Online · Computer & Electronic Engineering
Louis van der Walt.
I make hardware talk.
Computer & Electronic Engineer (NWU, final year) working across embedded systems, communication protocols and control theory — from aerospace PCBs and CANBUS networks to real-time FreeRTOS firmware and biomedical sensing. This is my living CV, kept current with every commit.
$ ls ~/documents --locked
Personal records are shared on request — click a document, leave your work details, and you'll receive an access link by email once approved.
$ traceroute to this-cv — 4 hops, all reachable
whoami
About
Born in Vereeniging and raised in Sasolburg, I've always been curious about how things work — from electronics and computers to the physics behind flight. I'm a final-year Computer & Electronic Engineering student at North-West University with a foundation in embedded systems, avionics interfacing, industrial automation and biomedical engineering — including collaborating on the design of a prosthetic knee joint, hands-on exposure to biomechatronics. I like problems that live between the physical world and the protocol stack — PCBs that must survive aerospace conditions, control loops that must survive reality, and firmware that must do five things at once without missing a deadline.
My current focus is my capstone project: a multi-parameter medical device for non-invasive, in-ear seizure monitoring, using multi-sensor fusion of PPG and temperature data to verify neurological outputs and detect anomalies precisely.
Outside the degree, I'm building the full platform and infrastructure for an online movement studio as a side project — hands-on experience across the web stack, self-hosted infrastructure, live streaming and privacy-compliant data handling.
I'm a professional member of KIVI (the Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers) and an active Dutch learner, working toward an engineering career in the Netherlands — the birthplace of my grandmother — and wider Europe from January 2027, following graduation. Fittingly for someone who once hosted this very CV on a Raspberry Pi — until its SD card taught me about single points of failure — it now lives at the edge, version-controlled and rebuilt on every push.
- Location
- Potchefstroom, South Africa
- Degree
- BEng Computer & Electronic Engineering, NWU (exp. Dec 2026)
- Focus
- Embedded · Protocols · Control
- Languages
- English · Afrikaans · Dutch (learning)
- Status
- ● open to opportunities — from Jan 2027
show history
Experience
Vacation work
Embedded, Avionics & PCB Design
Noble Aerospace Systems (Pty) Ltd
- Designed and optimised PCBs and circuits for specialised aerospace applications across multiple internship periods.
- Developed a dual-axis trim control system (STM32F411, dual H-bridge drivers, linear actuators) as a foundation for future autopilot integration.
- Built and calibrated a gyrocopter engine multi-sensor display: Arduino-based instrumentation for oil/fuel pressure and temperature, MAP and engine RPM, including empirical sensor-curve modelling.
- Designed and debugged an active high-pass filter for RPM signal conditioning, verified iteratively on a dual-channel oscilloscope.
- Researched an industrial ultrasonic engine-cleaning system and developed an X-Plane 11 based procedural training simulator with Arduino I/O interfacing.
Electronics Production
Jericho Systems
- Conducted high-precision soldering for mass-production electronic components.
Student Assistant
North-West University
- Signal Theory (EERI222): assisted tutorials covering Fourier analysis and digital filters.
- Engineering Analysis (MTHS223): facilitated tutorials on Z-transforms and vector calculus.
ls ~/projects
Projects
Online Movement Studio Platform
Building the web platform and infrastructure for an online clinical movement studio in my spare time — a modern full-stack application with containerised self-hosting, browser-based live streaming, and privacy-conscious (GDPR/POPIA) data handling. Launching late 2026.
In-Ear Seizure Monitoring Device
Multi-parameter medical device for non-invasive, continuous monitoring of epilepsy patients. In-ear EEG sensing with multi-sensor fusion of PPG and temperature data for precise anomaly detection.
Hydroponic Hoist Controller
Multitasking STM32 controller on FreeRTOS managing real-time SPWM generation and RF telemetry. Jerk-limited S-curve acceleration for load stability, with hardware dead-time insertion and an ultrasonic proximity monitoring task.
Dual-Axis Trim Control System
Flight-surface actuation managing pitch and yaw simultaneously: an STM32F411 "Black Pill" driving two 12V linear actuators through BTS-7960 dual H-bridge drivers, controlled from a joystick hat switch — the foundation for future autopilot and CANBUS integration.
Gyrocopter Engine Multi-Sensor Display
Real-time engine instrumentation for six parameters — oil/fuel pressure and temperature, MAP and RPM. Derived linear calibration models from Bosch 10-bar sensor characteristic curves, and built an empirical trendline model for the MAP sensor where documentation ran out.
RPM Signal Conditioning Circuit
Active high-pass filter (LM358) converting noisy engine RPM signals into clean pulses readable by a microcontroller. Diagnosed signal distortion in the original PCB through iterative oscilloscope testing and reworked the diode protection scheme.
Gyrocopter Procedural Training Simulator
X-Plane 11 based training simulator for new gyrocopter pilots: an Arduino Mega handles digital I/O between the physical instrument panel — gauges, toggle switches, keyed magneto starter — and the flight model, with I2C LCD displays simulating engine instruments.
Ultrasonic Engine Cleaning System
Research and design for industrial-scale ultrasonic cleaning of full gyrocopter engines via cavitation. Proposed a dual-stage array combining magnetostrictive transducers (rough clean, ≤25 kHz) with 40/80 kHz piezoelectric arrays for precision cleaning of hard-to-reach passages.
IoT Smart Irrigation System
End-to-end irrigation controller on a dual-Raspberry Pi architecture: a Pi 4 hosting the Apache web interface, and a Pi Zero WH field node driving a 16-channel relay board for 9 valve stations. Python CGI bridges browser to GPIO, with a custom scheduling engine supporting 5 concurrent programs, station sequences, and day/month-level automation.
Diabetes Personal Assistant
Smart system combining embedded hardware with AI to track and predict blood-sugar levels, aimed at making day-to-day diabetes management less reactive.
AI Trading Bot
Automated system for forecasting market trends using real-time financial modelling and data analytics.
Self-Hosted Web Infrastructure
Containerized web stack on a Raspberry Pi: nginx:alpine and php:8.2-fpm service layers orchestrated with Docker Compose over a bridge network, with Nginx Cache-Control declarations and URI fingerprinting for immediate delivery of updated assets, plus a PHPMailer contact relay over SMTP/STARTTLS.
This Website
Static living CV, version-controlled on Git and deployed globally via Cloudflare Pages, with a serverless contact form on Pages Functions. The successor to the self-hosted stack — no SD card to corrupt.
cat certs.txt
Certifications & Affiliations
capabilities