Hi, I'm Nikolaos Chatzipapas
Engineer with over 5 years of experience in electronics design, embedded systems and hardware engineering,
with a portfolio of over 30 PCB designs.
Feel free to reach out to me!
About
• 5 years of experience in electronics design, embedded systems and hardware engineering, with a portfolio of over 30 PCB designs, including designs installed in the CERN accelerator.
• Saved over 100,000 CHF by designing a low-cost analog PCB, increasing cards reliability by 20%.
• Coordinated technical direction across a 20+ engineer team on an unmanned solar UAV project focused on forest fire detection. Selected and onboarded new members via 30+ candidate interviews.
• Tampered with Ford truck's latest-developed environmental protection systems, as 1 of 15 hackers selected for a live industry hacking event (TNO, Bosch, Ford, FEV) in the Netherlands, via MITM attacks on CAN-bus.
• Graduated with an 8.71/10 GPA, ranking in the top 4% of my class in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, 5-year Master’s and Bachelor’s degree.
Education
Master's & Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science • 5-year degree
Sep 2016 - Oct 2021 • 5 yr
Grade: 8.71/10, Excellent, Top 4%
Thesis: "Study and implementation of an experimental DC motor control apparatus and investigation of using microcontroller embedded artificial intelligence methods"
Experimentally implemented embedded fuzzy logic and PID controllers for BLDC motor speed control. Laboratory experience in incremental encoders, DAC’s and ADC’s, oscilloscope. Embedded software using Artificial Intelligence algorithms in Arduino and STM32 boards. Simulations of my hardware in Simulink and Proteus.
Experience
- Leading hardware design for atomic clock upgrades at Safran, developing thermal control circuits for the GAHM (Ground Active Hydrogen Maser) to improve clock frequency stability by reducing cavity thermal sensitivity to the μK range of cavity temperature change per 1K of PCB temperature change.
- Verified space-qualified RAFS atomic clocks through hardware testing, thermal vacuum testing, and data analysis; performed integration and test work in a cleanroom environment.
R&D Electronics Engineer
Sep 2025 - Present • 1 yr
- Led the design of radiation-tolerant electronics for High-Luminosity LHC projects.
- Developed and prototyped new WorldFIP communication cards, the most critical card in cryogenic crates. Implemented Wishbone FSM in VHDL for data exchange between two FPGAs.
- Delivered savings exceeding 100K CHF by designing a low-cost analog PCB using only transistors, resistors, diodes, and capacitors, replacing FPGA-based solution. Led to 20% reliability increase.
- Supervised a master’s student on a daily basis for six months, on preliminary design of analog card based on 4-20 mA loop. One year supervision of apprentice on soldering and testing tasks.
- Coordinated electronics projects for two CERN graduates, including Wien bridge oscillator design.
- Designed and prototyped new radiation-tolerant digital cards for cryogenic valves control.
- Directed two radiation campaigns at CHARM, using an automated MATLAB tester to evaluate the impact of radiation on transistors, MOSFETs, operational amplifiers, and voltage regulators.
- Performed accelerated life testing of ICs, reducing lifespan by 50% for every 10°C increase.
- Designed high-voltage card protection circuit, up to 2.1 kV, using thyristor surge suppressors.
- Reduced inventory working time by 60-80% by developing Python automation tools.
- Engineered radiation-tolerant 3D printed piezo valve cases using ULTEM and Accura25 materials.
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Reliability analysis, demonstration and availability. 24 hours
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Electrical Accreditation - Electrician Low and High Voltage. 32 hours
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SystemVerilog Advanced Verification for FPGA Design. 24 hours
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Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC): Introduction. 14 hours
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Basic introduction to radiation effects on electronics. 8 hours
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Introduction to Particle Accelerators. 15 hours
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Fast Forward, the productivity system for researchers (VILT). 30 hours
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Convincing Scientific Presentations. 20 hours
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Communication: Science or Art? 8 hours
Electronics & Instrumentation Engineer
Sep 2022 - Aug 2025 • 3 yrs
Trainings:
For an explanation of the CERN accelerators and their running, feel free to explore this page.
- Coordinated technical direction across a 20+ engineer team on an unmanned solar UAV project focused on forest fire detection.
- Approach based on NASA's Systems Engineering Handbook.
- Systems Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) application for technical Risk Management.
- Supervised 4 electronics engineers on technical tasks.
- Solar UAV project, an unmanned UAV for fire forest detection.
- Worked flexible solar cells, high-density rechargeable batteries, charging circuits such as Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT).
- Implemented embedded fuzzy logic in Arduino boards for MPPT design.
- Script writing and study for UAV's energy management and distribution.
- Built charging circuit simulations, mainly in Matlab/Simulink.
- Collaborated with marketing team for technical social media posts.
- Coordinator and co-presenter of ASAT's "Introduction to Arduino" webinar with more than 300 live participants.
- Co-organizer and co-presenter of "Introduction to PCB design" workshop, presented in Panhellenic Conference of Electrical & Computer Engineers.
- Founded and structured ASAT's Solar Energy Management subteam — a new area for the team — including initial technical research and team organization.
- Prototyped early charging circuits (LM317-based voltage regulation).
- This foundational work led directly into the team's later MPPT development.
Systems Engineer
Feb 2022 - Jun 2022 • 5 mos
Coordinator of Solar Energy Management
Sep 2020 - Jan 2022 • 1 yr 5 mos
Solar Engineer
Mar 2020 - Aug 2020 • 6 mos
- Built a Python-based computer vision pipeline to detect circular, square, and triangular cavities using a high-end camera feed.
- Enabled a robotic arm to autonomously place objects into detected cavities; used in the team's RoboCup 2021 competition entry.
Computer Vision Engineer
Mar 2021 - Jul 2021 • 5 mos
Projects
CERN: New HL-LHC nanoFIP communication card, working as WorldFIP slave.
CERN: Improving reliability in communication cards, saving >100.000 CHF.
Microcontroller embedded Fuzzy Logic and PID controllers, DC motor speed control.
ASAT: Led solar energy management design of solar UAV for forest fire detection.
DIR: Cavity detection, using high-end camera on robotic arm.
CERN: IC's and card designs tested up to 1700 Gy at CHARM.
CERN: TT cards overvoltage protection, using Thyristor Surge Suppressors.
CERN: Student supervision for preliminary design of Analog Input Analog Output card.
CERN: I presented my work during the latest prototyping at CERN event at Ideasquare.
CERN: Oscillation circuit as a reference for valydine sensors.
CERN: Excel comparator app, written in Python.
Distinctions
Entrepreneurship program, guiding projects from initial idea to investor-ready business concept.
Hacking event. Tampering latest car environmental protection systems in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Online hacking event. Tampering latest developed car environmental protection systems.
Young scientists event at the Vrije University of Brussels. Future of the European battery research.
Publications
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• First author, "Adaptive microprocessor based Interval Type 2 fuzzy controller design for DC micro-motor control applications considering hardware limitations",
Energies.
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• Co-author, "Radiation Qualification of Cryogenic Instrumentation Electronics for CERN’s HL-LHC Upgrade and LHC Infrastructure",
TWEPP 2025.
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• Co-author, "Irradiation tests of 3/2-way piezo valves at CERN",
presented conference poster at CEC-ICMC 2025 in Reno, Nevada.
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• Co-author, "Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Controller Development for Coreless DC Micromotor Speed Control Applications",
ICCCES 2022
• Co-author, "Implementation of current and ventilation control for enhanced TEC performance",
PACET 2019
Skills
Engineering
PCB design
Digital & Analog Electronics
FPGA's
Microcontrollers
Instrumentation
3D printing
Coding
C
C++
Python
VHDL
SystemVerilog
LaTeX
Software
Altium
Matlab
Linux
Ansys
Quartus
PyCharm
Interests
Cactus lover.
- Own and care for a diverse collection of plants.
- Indoor and outdoor cacti setup.




