Christopher
Boerner

1. EXP-01 Nov 2025 — Present

   Electrical Engineer @ Northrop Grumman

   ESPAStar · ESPASat-L · Dulles, VA

   • Work on avionics for ESPASat-L space vehicles that dispense from the ESPAStar satellite bus, each carrying a unique mission payload.
   • Previously a Systems Engineer on the NASA Gateway program — analyzed the Electrical Power System (schematics, pinouts, block diagrams) and wrote/ran hardware verification test scripts (Python, NASA STOL) against flight computers and flatsat hardware.

   • Avionics
   • Space Systems
   • ESPAStar
   • Electrical Integration
   • Python
   • Flight Hardware
2. EXP-02 Sep 2024 — Dec 2024

   Grader — ECE 2564 Embedded Systems @ Virginia Tech

   Blacksburg, VA

   • Graded homework and coding projects for the embedded systems course.
   • Worked in C on TI MSP432 microcontroller-based systems.
   • Collaborated with TAs and the professor to keep the course running smoothly.

   • C
   • MSP432
   • Embedded Systems
   • Git
3. EXP-03 Jun 2024 — Jul 2024

   Research Intern @ G2Elab

   Grenoble EE Laboratory · Grenoble, FR

   • Designed photovoltaic-powered smart-home mockups with load management and real-time power monitoring.
   • Programmed Arduino and ESP8266 microcontrollers for appliance control and MQTT telemetry to a centralized Raspberry Pi energy manager.

   • Arduino
   • ESP8266
   • MQTT
   • Raspberry Pi
   • Power Systems
4. EXP-04 Jun 2023 — Aug 2023

   GPS Advisory Cyber Intern @ Deloitte

   Washington, DC

   • Improved a government client's cybersecurity framework using an identity governance & administration solution, focused on Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM).
   • Developed visuals and process cycles for a business requirements document.
   • Built soft skills through conferences and leading presentations.

   • Cybersecurity
   • ICAM
   • Presenting
   • Business
5. EXP-05 Sep 2022 — May 2023

   Student Researcher @ Virginia Tech

   Computer Architecture · Blacksburg, VA

   • Built a script to automatically run complex benchmarks on an FPGA-based heterogeneous computer system and collect data.
   • Implemented RISC-V 64-bit architectures on an FPGA and modified the processor's instruction execution phase to prevent attackers from extracting information about a cryptographic application.

   • Verilog
   • RISC-V
   • FPGA
   • Xilinx Vivado
   • Unix

FIG.1

Self-hosted · 2026 – present

Distributed Homelab Infrastructure

A from-scratch home datacenter — network, storage, and a fully local AI stack, no cloud.

PoE-powered Raspberry Pi nodes handle DNS filtering and Home Assistant automation; a ZFS mirrored NAS backs file storage and a media server; a local AI voice assistant runs Whisper speech-to-text with Ollama LLM inference; and custom ESP32 mic/speaker nodes tie the whole thing together.

NODES

PoE Raspberry Pi

STORAGE

ZFS mirror + media

AI

Whisper · Ollama

VOICE

ESP32 · Home Assistant

• Raspberry Pi
• ZFS
• Home Assistant
• Ollama
• ESP32

FIG.2

Personal · KiCad

Custom PCB Design

Three boards taken from schematic to fabrication-ready Gerbers — including the from-scratch ESP32 dev board rendered here.

A hands-on run through the full KiCad workflow: schematic capture, layout, design-rule checks, footprint assignment, and Gerber export for fabrication. The set included a breadboard power supply, a solar power regulator, and an ESP32 development board built from scratch — drag the model to inspect the board.

TOOL

KiCad

BOARDS

supply · solar reg · ESP32

OUTPUT

schematic → Gerber

CHECKS

DRC · footprint · DFM

• KiCad
• Schematic Capture
• Power Electronics
• ESP32

FIG.3

Senior Design · Virginia Tech / NAVAIR

Aircraft Data Acquisition System

A battery-powered DAQ prototype for capturing flight sensor data and streaming it live over RF.

Designed custom PCBs with regulated power supplies, Wheatstone-bridge signal conditioning, and optocoupler isolation for noise-sensitive vibration, temperature, humidity, and acoustic channels. STM32 and Artemis firmware handled synchronized sampling, SD logging, and a touchscreen UI, streaming over RF to a handheld unit. MIL-STD-810G environmental conditions were the design target.

SENSORS

vib · temp · humid · acoustic

MCU

STM32 · Artemis

STAGE

breadboard prototype

LINK

RF telemetry

• STM32
• PCB Design
• Signal Conditioning
• RF

// more builds

Arch Linux Dotfiles

Personal

A version-controlled Arch Linux setup for a fast, keyboard-driven development environment — an exercise in reproducible, scriptable configuration.

• Linux
• Bash
• Arch

GitHub ↗

FPV Drone Design & Build

Personal

A 5-inch quad built from parts: soldered electronics, an ELRS radio link, GPS telemetry with battery fail-safes, and PID tuning for stabilized GoPro footage.

• FPV
• ELRS
• Soldering
• GPS

YouTube ↗

Ecodistrict Smart-Home Mockup

G2Elab

Photovoltaic-powered smart-home nodes publishing MQTT telemetry to a centralized Raspberry Pi energy manager, coordinated with a simulated solar source.

• Arduino
• ESP8266
• MQTT
• Raspberry Pi

GitHub ↗