Senior Electromechanical Systems Engineer focused on embedded systems, custom electronics, mechatronics, and practical engineering tools.

I design and build integrated hardware systems that combine electronics, mechanics, firmware, controls, and documentation. My work usually lives somewhere between a PCB, a CAD model, a wiring harness, a test bench, and a mildly overbuilt Notion page.

My focus is on making complex engineering systems easier to understand, build, debug, teach, and maintain.

Landing Site · Portfolio · LinkedIn

STM32 · RP2040 · ESP32 · Raspberry Pi · Teensy C/C++ · MicroPython · hardware bring-up · debugging · system integration

I work on embedded platforms that connect sensors, actuators, power systems, communication buses, and user interfaces into complete working systems.

Autodesk Fusion Electronics · KiCad-adjacent workflows · CAN bus · sensor interfaces · protection circuits · mixed-voltage systems

I design PCBs for development tools, embedded controllers, robotics platforms, lab equipment, and electromechanical prototypes.

SolidWorks · Autodesk Fusion · additive manufacturing · enclosures · mechanisms · wiring · integration

I care a lot about the messy middle between “the schematic works,” “the CAD fits,” and “the assembled system survives real use.”

Open-source hardware · field guides · teaching tools · system diagrams · design review checklists

A lot of my work is about turning engineering knowledge into tools, templates, and documentation that other people can actually use.

An embedded mechatronics platform designed to teach system integration, motor control, sensing, embedded firmware, and real-time control.

Includes custom electronics, embedded software, mechanical design, and full-system integration.

A Fusion add-in for creating system block diagrams and architecture documentation directly inside the CAD workflow.

Built to help bridge the gap between early system architecture and implementation-level design.

A practical open-source guide for engineers who need to select, specify, document, and review connectors.

Built after realizing that connector knowledge is everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

An open-source hardware project focused on making embedded bring-up, SWD/JTAG access, UART debugging, power control, and protected lab workflows cleaner and more reliable.

A growing collection of open educational projects designed to help kids build real-world literacy in computing, money, systems thinking, media, civics, health, and more.

• Open-source hardware for embedded systems and lab workflows
• Practical engineering documentation and reusable design templates
• System-level tools that connect architecture, CAD, electronics, and implementation
• Educational engineering projects for students, interns, and early-career engineers
• Advancing my M.Eng. in Engineering Management at Old Dominion University

• Embedded systems and hardware bring-up
• PCB design and electromechanical integration
• Robotics, controls, and autonomous systems
• Additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping
• Engineering education and technical documentation
• Home automation, instrumentation, and useful overengineering

• Website: zcohen-nerd.com
• Portfolio: zcohen-nerd.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/zachary-cohen-nerd
• Email: zachary@zcohen-nerd.com

If you explore my repositories, you’ll find more than code. You’ll find complete engineering systems: schematics, PCB layouts, firmware, CAD, documentation, design notes, and the occasional “this should probably be a reusable tool” rabbit hole.