Traceworks
Traceworks started because we kept running into the same problem: clients needed clean, manufacturable PCB layouts and the options were either overpriced design agencies or freelancers who had never touched a fab file in production. We built the thing we wished existed.
My role is embedded systems and firmware. I'm the one making sure the board that leaves our hands actually behaves the way it should in the field. That means thinking about decoupling, trace impedance, and DFM constraints before layout even starts, not flagging issues after the Gerbers are generated. Every design we ship is IPC-2221 and IPC-7351 compliant, DRC-verified for JLCPCB and PCBWay, and handed over as KiCad native files. Full ownership, no lock-in.
We've also been building tools on the side. AutoBOM, TraceCheck, and SchemaSnap are KiCad plugins that cut out the tedious parts of the documentation workflow. LayoutBot and SpecWriter are earlier-stage AI agents for design and spec generation. The client work pays the bills; the tooling is where the interesting problems are.