Hire the Best Hardware Prototyping Specialists
in Canada

I help companies and startups take physical products from concept to working, manufacturable prototypes. My work spans industrial design, mechanical engineering, and electrical system development, with a strong focus on building products that are practical to manufacture and scale. I typically work on products where industrial design, electronics, and mechanics must function as a single system, not as disconnected parts. Where I add the most value: Clients usually involve me when: • a product idea needs to be converted into a real prototype • mechanical and electrical designs are not aligned • early prototypes work but are difficult or expensive to manufacture • architecture decisions are unclear and causing redesign risk My approach focuses on defining the system correctly early, reducing rework, and preparing products for real-world constraints from day one. Core Services Industrial Design • Product concept development from sketches to 3D CAD • Enclosure and form design around electronics • Aesthetics aligned with usability and manufacturability Mechanical Engineering • Complete mechanical design and assemblies • DFMA, materials selection, and tolerance planning • Prototype and pre-production readiness Electrical & Embedded Systems • System architecture and electronics planning • Sensor integration and controller selection • Embedded and PLC-based system development End-to-End Product Development • Concept → prototype → pre-production • Design documentation and test planning • Support during manufacturing and supplier discussions Background I’ve worked on industrial and consumer devices involving electromechanical systems, automation, and embedded electronics. My experience also includes pre-production testing environments, test case development, and validation activities for complex hardware products. How I Work • Clear milestones and defined deliverables • Practical, documentation-driven communication • Engineering decisions grounded in manufacturability If you’re building a physical product and want it designed correctly before production, feel free to reach out with your current stage and goals.

With more than 15 years of experience, I work with start-ups and SMEs to design, prototype and manufacture consumer products. I strive for close collaboration with clients and building personal relationships that last for years. I am the founder of Waterloo Technical Inc., a product development firm started in 2012. I specialize in industrial design; mechanical and electrical systems; firmware programming; and manufacturing. I work across these disciplines to transform great ideas into disruptive products that contribute to business growth for my clients.

I’m an electrical engineer with a background in PCB design, specializing in creating reliable, production-ready hardware. Over the past 4+ years, I’ve designed and tested PCBs for wearable health tech, biosensing devices, and consumer electronics and handling everything from schematic capture to prototype validation. Skilled in Altium, KiCAD, EAGLE, rapid prototyping and more, I focus on clean, manufacturable designs with attention to detail and clear, effective communication. If you need help designing, reviewing, or troubleshooting your next project, I’m happy to work with you and bring it to life!

Many hardware startups waste months and tens of thousands of dollars building the wrong prototype. I help founders define the right hardware architecture before building the prototype, so the first version of the product actually validates the idea. My work focuses on the early stages of hardware product development, where a few key technical decisions shape the entire project. Instead of jumping straight into PCB design, I help clarify the system architecture, identify technical risks, and define the fastest path toward a functional prototype. As a licensed Professional Engineer in Québec, Canada (OIQ), I specialize in turning early product ideas into clear technical plans and realistic prototype strategies. I often join projects at the stage where the idea is clear but the technical path is not. My role is to help teams answer critical questions such as: • What is the simplest prototype that validates the product idea • Which architecture decisions will scale to production • What technical risks should be addressed early • Which components and technologies are the right fit • What development roadmap makes the most sense Once the architecture is clear, I can support the development of functional prototypes including electronics, firmware, and mechanical integration. 🧠 TYPICAL STRATEGIC ENGAGEMENTS Prototype Architecture Review A deep technical review of a product concept or existing design to identify risks, validate architecture choices, and define the best technical direction. Clients typically leave with a clear architecture strategy and actionable recommendations. Prototype Roadmap Define the fastest and safest path from concept to working prototype. This includes system architecture, component selection strategy, and a realistic development roadmap. Technical Design Review Independent engineering feedback on an existing design before committing to development, manufacturing, or scaling. 🧭 HOW I USUALLY WORK Most projects start with a short architecture or prototype strategy engagement. This allows us to clarify: • system architecture • key components and technologies • technical risks • development roadmap Typical activities may include: • review of product concept, architecture and BOM • prototype architecture definition • identification of design and manufacturing risks • practical recommendations to simplify development • a clear next step roadmap This approach keeps projects efficient, predictable, and aligned with real world hardware constraints. 🔧 CORE EXPERTISE • hardware system architecture for embedded and IoT products • prototype strategy and rapid product validation • embedded systems and low power electronics • wireless systems including WiFi, BLE, Zigbee and LoRa • sensor systems and motor control architectures • system level integration across electronics, firmware and mechanics 🧪 PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT CAPABILITIES Once the architecture is defined, I can support the development of functional prototypes including: • electronic design and PCB development • embedded firmware development • sensor and wireless integration • mechanical prototyping with 3D modeling and printing My lab is equipped for rapid hardware development, allowing ideas to move quickly from concept to working hardware. 🚀 TYPICAL SITUATIONS WHERE I HELP • exploring a new hardware product idea • preparing the first functional prototype • evaluating or improving an existing architecture • reducing technical risk before major development investment • turning a proof of concept into a reliable prototype 🎯 FIT I work best with startups, innovators, and small product teams developing new hardware products. If you are exploring a product idea, preparing your first prototype, or trying to reduce technical risk before committing to development, I can help. If you are looking for open ended task execution or low level outsourcing, I may not be the right fit. 💬 LET’S TALK If you are working on a hardware product and want to move from idea to a realistic prototype strategy, I would be happy to discuss your project. Clear architecture decisions early in a project can save months of development and significant cost. Let’s build something real, testable, and engineered to succeed.

7 years at Intel as an Electronics Design Engineer, now independent — every Upwork project rated 5.0. Tier-1 semiconductor companies bring me in for overflow PCB layout; for startups, I'm the expert they can't hire full-time. I'm the engineer to call when a board is too complex, too fast, or too power-hungry to get wrong on the first spin — or when you need measurements you can actually trust. Not the cheapest bid; the one who gets it right. To date, each board I've designed has come up working the first time. "Within minutes it was obvious he understood the problem at a level I hadn't encountered before — he was already asking questions our own team hadn't thought to ask. They found several issues that would have been a nightmare to deal with after the fact ... the board went to manufacturer on time, and I actually felt good about it. What I appreciated most was that Ethan just owned it — the same attention to detail that caught those issues carried through the entire engagement." — Daniel L., Founder, VC-backed hardware startup · February 2026 Need one engineer to own your whole board, concept to debugged hardware? Or extra senior hands on an overflow layout? Either way, you get the same silicon-grade rigor. Through my firm, EGS Engineering, I cover the full range of electronics and PCB design — a broad base of everyday board work, with deep specialization in two areas: ▸ HIGH-COMPLEXITY COMPUTE PLATFORMS — high-speed, high-power, high-density boards for datacenter and AI hardware (CPUs, ASICs, SoCs, FPGAs), power delivery into the hundreds of amps, and silicon validation. ▸ PRECISION MEASUREMENT & TELEMETRY — trustworthy measurement chains from nanovolts to volts, modeled, calibrated, and lab-validated. ──────────────────────────────────── SPECIALTY 1 — HIGH-COMPLEXITY COMPUTE PLATFORMS The hardest class of digital hardware: high-speed, high-power, high-layer-count, high-density boards with thousands of components. • Full-board ownership around CPUs, ASICs, SoCs, FPGAs, and MCUs — architecture, schematic, layout, and bring-up • High-speed interfaces under real signal-integrity constraints: PCIe Gen4, DDR3L, LPDDR5, DRAM, ONFI/NAND, eMMC/SD, USB, HDMI, I2C, SPI, I3C, and custom buses • Up to 24-layer stackups owned end to end — signal integrity, power integrity, and DFM/DFA locked before release, so you don't burn a fab cycle and weeks of schedule on a respin. • Power Electronics — multiphase VRMs up to 12 phases and 360 A, and the board/package PDN around them, kept within spec at hundreds of amps: model extraction, PDN/PI simulation, regulator tuning, and validation against target-impedance and transient budgets. • SSD validation platforms exposing the controller, NAND/Optane media, rails, and PCIe — custom sockets, breakout/pathfinding, instrumentation, bring-up, debug, and firmware support. ──────────────────────────────────── SPECIALTY 2 — PRECISION MEASUREMENT & TELEMETRY Measurement you can stake a design decision on. I don't just drop in an ADC and hope for the best. I architect the entire measurement chain, model it, extract and ingest models, and design the calibration and validation so the numbers on the screen actually mean something. • Architected and led teams to build TWO mixed-signal measurement platforms (precision analog front ends + FPGAs) delivering accurate power and temperature telemetry for storage and memory devices • Front ends spanning nanovolts to volts and milliamps to hundreds of amps — architected, modeled, and lab-correlated so the reading is one you can defend in a design review, not one you have to take on faith. • Precision AFEs (INA / op-amp), ADCs, voltage references; temperature sensing via thermistors, RTDs, and BJTs; TEC control • Modeling and validation: SPICE, MATLAB/Simulink, Python — model extraction, lab correlation, Bode, load-step, calibration ──────────────────────────────────── Start small if you want to: send me your specs or invite me to your job and I'll give you an honest read on scope, risk, and whether I'm the right fit — that first conversation is on me. Need a deeper answer before you commit? I also offer paid scoping consultations — a written risk and architecture assessment you can act on. Either way, you'll know exactly where you stand before any real work begins.

Your Needs, My Assignment: Writer. Transcriber. Freelance Task Completion Specialist. I do usertesting, writing and transcriber amongst other things. You have a job to do? I guarantee I can do it. EMPLOYMENT OBJECTIVE: Gain experience with people, a chance to learn new things no matter where I am, and the opportunity to help my community., SKILLS : * Problem Solver: Worked with preschoolers at a summer camp. * Detail-Oriented: Able to pay attention to preschoolers, and/or toddlers at Sunday school throughout the course of three years, and very thorough with projects I complete. * Multi-Task: I can work on job projects while taking care of my children, currently a toddler and an infant. * Work Well Under Pressure: If given a stressful situation I will buckle down and work my hardest to get the job done, including large crowds of people waiting to be served * Work Well With People: I enjoy being around people of all ages and babysat for a few years for a family with a baby; who was under one year of age. This was my job until the oldest of the four children was old enough to stay home alone.