In His Own Words: Director of Engineering, Jake Wolfgram’s, Unmistakable Engineering Philosophy

In His Own Words: Director of Engineering, Jake Wolfgram’s, Unmistakable Engineering Philosophy

You can learn a lot on the bench. Solder fumes and firmware bugs have a way of teaching you truths you won’t find in textbooks. Over the years, we’ve pieced together our own philosophy—lessons learned under pressure, passed around over late-night debug sessions, and forged in the glow of oscilloscopes and deadline panic.

Here are six that stuck with us.

1. Roll up your sleeves and dive in!

We’re talking about distractions—fake specs, marketing fluff, shiny trends. In embedded engineering, you need to sniff out the noise and stay focused. Chasing every new SoC or protocol is a fast way to blow your budget and your schedule. Real work is gritty. It’s not always pretty, but it gets the job done. Leave the flash for the press releases.

2.  Mo’ money, mo’ problems

You’d think more budget would mean smooth sailing. Think again. Bigger projects bring bigger expectations, more meetings, and fancier Gantt charts. The real skill? Doing more with less. That’s where creativity shines—finding elegant solutions in tight spaces, building smarter code on modest hardware, and keeping things lean without sacrificing performance.

3. If you’re lookin’, you ain’t cookin’

Staring at the problem doesn’t solve it. We believe in building. Fast. Burn the test boards. Brick the prototype. Learn. Move. Every minute spent debating is a minute not soldering, not debugging, not progressing. Momentum is everything. You want answers? Fire up the IDE and press ‘build.’

4. It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere

We don’t care where the work happens—as long as it happens. Whether it’s 5 AM in the shop or 5 PM at home in sweats, good engineers know inspiration doesn’t punch a clock. Deadlines don’t care about dress codes. The best ideas strike in odd places—our only rule: be ready when they do.

5. Another day, another dollar

Every project is a grind. That’s the game. But when you’re in it for the long haul, you start to see the value in small wins. Flashing that board for the first time. Seeing CAN traffic where there was silence. Hearing a motor spin under your code. Stack enough of those and the dollars take care of themselves.

6. It ain’t trickin’ if you got it

We’re not here to fake it. We don’t pitch vaporware, and we don’t pad resumes. We know what we’re good at—embedded controls, rugged electronics, real-world reliability—and we lean into it hard. You want tricked-out graphics and buzzwords? Look elsewhere. You want your machine talking, moving, sensing, and surviving? We got that.

Final Thought:

Call it a code of conduct. Call it a state of mind. Whatever it is, it works for us. We’ve built this company on sweat, silicon, and a little swagger. And if you’re into that? Let’s build something together.