Status: Online

Jay Collins

Electrical Engineering student at CU Boulder, originally from Waimea, Hawaii. Embedded systems are my strongsuit, but I enjoy working on any type of engineering project.

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U1 / Projects

Things I have built

Hardware and firmware projects I have designed, built, and debugged, from early prototypes to working devices.

Featured

U1.1 / ESP32

Worst Alarm Clock Ever

An ESP32-based alarm clock with a real-time state machine, interrupt-driven encoder/button input, SPI OLED display, NTP-synced RTC, and live weather over REST. Network work runs in a dedicated FreeRTOS task on the second core, so a slow connection never stalls the clock or delays the alarm. Built from breadboard to a soldered protoboard in a custom 3D-printed enclosure.

The video shows the finished clock running, including the display, the knob, and a few of the ways it has been taught to ruin a morning.

C++ESP32SPII2S AudioFreeRTOS3D Printing

Watch on YouTube View repo

U1.2 / STM32

STM32 Casino Game

Blackjack and roulette modes on an STM32 microcontroller with an LCD display and touchscreen input. Game logic in C, including random number generation and interaction handling, tuned for a responsive feel.

CSTM32LCDTouchscreen

View repo

U1.3 / Arduino

BLDC Controlled Driving Robot

An Arduino-driven robot that plays music through PWM audio while it runs driving patterns. Motion control and audio output are both handled by the microcontroller, with the motor and speaker wiring hand-soldered so the connections would hold up.

ArduinoPWMMicrocontrollerMotor Control

View repo

U1.4 / STM32

Wake-Word Detection on STM32

A real-time keyword spotter in C++ on an STM32F407. A 4-class CNN runs through ExecuTorch on 16 kHz PDM microphone audio, using STFT features and a 1 MB flash budget. Trained with time-shift, gain, and noise augmentation, paired with a tuned voice-activity detector, and validated in Renode simulation and on hardware.

C++STM32ExecuTorchCNNRenode

In Progress

U1.5 / Daisy Seed3

ShapeShifter synthesizer enclosure concept render

ShapeShifter Hybrid Synthesizer

A portable hybrid synthesizer my 6-person senior capstone team built for an industry client, on a Daisy Seed3 (STM32H750). As project manager and software manager, I built the full breadboard prototype, wiring 32 panel controls into a C++ audio engine with oscillators and a granular sampler. The firmware splits a real-time audio callback from a control loop that reads the controls through 12-bit SPI ADCs and drives preset-recall LEDs over I2C.

C++STM32H750AudioProject Mgmt

U1.6 / PCB

Board-01: 555 Timer LED Driver

A 5 V PCB designed in Altium where an NE555P astable timer (500 Hz, 60% duty cycle) drives four LEDs through different series resistors, with 1206 SMD parts, isolation switches, and test points. It worked on first assembly, and I used scope measurements to estimate the timer's Thevenin resistance.

AltiumPCB DesignSMD555 Timer

Download report

U1.7 / PCB

Board-02 hex inverter noise comparison PCB, assembled and powered

Board-02: Layout Noise Comparison

Two identical 74AHC14 hex inverter circuits driven by an LMC555 on one board, one laid out with a ground plane and a close decoupling capacitor and one without, to compare switching noise. It worked on first power-up, and scope measurements showed the ground plane cut quiet-low ground bounce from 900 mV to 500 mV.

AltiumPCB DesignSignal IntegrityLDO

Download report

U2 / Experience

Where I have worked

A mix of teaching on campus in Boulder and working on the water back home in Hawaii.

Engineering Learning Assistant

CU Boulder · Jan 2026 to Present

Learning Assistant for Linear Systems and Exploring ECE, supporting 150+ students in weekly office hours
Explained convolution and Fourier transforms in clear, accessible language

Deckhand

Hawai'i Nautical · May 2024 to present

Crew member aboard a 54 ft sailing and snorkeling catamaran, covering bartending, maintenance, and passenger safety
Assisted with maintenance and monitoring of onboard electrical systems, catching issues before they impacted operations
Lifeguard and CPR certified, with hands-on emergency response experience

Restaurant Host

Foster's Kitchen Waikoloa · Dec 2023 to May 2024

Managed front-of-house flow during peak tourist season, coordinating seating for high-volume dinner service
Handled over-the-phone take-out orders

Beach Hut Attendant

HYPR HAWAII · April 2021 to Aug 2023

Drove retail sales of outdoor equipment and apparel, consistently upselling lessons and rentals using POS systems and cash handling
Instructed first-time paddlers in board and kayak technique, prioritizing safety and customer confidence

U3 / Skills

Skills and tools

These are the languages, instruments, and software I actually use, on the bench and in the toolchain.

Languages 06

CC++PythonRISC-V ASMVerilogLaTeX

Protocols & Interfaces 09

SPII2CUARTI2SPWMGPIO InterruptsBluetoothWiFiREST APIs

Software & Debugging 08

FreeRTOSSTM32CubeIDEGDBUART/Serial LoggingAltiumLTspiceVS CodeGitHub

Hardware & Testing 08

PCB DesignSMDTHTSolderingOscilloscopesFunction Gen.DMMPower Supplies

Core Engineering 05

Circuit DesignEmbedded SystemsDigital LogicState MachinesIoT

Professional 03

Technical Comm.Team CollaborationDocumentation

U4 / Education

Education

University of Colorado Boulder

B.S. Electrical Engineering · Expected May 2027 · Dean's List

Circuits I & II (A) · Linear Systems (A) · Electronics Design Lab (A-) · Embedded Software Engineering (A) · Data Structures (A) · Programmable Digital Systems (A) · Microelectronics (A) · Fields and Waves (A-) · Calculus I to III · Probability & Statistics (A)

Cumulative GPA

3.82

U5 / Résumé

Résumé

Jay Collins Résumé (PDF)

My full education, experience, and project history in one document, ready to print or pass along.

Download PDF

U6 / Contact

Get in touch

I am looking for internships in embedded systems, hardware, and firmware. I am based in Boulder, Colorado, and I am happy to work anywhere.

2jayscottcollins@gmail.com

School

jay.collins@colorado.edu

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