Leo Ling

leoling@u.northwestern.edu

Hardware Engineer at Cisco

BS/MS at Northwestern University: major in electrical engineering (EE) and minor in material science and engineering (Mat Sci).

I am focused on enabling next-generation computating in the era of AI and every-growing data rates. This included neuromorphic computing and the custom microelectronic devices such as memristors that enable this effort. I have worked on system-level signal integrity (SI) for high-speed digital interfaces on datacenter platforms. My work in SI spans many electrical engineering sub-disciplines such as computational electromagnetics, RF measurements, and signal processing to acurately predict and measure the performance of high-speed interfaces. I am currently working on SERDES (Serializer/Deserializer) systems for Ethernet ASICs.

Work Experience

Hardware Engineer

Cisco

  • Created wafer-level electrical validation methodologies for SERDES functional blocks inside high-speed Ethernet PHYs for network ASICs
  • Drove methodology development including best practices to handle different system cases for high-speed solutions and platforms utilizing supported PHYs
  • Developed automation and analysis tools for lab measurements and data processing in Python and MATLAB
  • Supported characterization, validation, compliance, and system integration of SERDES devices and firmware across a wide range of internal and external engineering teams

January 2025 - Present

Signal Integrity Engineer

Intel

  • Measured high‑speed channels (PCIe, Ethernet, DRR) using TDR and VNA to root-cause signal integrity issues; including on-package RF probing up to 67 GHz
  • Developed python automation for lab measurement instruments such as oscilloscopes, VNAs, and BERTs as well as post-processing of collected data using MATLAB and Python
  • Created methodology for optimizing transceiver equalization in the lab leading to significant time savings compared to previous brute force approaches and published findings in an internal journal
  • Migrated a MATLAB PCB transmission line modeling application into a cloud hosted Python web application
  • Adapted machine learning workflows for signal integrity needs to generate behavioral TX driver models from silicon netlists using MATLAB

July 2022 ‑ December 2024

Student Researcher

Northwestern University

  • Created custom hardware measurement setup to characterize extremely high impedance memristor devices using pattern generators, digital multimeters, and low noise amplifiers in coordination with Sandia National Labs
  • Designed python GUI to automate collection of IV and CV behavior of electronic devices using lab instruments
  • Devised image processing tool using MATLAB to accelerate measurement of atomic force microscopy samples
  • Developed Python simulations of memristor crossbar array based neural networks to inform material selection

October 2018 - June 2022

Cloud Datacenter & DevOps Intern

Concurrency

  • Planned and templatized deployment of Microsoft Azure cloud infrastructure for future client architecture models using ARM templates and Terraform
  • Built PowerShell tools to create Terraform configuration files based existing infrastructure without previous Terraform management
  • Created client-oriented documentation for backporting existing Azure cloud architecture into Terraform repositories for DevOps integration

June 2019 - September 2019

Consultant

Northwestern IT Support Center

  • Answered user questions about the university systems with an emphasis on customer service
  • Troubleshoot internet, email, and other technical problems- recognized and reassigned specialized issues to appropriate experts

September 2017 - December 2018

Technician

SmalTec International

  • Assembled and soldered electrical components for an electrical discharge machine based on schematics and verbal instructions
  • Inspected for component defects and repaired non-functional electronic parts

June 2016 - August 2016

Activities

NUSolar

Software Lead

  • Developed and maintained CAN network communications between multiple custom devices (BMS, Motor Controllers, MPPT) on a solar car with custom C/C++ libraries
  • Lead and taught programming workshops to other members about GIT, Python, CAN, and various commonly used technologies
  • Fabricated custom Arduino Shield PCBs to interface between microcontroller and CAN controller via SPI

December 2018 - Present

NURobotics

Maker's Division Co-lead

  • Designed and built a wireless Wi-Fi lock using embedded microcontrollers in a small group
  • Programmed Wi-Fi enabled microprocessors to connect to an external server via APIs and REST calls

September 2017 - Present

Design Thinking and Communications Course

Client: Prosnitz Solutions

  • Prototyped and built a microprocessor based IOT trash can capable of measuring and uploading weight and in-can fill level
  • Coordinated with client to transfer project into a potential product

June 2016 - August 2016

Education

Northwestern University

Electrical Engineering, MS
  • Sodium-Doped Titania Self-Rectifying Memristors for Crossbar Array Neuromorphic Architectures (2021)
  • Linear and Symmetric Li-Based Composite Memristors for Efficient Supervised Learning (2022)
    • September 2020 - June 2022

    Northwestern University

    Major in Electrical Engineering, BS
    Minor in Materials Science, BA

    Cum Laude
    Eta Kappa Nu - IEEE Honors Society

    September 2017 - June 2022

    Naperville North High School

    High School Diploma


    National Merit Scholar
    Illinois State Scholar

    August 2014 - May 2017

    Skills

    Programming Languages & Tools
    • MATLAB (GUIDE, RF Toolkit)
    • Python (Pytorch, Tkinter, numpy, scikit-rf)
    • C/C++
    • VB
    • HTML/CSS
    • Terraform
    • PowerShell
    • GIT
    • Linux
    • Shell Scripting

    Electronics Design and Manufacturing
    • HSpice
    • OrCad
    • Soldering
    • VNA
    • De-Embedding
      • AFR
      • SFD
    • TDR
    • RF Probing
    • Ansys AEDT (HFSS)
    • PathWave ADS
    • Using electronics test equipment
      • Oscilloscopes, signal generators, etc.

    Labratory Techniques
    • Atomic Foce Microscopy (AFM)
    • Raman Spectroscopy
    • Centrifugation
    • Electronic Device Voltage-Current Testing

    Misc.
    • Microsoft Suite
    • Microsoft Power Apps
    • Microsoft Sharepoint
    • LaTeX