
3 years 1 month
Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Technical support and repair of computer and networks. Repair and upgrade of electronic industrial equipment. Training providing.
Electronic Technician
Elebra Controles ltda
Jul 1988 - May 1994
5 years 11 months
Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Field technical support (hardware and software) of DCS (Digital Control System) installed in large industrial plants that operated 24/7 in harsh environment.
Electronic Technician
Unibanco Sistemas S.A.
Mar 1984 - Jul 1988
4 years 5 months
Field technical support of electronic teller machines and teleprocessing equipment.
Education
UERJ
Master degree in Electronic Engineering (strictu sensu), Intelligent Systems
Dissertation theme: Coprocessor for quantum operations. A scalable and configurable processor to address quantum basic operations, capable of process entangled q-bits and build quantum operators at run-time. This processor employs parallelized hardware and pipeline to speed up computation. Hardware was descript by VHDL and simulated in Xilinx's Modelsim environment. This project was possible thanks to FAPERJ scholarship.
UERJ
College, Computer science