Syed Yead Zaman | Portfolio

About

I am completing a Bachelor of Applied Science in Computer Engineering (Co-op) at the University of Ottawa. I build end-to-end systems, from custom PCBs and firmware to backend services and dashboards. I am currently an Undergraduate Research Assistant in the Computational Analysis and Acceleration Research Group, where I am developing a real-time 2-DOF (pan-tilt) UAV target tracking system that combines AI vision with robotic control.

Education

University of Ottawa · Sep 2021 – Present

Bachelor of Applied Science in Computer Engineering (Co-op), expected Apr 2026

Relevant coursework: Applied Machine Learning, Real-Time Computer Systems Design, Computer Architecture I-III, Operating Systems, Data Communications and Networking, Digital Systems

Technical Skills

Embedded & Microcontrollers

STM32, ESP32, FreeRTOS, UART, SPI, I2C, GPIO, and real-time firmware

PCB & Hardware Design

KiCad schematic capture and PCB layout, Altium Designer, custom PCB manufacturing, and component selection

Digital Design & FPGA

VHDL, SystemVerilog, Xilinx Vivado, Quartus, Logisim, and logic synthesis

Software & Tools

C, C++, Python, Java, Assembly, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions, and ROS2

Experience

Undergraduate Research Assistant · Computational Analysis and Acceleration Research Group

Apr 2026 – Present · Ottawa, Ontario, Canada · Hybrid

Building a real-time 2-DOF (pan-tilt) UAV target tracking system that links AI vision to closed-loop robotic motion.
Developing the perception-to-control pipeline, from target detection and tracking to low-latency actuation for stable camera lock.
Tuning control behavior for responsive pan-tilt movement under changing target position and scene conditions.
Integrating software, embedded control, and robotics components for reliable real-time operation.

Software Developer (Co-op) · DistillerSR

May 2025 – Aug 2025 · Ottawa, Ontario · Hybrid

Implemented client-requested PHP endpoints with unit and integration test coverage using Postman.
Presented the implementation and test strategy to the team, then validated the new routes.
Maintained API consistency and code quality so features could ship safely.

Software Developer (Co-op) · Ford Motor Company

Sep 2024 – Dec 2024 · Ottawa, Ontario · Hybrid

Developed 100+ Python tests with pytest and Slash, improving test coverage by 20% and platform stability.
Created Jenkins automation scripts to retrieve node and computer information across the CI pipeline infrastructure.
Built cross-platform reporting automation with open-source libraries for company-wide meetings.

Site Reliability Engineer (Co-op) · Pinax

Jan 2024 – Apr 2024 · Remote

Designed a Kubernetes deployment that streamed blockchain data to ClickHouse using Substreams for efficient transformation.
Implemented a Rust Substreams module for blockchain data extraction and processing at scale.
Improved throughput by testing and tuning deployment parameters.

HPC and Science Support Team (Co-op) · Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

May 2023 – Aug 2023 · Ottawa, Ontario · Hybrid

Created Power BI reports and Excel scripts to format supercomputer data for automated dashboard consumption.
Developed a Python backend API package for data processing and integration with analytics platforms.
Simplified OKD Kubernetes deployments by collecting and standardizing JSON configurations across the cluster.

Projects

Office Tracker Embedded System with ESP32 + Custom PCB

Nov 2025 – Present · ESP32, RFID, IoT, PCB Design, KiCad, Altium Designer, Prometheus, Grafana

Built and deployed a production-ready ESP32 + custom PCB system for RFID attendance and real-time office monitoring. Delivered the full-stack system from hardware and firmware to secure OTA update flows, Go APIs, Dockerized backend services, CI/CD release workflows, and server deployment with monitoring dashboards, now supporting 30+ active users in the IEEE office.

I am currently developing Revision 2 using a bare ESP32-C3FH4 and ST25R100 for RFID reading, with PCB antennas on both subsystems designed from vendor application notes. Revision 2 is in progress as a 4-layer PCB in Altium Designer.

Backend Code (GitHub)

Revision 2: Bare-Metal Optimization & RF Engineering

Building on the success of Rev 1, I am currently engineering a second-generation system focused on miniaturization, cost-optimization, and professional-grade signal integrity. This version moves away from pre-made modules toward a fully discrete 4-layer PCB design.

Bare-Metal Integration: Migrated to the ESP32-C3FH4 (RISC-V) SoC to reduce footprint and power consumption, managing all necessary decoupling and RF matching for the 2.4 GHz internal antenna.
Advanced NFC Subsystem: Implemented the ST25R100 reader with a custom-designed matching and tuning network. This includes an integrated PCB loop antenna, an EMC low-pass filter, and a capacitive RFI voltage divider for precise signal demodulation.
Hardware Hardening: Integrated industrial-standard protection, including USBLC6-2SC6 ESD protection on USB data lines and a Pi-filter (C-L-C) on VBUS to ensure clean power delivery in electrically noisy office environments.
Professional Workflow: Transitioned to Altium Designer for the 4-layer stackup, allowing for dedicated ground and power planes to minimize EMI and optimize impedance control for RF traces.

End-to-End Ownership: Built the system from scratch across hardware, firmware, backend, infrastructure, deployment, and operations.
Attendance Flow: Built the end-to-end check-in path with ESP32 firmware, RFID scans, and backend API integration.
RF Layout Fixes: Added a keepout zone under the ESP32 Wi-Fi antenna and reoriented the RFID reader to improve read range.
Power and Drive Circuitry: Designed the PCB with decoupling capacitors, a continuous ground plane, and a transistor-switched buzzer stage.
Office Monitoring Node: Deployed a second ESP32 node for real-time temperature monitoring and reporting.
Secure OTA Maintenance: Added ESP32 over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates with password protection for controlled field upgrades.
Backend Observability: Developed a Go REST API with Prometheus metrics for uptime and free heap, then exposed the data through Grafana dashboards.
Release Automation: Built a release-triggered CI workflow that automatically builds and publishes Docker images for the backend.
Server Deployment: Deployed and maintained the backend on a production server, pulling the new release image and rolling it out after each release.
PCB Bring-Up: Designed and manufactured the custom PCB in KiCad, hand-soldered the board, and validated hardware bring-up.
Deployment Status: Deployed in the IEEE office and currently supporting 30+ users.

Demo, Dashboards, and Build

Office Tracker scanner demo — Scanner Demo

Office Tracker web dashboard — Web Dashboard

Office Tracker Grafana dashboard — Grafana Dashboard

Office Tracker Discord dashboard — Discord Dashboard

Assembled Office Tracker PCB — Assembled Board

Revision 1 - Schematic and PCB Design

V1 Schematic

Office Tracker PCB front design — PCB Front

Office Tracker PCB back design — PCB Back

Office Tracker PCB 3D front view — PCB 3D Front

Office Tracker PCB 3D back view — PCB 3D Back

Revision 2

V2 Schematic

Intelligent Embedded Surveillance System (STM32 + ESP32 + Web Dashboard)

Feb 2025 – Mar 2025 · STM32, ESP32, IoT, Real-Time Embedded Control, Sensor Integration

Engineered a real-time embedded surveillance platform that links STM32 sensing/control, ESP32 wireless telemetry, and a live web radar interface. Optimized for precise ranging and low-latency visualization with low-power wake behavior for practical deployment.

Custom STM32 Drivers: Wrote drivers for the stepper motor and ultrasonic sensor instead of relying on default library behavior.
Ultrasonic Timing: Generated the trigger pulse with a one-shot timer output to drive the pin for an exact 10 microseconds.
Distance Measurement: Used timer input capture to measure echo return time precisely, then converted pulse duration to distance.
Sweep Control: Configured timer-driven callbacks to step the motor at fixed intervals and control sweep speed.
Low-Power Behavior: Used STM32 shutdown low-power mode during inactivity and woke the system with a PIR interrupt.
Telemetry Bridge: Transmitted distance and angle data from STM32 to ESP32 over UART, then relayed it via Bluetooth to the web radar UI.
Latency Tuning: Maintained low-latency behavior from detection through on-screen visualization.

Report (PDF) Report - Mirror (Drive) GitHub Repository

System Demo

Open demo video in new tab

Architecture and Firmware Figures

High-level architecture of the surveillance system — System Architecture

Control flow and event sequence for firmware — Control Flow

Software hierarchy across STM32 ESP32 and web app — Software Hierarchy

Data communication flow between STM32 ESP32 and web app — Communication Flow

Runtime and Hardware Media

Surveillance system running in real time — System in Action

Surveillance dashboard live view — Dashboard View

Object detection and sweep behavior — Detection Sweep

Surveillance system hardware enclosure — System Enclosure

Surveillance system wiring and electronics — Wiring Layout

Capstone Project · Autonomous Pothole Detection Rover

Jan 2025 – Dec 2025 · Autonomous Robotics, ROS2, AI Pipeline, Full-Stack, CI/CD

Built an end-to-end autonomous pothole-detection rover for proactive road maintenance planning. Integrated Raspberry Pi + ESP32 hardware, ROS2 autonomy, AI severity analysis, and a web operations center for live control and monitoring.

ROS2 Architecture: Implemented rover-side node orchestration for the command center, GPS, LiDAR, camera streams, manual control, and autonomous navigation.
AI Pipeline: Integrated pothole detection, road segmentation filtering, area and depth scoring, and severity categorization.
Web Operations Center: Built the SvelteKit and TypeScript control flow for rover connection, path planning, live metrics, manual override, and the pothole explorer.
Rover-to-Server Link: Implemented communication with ROSBridge and WebRTC, including heartbeat/status channels and live telemetry updates.
Deployment Workflow: Containerized services with Docker Compose and set up GitHub Actions for automated build, push, and test workflows.

Report (PDF) Report - Mirror (Drive) Project organization on GitHub

Capstone Demos

Open software showcase in new tab

Open autonomous navigation demo in new tab

8-bit Processor with Assembler and Compiler

Oct 2024 – Jan 2025 · Digital Logic Design, Logisim, Assembly, Compiler Design

Designed a custom single-cycle 8-bit processor in Logisim with a simplified ISA and memory-mapped I/O. Extended the platform with a Python assembler and a minimal C-to-assembly compiler to run structured programs on constrained hardware.

Processor Core: Implemented the ALU, instruction decode, branching, and stack behavior in a single-cycle architecture.
Memory-Mapped I/O: Added ports for terminal output, 7-segment displays, and 128x128 video output.
Assembler Tooling: Built a Python assembler with directives and macro instructions that compiles assembly into hex images for Logisim ROM.
C Compiler: Built a minimal C-to-assembly compiler supporting if, while, and for constructs plus mapped port writes.
Validation Suite: Created assembly and C examples plus Python unit tests for assembler/compiler validation within strict resource limits (1024 instructions, call depth 32).

GitHub Repository

System Demos

Hello world on the custom processor — Hello World

Seven-segment output demo — Seven Segment Display

IEEE Involvement

VP Academic · IEEE uOttawa Branch

2025 – 2026

Scaled hands-on technical training as VP Academic, helping students apply embedded and software skills directly in projects and co-op. Drove 400+ student attendees across workshops and exam prep sessions in one year.

Guides and technical notes: docs.ieeeuottawa.ca/s/guides

Audience Reach: Across my events, 400+ students attended over the year.
Exam Reviews: Ran 28 final exam review sessions, personally hosting the C and Python reviews.
Workshop Program: Hosted or co-hosted 8 workshops across Docker and CI/CD, STM32 and FreeRTOS, IoT with ESP32 and MQTT, Intro to C, and KiCad + PCB design.
STM32 Workshop: The STM32 and FreeRTOS session had 40+ attendees and covered STM32CubeIDE setup, bare-metal GPIO, interrupts, and FreeRTOS fundamentals.
Week of Workshops: Led 10 workshops with 125+ attendees, with direct support for 4 sessions.
Teaching Hardware: Designed and handed out a custom educational PCB for the KiCad workshop.
Branch Infrastructure: Maintained Docker Compose infrastructure for docs hosting, monitoring, and inventory tooling.

Workshop Highlights

STM32 and FreeRTOS workshop session — STM32 & FreeRTOS Workshop

Educational PCB front side used in workshop — Educational PCB Front

Docker and CI/CD workshop session — Docker & CI/CD Workshop

KiCad and PCB Design workshop session — KiCad & PCB Design Workshop

Educational PCB back side used in workshop — Educational PCB Back

Awards

Mentorship & Knowledge Sharing Award · IEEE uOttawa

Issued by IEEE uOttawa Student Branch · Mar 2026

Recognized for high-impact technical mentorship and community building through workshops, academic reviews, and large-scale student initiatives.

Workshop Leadership: Led and delivered workshops on IoT (ESP32), Docker, and STM32, helping students build practical skills in embedded systems and software development.
Event Organization: Co-organized large-scale events including Cookies & Cram and Workshop Week, a two-week series of daily technical sessions.

Award Highlights

Receiving the Mentorship and Knowledge Sharing Award — Receiving Award

Cookies and Cram event — Cookies & Cram session for C

Contact

Software & Embedded Systems Engineer building reliable hardware-software systems.