I’ve always found working with my hands exciting and enjoyed creating cool stuff, finding quick ways to prototype, and building custom projects with hardware. There are endless things that you can optimize, and there are many processes that, if you really want to make it fast, you have to go through the hardware. While studying at UC Berkeley, my focus was both on electrical engineering and computer science, skewing towards engineering and specialized in technology that can quickly implement hardware design on the fly, a useful tool when learning how microprocessors work.
Prior to Q Bio, I was working on FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) on different applications involved with network performance and monitoring. It was the kind of work that was used by big data centers while trying to make the internet work more reliably. The application of the work I did was deployed specifically in the financial setting through the use of a lot of networking equipment.
I was first drawn to Q Bio through the mission. I learned about the company through Jeff Kaditz, and I joined last June as Senior FPGA Engineer. At Q Bio, we are working to create a way that we can quickly scan and measure your whole body, and as a Senior FPGA Engineer, I am involved in the development of a FPGA involved in enabling these rapid measurements. The FPGA is the interface to the scanner hardware and is custom designed to enable novel technologies and optimizations that we do at Q Bio.
In Silicon Valley, so many people and companies are trying to solve problems. What makes Q Bio unique is that we are taking a data-driven approach to build something that is very different and very useful to people’s everyday lives. For example, think of your regular checkup with your doctor: there are many times in which you go to a doctor, and, because you don’t have any sort of baseline data on your health, they don’t know a lot about your body or what could be causing your current symptoms.
Conversely, if you’re able to understand all the things that are happening inside your body, you’ll be able to understand and measure what’s going on. The data-driven approach we’re taking at Q Bio allows people to measure the body in a short amount of time, and will help inform their health decisions and enable proactive care. This unique approach especially stood out to me as an engineer, as measuring is something that we do all day, all the time. Measuring is something that we do in so many other fields, so it makes sense to bring it to proactive healthcare. When I found out about this idea, I was instantly drawn to it and wanted to contribute.
I enjoy working at Q Bio because we are made up of a team that works together very well. Some of the people in this company are the best of the best in their field, yet are very humble, including Thomas Witzel, who teaches me a lot everyday. It’s really fun because I know that with the help of the work that I do, we’re able to solve something that I personally believe in. We trust in each other to execute and build something together.