Seth Hinz

Seth Hinz

Research & Development Engineer, Hobbyist

Skills

  • Embedded systems
  • Circuit design
  • Realtime software
  • Quartis, VHDL
  • Hardware debugging
  • System integration
  • CNC machining
  • OnShape, Fusion360, SW
  • 3D printing
  • SPICE
  • Multithreading
  • CMake
  • TDD
  • REST APIs
  • C++
  • Python
  • GLSL
  • Linux
  • Microcontrollers
  • Signal processing
  • Pytorch
  • Numerical methods

Professional Experience

  • Microscopy Instrumentation Engineer

    Chan Zuckerberg Biohub SF June 2024 - now Main developer of control software for a world-leading embryology research microscope.
    • Developed high performance (10GBps) to-disk camera streaming
    • Negotiated custom BIOS to address vendor PCI incompatibility
    • Wrote hardware adapters for 6 different scientific instruments to coordinate the imaging procedure
    • Represented company in communication with Hamamatsu, Tucsen Camera, and Excelitas PCO
    • Designed a clean UI using Qt and Python, seeking out feedback from biologists and catering to their workflows
    • Wrote SOPs and safety documentation, participated in high value sales calls and coordinated shipping logistics

  • Research Engineer Co-op

    Leslie Lab (UBC) May 2022 - December 2022 Studied RNA binding to better understand drug binding, helped bootstrap a new single-molecule microscopy platform by building custom software and hardware.
    • Developed user-friendly microscope control software with GTK and C++
    • Wrote multithreaded data processing algorithms for realtime single-photon measurements
    • Prototyped and modelled novel electrophoretic device

  • Mechanical Engineering Co-op

    Kardium September 2021 - December 2021 Designed, machined, and modified several pieces of equipment for use in Kardium’s production cleanroom. Developed a jig that decreased process time from 5 minutes per part to ~10 seconds per part.
    • Produced over 60 precision parts with a CNC mill, CNC lathe, resin 3D printer, and shop tools
    • Worked with manufacturers to have parts made and anodized
    • Computed hazard zone of a class 4 laser system as per ANSI Z136-1
    • Designed and manufactured flexures from steel and silicone

Personal Projects

  • Numerical Computing Library and Ecosystem

    January 2021 - now Developing a numerical computing library (i.e. NumPy) for the Crystal programming language with a collaborator. The project’s aim is to make scientific computing faster and easier to reason about via a compiled host language, stronger object-oriented design, and type safety.
    • Wrote custom slicing algorithms for n-dimensional arrays
    • Used generics and metaprogramming to provide maximum flexibility and compile-time safety
    • Developed patches for image processing and data plotting libraries for compatibility
    • Wrote several hundred unit tests to ensure validity (>1000 tests including autogenerated)
    • In planning stages for acceleration via OpenCL (GPU) and SIMD (CPU)

School Projects

  • Wireless Powered Drone

    September 2023 - April 2024 On a team of students, designed a passive, wirelessly-powered and self-stabilizing drone.
    • Designed and manufactured featherweight drone frames (~5g) to enable flight with only a few watts
    • Engineered electromagnetic potential well by tuning tranmitter coil geometry
    • Designed and tested mechanical fins and damping elements to stabilize drone motion
    • Tuned magnetic field profiles and mechanical geometry to achieve stable flight under passive control

Awards

  • Eric A. Roenitz Memorial Award

    April 2023 For students who demonstrated ingenuity and dedication during their fourth-year capstone project.

Education

  • University of British Columbia

    September 2018 - May 2024 Bachelor of Applied Science in Engineering Physics, with distinction.