Jonathan Tao
Computer Engineering @ UIUC
Education
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
B.S. in Computer Engineering, Minor in Semiconductor Engineering
Expected May 2028; GPA: 4.0/4.0
Coursework: ECE 220 (Computer Systems and Programming), ECE 210 (Analog Signal Processing), ECE 120 (Introduction to Computing), ECE 110 (Introduction to Electronics)
Projects
Custom CoreXY 3D Printer
Designed and constructed a high-performance CoreXY 3D printer from the ground up, featuring a rigid frame modeled in Autodesk Inventor and custom 3D-printed components.
Configured Klipper firmware on a Raspberry Pi 4 to drive salvaged Ender 3 electronics, achieving high-speed printing at over 1500 mm/s with 7000 mm/s^2 acceleration. The Video shown above is the printer printing a benchi.
W.A.N.D.E.R. Autonomous Robot
Engineered a maze-solving autonomous robot featuring a custom 3D-printed chassis, integrating a gyroscope, wheel encoders, and distance sensors for robust localization.
The video above shows the robot following a preprogrammed path through boxes. Implemented a C++ pathfinding and SLAM algorithm on an ESP32 microcontroller to efficiently map and navigate unknown maze environments.
Experience
Rivian
Embedded Software Intern (Jan 2026 – Present)
Developing firmware for the Electric Management Module (EMM) using C and Python; validating control logic via hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation to optimize various charging modes. Optimizing code in a multithreaded and FreeRTOS environment at the firmware level to increase fault tolerance and improve telemetry.
Illini Electric Motorsports
BMS Software Lead (Aug 2025 – Present)
Architecting the transition of the Battery Management System (BMS) firmware from a bare-metal environment to FreeRTOS to enhance real-time performance, scalability, and task scheduling. Leading the microcontroller migration from STM32F4 to STM32H7. Building a HIL (Hardware-in-the-Loop) test environment to automate BMS firmware validation. Implementing Dual Extended Kalman Filters in MATLAB Simulink to improve State-of-Charge (SoC) and State-of-Health (SoH) estimation accuracy by more than 15%.
AbbVie
Analytical R&D Software Intern (Jun 2025 – Aug 2025)
Engineered and deployed an internal RAG support agent using LangChain, OpenAI API, and Power Automate, reducing information retrieval time for SOPs and equipment guides by over 50%. Developed a Python-based integration for the Microsoft Teams API, enabling seamless user interaction with the LLM-powered support agent.
Freelance Computer Builder
Designer and Technician (Feb 2020 – May 2025)
Engineered, sourced, and assembled over $11,000 worth of custom PCs, specializing in small form factor (SFF) and high-performance builds. Provided comprehensive client services, including consultation, system assembly, and deployment of Windows and Linux operating systems.
Skills
Languages: C, C++, Verilog, Python, MATLAB, Java, R, JavaScript
Hardware & Design: Altium, STM32 (H7/F4), ARM Cortex-M, HIL Testing, ESP32, Autodesk Inventor
Frameworks & Tools: FreeRTOS, PyTorch, LangChain, Git, WSL, Bazel, Linux, Docker, Simulink