Alejandro Garcia Baltazar — Firmware & Embedded Engineer

About

Firmware and embedded systems engineer in training with a Bachelor's in Computer Science. I work directly at the register level — configuring RCC, GPIO, and peripherals from the reference manual without HAL abstractions. My goal is to build reliable, efficient firmware on constrained hardware.

I come from a software background and chose to pivot into embedded because I wanted to understand how hardware functions under the physical buttons.

01 Read the datasheet before writing a line of code

02 Understand the register before setting the bit

03 If it breaks, document why

Technical Skills

Architecture

ARM Cortex-M0+ Memory-mapped I/O

Peripherals

GPIO RCC EXTI SPI I2C ··· USART ···

Toolchain

Baremetal C STM32CubeIDE VSCode + PlatformIO

Hardware

Breadboard prototyping MOSFET switching Inductive load control Datasheet navigation Soldering

··· = in progress

Projects

Embedded / Firmware Active

ESP32 Self-Watering Planter

This is a fork of the original STM32 Planter, but with proper equipment. The goal here is to create a WiFi-enabled self-watering planter built on an ESP32 which controls a 12V submersible pump via MOSFET switching. The controls are accessible by a web server hosted by the ESP32 itself.

ESP32 ESP32-GPIO ESP32-Wifi

View on GitHub

Embedded / Firmware Completed

STM32 Self-Watering Planter

Baremetal pump driver on the STM32 Nucleo G0B1CE. Button-controlled MOSFET switching configured entirely through direct register access — MODER, OTYPER, PUPDR, BSRR — without HAL. Includes pull-down network, gate resistor, and inductive load handling.

// Lesson learned: inductive loads require a flyback diode.
// Omitting one killed the board. Now it's in every schematic.

Baremetal C ARM Cortex-M0+ STM32 G0B1CE MOSFET drive Register-level GPIO

View on GitHub

Previous Work — Mobile / Full Stack Completed

Eatscape — Food Truck Management App

Cross-platform mobile app with real-time location tracking via Google Maps API, Firebase Auth, Firestore, and an admin dashboard for menu and location management. Tiered subscription visibility for food truck operators.

Flutter Dart Firebase Google Maps API Cloud Functions

Writing

Medium — Embedded Systems Active

How I Burned My First STM32 (And What I Learned About Flyback Diodes)

A walkthrough of my first embedded hardware project — a self-watering planter using a 12V pump and STM32. Documents the wiring process, MOSFET switching, and what happens when you skip a flyback diode on an inductive load.

Read on Medium

Medium — Embedded Systems Active

How to Connect Simple Digital Modules to an ESP32

A beginner-focused guide covering how to wire and control 3-pin digital modules using ESP-IDF on the ESP32. Covers GPIO initialization, signal pin configuration, and a working button-controlled main loop.

Read on Medium

Education

University of Arkansas, Grantham

B.S. Computer Science — Aug. 2024

DEAC-accredited program covering data structures, networking, OOP, operating systems, databases, cybersecurity, and software engineering. Languages: JavaScript, C++, C#, SQL.

FastBit Embedded Brain Academy

Mastering Microcontroller & Peripheral Driver Development (MCU1) — Completed

Peripheral driver development from scratch on STM32: GPIO, SPI, I2C, USART. Emphasis on register-level understanding and reading ARM reference manuals.

Boot.dev

Backend & Systems — Completed

Go, Python, OOP, Git, HTTP, Linux. Structured backend fundamentals to complement embedded systems work.

AlejandroGarcia Baltazar