Eliot Phillips
Senior Electrical Engineer
Los Angeles, CA
eliot@robotskirts.com
https://robotskirts.com/category/portfolio/

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VTProDesign
Senior Electrical Engineer
2021 – 2023

Worked with a team of Creative Technologists to design and build both temporary interactive experiences and permanent architectural installations. These included large LED video walls, large addressable LED installations, and interactive props. Guided junior designers and fabricators through part selection, PCB design, and control box assembly. Designed control systems from initial project definition to final install, both the network layout and the sensor connections. Created build plans for R&D prototypes and drawing packages for full builds. Created wire harness diagrams for technician assembly. Designed assembled PCBs to increase on-site wiring reliability. Wrote firmware for unique lighting and automation controllers.

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Wavemaker Labs
Prototype Engineer
2020 – 2021

Worked remotely with a team of engineers to design and build a food robotics platform. Designed a control system from schematic to full integration to cover liquid solenoids, pneumatics, and stepper motors. Selected parts and assembled the initial panel at home while collaborating with another engineer remotely to tie into an existing robot arm. Development goal was to make systems plug and play and minimize heavy hands-on building. Mentored junior engineers on component selection, building for reliability, and firmware development on multiple platforms. Final prototype was flexible enough to support food process changes without requiring hardware to be added. Met both UL and NSF standards for food handling and liquid environments.

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Two Bit Circus
Senior Electrical Engineer
2013 – 2021

Worked with a team of designers, engineers, and fabricators to build unique attractions for a brand new family entertainment center. Designed and fabricated circuit boards. Selected, purchased, and wired hardware for a variety of physical arcade games. Designed and assembled player touchscreen tables for a 23 table interactive theater. Updated first and third-party equipment to meet UL/CSA field installation electrical safety requirements.

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Self-Employed
Interactive prop builder
2012 – 2021

Worked on a number of TV, movie, and interactive productions building electronic props for both actors and fans. Installed lighting and laser control hardware into a fun-house style experience for the latest Resident Evil movie. The custom built semi-trailer toured with the film as it premiered in international locations. Installed cellphone tower hardware into a van to create the first private mobile phone network at Defcon, the world’s largest hacker conference. Retrofitted a vending machine to be controlled via cellphone. Managed low voltage wiring logistics for ethernet, 18000 LEDs, linear actuators, lighting, and cooling for an interactive recording studio. Developed custom game hardware for CW’s Capture reality show, TruTV’s Killer Karaoke, and a Disney+ reality series. Managed a team installing all of the interactive lighting in a 7,000 sqft Avengers fan experience.

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Tecca
Producer
2010 – 2012

Ran team of 30+ freelancers creating timely consumer electronics content. Scheduled daily site updates. Coordinated editorial bug fixes and feature requests with a team of developers. Worked to establish production best practices for contributors to maintain both a consistent voice and technical quality across all site content.

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Hackaday.com
Head Editor
2005 – 2009

Hired to contribute a daily feature post for Hackaday.com and a weekly how­-to feature for Engadget.com. Became the Head Editor in April 2008 when the site was purchased by Mahalo.com . Managed virtual team and site direction. Assigned stories and helped bloggers develop their own original content. Maintained long term project schedules and kept new features on track. Found, interviewed, hired, and trained all new contributors. Worked with team to create regular features that would improve the site’s readership. Updated site code regularly to improve performance. Helped develop original hardware designs and put them into production. Covered and spoke at related tech events and conferences.

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Additional skills

Printed circuit board design
PLC control design
Arduino/Microcontroller development
CNC milling
Control box assembly
Firmware development
Linux systems
Familiarity with portable VR hardware

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Education
University of Nebraska – Lincoln
B.S. Mechanical Engineering 2005