Resume

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Rickey Fehr Link to heading

Embedded Software Engineer Seattle, WA | [email protected] | rf3.xyz

Overall Experience Link to heading

  • Operating Systems
    • Linux, FreeRTOS, Zephyr, Azure RTOS, and bare-metal
  • Bootloaders
    • U-Boot, MCUBoot, and custom MCU bootloaders with A/B partitions
  • Processor Architectures
    • ARMv7, ARM64, Cortex-M0/M33, ARM+FPGA (Zynq, Jetson)
  • Security
    • Secure boot with I.MX8 CAAM and Raspberry Pi CM4
    • Secure Arm execution with TrustZone and OPTEE
  • Driver Development
    • Sensors using standard serial protocols (I2C, SPI, UART, GPIO) on Linux/RTOS/Bare Metal
      • Fuel Guages / Motors / Buttons / GPS module / Humidity Sensors / IMUs
    • Device tree and kernel configuration of various other protocols (USB, I2S, PCIe, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, BLE, MIPI C-PHY/D-PHY)
      • Image Sensors/Displays/Wifi and Bluetooth Modules/Custom PCIe driver for external FPGA cards
  • Hardware Platforms
    • NXP i.MX6/7/8, Xilinx Zynq MPSoC, Jetson Xavier NX, Raspberry Pi CM4, LPC55S69, SAMD21, and Renesas MCU
  • Build Systems
    • Yocto, Buildroot, CMake, Meson, Make, Docker, and West
  • Devops
    • Github actions, docker compose, very experienced in setting up and maintaining CI/CD pipelines for Yocto based projects.
  • Languages
    • C, C++, Rust, Python, Bash, Java

Professional Experience Link to heading

Principle Engineer / Founder & Embedded Linux Consultant Link to heading

Feb 2026 - Present

  • Founded RF3 Systems, an embedded-systems consultancy delivering Linux BSP, Yocto, Buildroot, and device-driver development for product teams.
  • Lead end-to-end board bring-up and platform migrations across NXP i.MX, Raspberry Pi, and custom hardware.
  • Develop and integrate camera/ISP, V4L2, networking, Bluetooth, display, and peripheral subsystems.
  • Build reproducible Yocto/Buildroot toolchains, CI workflows, and remote lab infrastructure that accelerate development.
  • Scope technical projects, communicate risks and architecture decisions directly with clients, and ship practical solutions under tight timelines.
  • Integrate and debug MIPI CSI-2 camera and MIPI DSI/LVDS display hardware on embedded Linux platforms.

Senior Software Engineer - Fluke Link to heading

March 2026 - Present

  • Supported modernizing a buildroot project for a major product on a legacy 3.4 linux kernel.
  • Back ported LM842 USB/Bluetooth Dongle for use in 3.4 linux kernel.
    • LM842 hostap, wpa_supplicant, and bluetooth audio support (AD2P + HFP).
  • Added U-boot board detection support for entire product line.
  • Validated security chip migration for TPM support on FreeRTOS platform.

Senior Software Engineer - IDEXX Link to heading

Oct 2024 - March 2026

  • Migrated BSP to Yocto and from Linux version 3.1 to 6.1 for long term support of legacy product.
  • Developed motor controller with TI DC motor driver for replacement of MCU controller.
  • Developed server on Linux to replace legacy MCU communication of sensors with userspace equivalent for backwards compatibility.
  • Developed OV5640 camera driver for MIPI on I.MX8 for use in image-processing algorithms.
  • Developed CI/CD pipeline for automated versioning and deployment of platform builds.

Senior Software Engineer - Amazon Kuiper Link to heading

Jun 2024 - Oct 2024

  • Designed validation workflows for power distribution hardware built with Yocto and running Linux.
  • Built automated image test pipelines for faster QA turnaround.

Embedded Software Engineer - Witekio Link to heading

Jul 2020 - Apr 2024

  • Delivered production BSPs for Zynq MPSoC, NXP i.MX6/8, RPi CM4 and Jetson NX SoCs.
  • Integrated Linux drivers for Wi-Fi, BLE, SPI, I2C, UART, Ethernet, and GPIO subsystems.
  • Built FreeRTOS/Azure based software stacks for Cortex-M and Cortex-A MCUs.
  • Worked on many different things here for many different products. New project every 1-3 months from embedded tasks to DevOps pipelines and GUIs.

Software Engineer - Sierra Nevada Corporation Link to heading

Sep 2017 - Jul 2020

  • Developed kernel drivers for AXI buses on Zynq hardware for high-bandwidth data aggregation systems.
  • Built a GUI shell for manufacturing tools for firmware flashing and validation with Python and JavaFX.
  • Developed PetaLinux based BSP for use in ELINT systems.

Research Assistant - University of Nevada, Reno Link to heading

Aug 2015 - May 2017

  • Developed control algorithms for UAVs in dynamic environments.
  • Designed distributed connectivity control systems for multi-agent UAV swarms.
  • Published 4 peer-reviewed papers on multi-agent coordination and UAV control.

Achievements Link to heading

  • Zephyr Contribution - Ported the sparkfun samd21-dev board to zephyr. This one was a fun one. link
  • Full-Stack Delivery - Delivered products from board bring-up to production on various SoCs. notably i.MX8, Zynq MPSoC, and Nvidia Jetson.
  • Manufacturing Tooling - Automated firmware flashing & validation (Python/JavaFX) for manufacturing.

Education Link to heading

B.S. Electrical Engineering - University of Nevada, Reno | GPA: 3.7

Publications Link to heading