Introduction

About Me

Sugiarto is a Graduate Student at Rice University, pursuing a Master’s in Electrical and Computer Engineering. His expertise sits at the intersection of Computer Architecture and Wearable Technology, with a deep technical focus on FPGA prototyping, RISC-V systems, and high-performance embedded design.

Currently, he is working as an Embedded Software Developer for the Houdini Project within the Rice Wireless Lab. In this role, he contributes to advanced FPGA designs on RFSoC Gen III platforms, creates custom Linux distributions, and develops driver support for X-band development kit components, ensuring seamless hardware-software integration.

Alongside his research, he is spearheading a Capstone project, Sally: a wearable AI assistant designed to assist Alzheimer's patient navigating their daily life safely.

Before Rice, Sugiarto spent several years as an Embedded Software Engineer at Polytron Indonesia, the nation's largest electronics manufacturer. This industry background taught him how to scale IoT solutions from prototypes to mass production. Today, he is dedicated to leveraging that experience to build the next generation of assistive wearables.

When he isn't optimizing firmware, you’ll likely find him capturing memories through his YouTube channel, documenting his journey from the streets of New York and Chicago to the hiking trails of National Parks. Back at home, he is a dedicated barista and chef, perfecting everything from a precise V60 pour-over to experiments with cooking.

Embedded Software

  • • C/C++, Python Programming
  • • FreeRTOS
  • • Zephyr RTOS
  • • Driver Development
  • • Linux Kernel Module

Wearable Devices

  • • 3D Design
  • • Low-power design
  • • Flutter Mobile Application
  • • LVGL UI design for Embedded display

IoT Systems

  • • BLE, WiFi, OpenThread communication
  • • Matter IoT framework
  • • MQTT protocol
  • • Backend server hosting

Coffee Brewing

  • • V60
  • • Mokapot
  • • Espresso
  • • Vietnam Drip
Education

Education

With the Fulbright Scholarship, I am pursuing my master's study at Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States, since August 2025. My major is Electrical and Computer Engineering with specialization in computer engineering that focuses on wearable devices and embedded systems.
Starting Spring 2026, I am working towards my capstone project about wearable AI assistant that used for assisting Alzheimer's people to recognize activities and provide feedback to help the patients safe.
During Summer 2026, I work on Houdini Project as an Embedded Software intern at Wireless lab

Notable Activities:

Graduated in 2022 from Petra Christian University, Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia Focus in Robotics and Electronics.

Notable Activities:

  • Dean's List, 3.86
  • Part of the laboratory assistant for almost three years.
  • Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Indonesia funding: Created a prototype system to evacuate people in multi-story buildings when earthquake appears.
  • 2nd winner in International Electrical Engineering Competition by Faculty of Industral Engineering, Petra Christian University: Invented a wearable device to track COVID-19 patient' oxygen and heartbeat, and monitored by hospitals.
  • Joined an student organization, namely HIMATEKTRA as a member of Human Resource and Development in the first period and as Head of Research and Development in the second period.
  • Appointed as a team leader consisted of 10 people to create events that could educate people around Surabaya due to COVID-19 hit the economy.

Graduated in 2018 from Karangturi National High School, Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia

Funded by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology of the Republic of Indonesia to study Google Project Management course developed by Google and was taught through the Coursera Platform

Key activities:

  • Estimating time and budgets
  • Running effective meetings and managing stakeholders
  • Identifying and managing risks
  • Applying Agile and Scrum frameworks
  • Leadership skills and navigating team dynamics
Experience

Work Experience

Embedded Software Engineer at Polytron, Indonesia August 2022 - April 2025

  • Transform the digital rice cooker requirements from the product manager into a fully functional and user-friendly product by creating robust and optimized C/C++ software in the arm-based microcontroller. The final product can cook eight menus based on the user input, and each menu has a different cooking method and heat temperature. Some cooking time menus can be adjusted with limited hours, and the user can monitor the remaining time displayed on the seven segments.
  • Build a tool device for testing and logging the digital rice cooker and refrigerator data through serial communication. The data can be transmitted wirelessly through Bluetooth.
  • Convert refrigerator data into an attractive, user-friendly visual using a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) display and an LVGL graphic framework.
  • Research on wireless technologies for Internet of Things applications, including Bluetooth Low Energy, Bluetooth Mesh, OpenThread, and Matter Protocol. Then, implement the newly acquired knowledge into an IoT prototype.
  • Contribute to the software team skills development by delivering practical training material about Micropython programming for embedded applications. The topics range from basic to advanced, including customizing firmware and embedded libraries (frozen module, external C modules, native machine module).
  • Introducing the new standardized IoT framework: Matter and OpenThread protocol that can be implemented to Polytron products through a sharing session. Also, implement the concepts into the internship program for the university student and create a prototype of a Matter-enabled air conditioner.
  • Implement an Agile project management tool for executing projects using Kanban Board, along with the project documentation using Microsoft Word and software versioning using GitLab.

    • R&D Engineer Intern at Unicode, Indonesia July - December 2021

  • Create a vehicle tracking system for monitoring the driver’s location based on a GPS module integrated into the device. The location data is then sent to the server through cellular communication (4G), and the data is processed further by the server to check whether the driver is out of the working area.
  • Improve the existing manual employee attendance system into an automatic attendance system by detecting the employees’ devices through Bluetooth scanning performed by several wireless Single Board Computer (SBC) stations and utilizing the Room Assistant framework.
  • Implement a state-of-the-art computer vision algorithm on SBC, YOLO, for human-computer interaction purposes by classifying hand gestures captured by the camera, and the detected gesture can trigger commands on the computer.

    • Electronics Laboratory Assistant at Petra Christian University September 2019-2022

    • Prepare and supervise basic electronics, digital electronics, microprocessor systems, machine vision, and robotics project practicums.
    • Develop a learning module for practicum about basic FPGA programming using Xilinx Pynq-Z2. The hands-on lab included controlling output, reading input, and generating PWM signals for moving servo.
    • Develop a training module of collaborative robots using Universal Robots to sort and move objects in conveyors using an industrial camera.

    Recent Work

    Embedded Programming | Wearable Device

    Sally: Wearable AI Assistant

    Embedded Programming | Robotics

    Autonomous Lane Keeping Car

    Embedded Programming | IoT

    Assistive Robot in Low-Visibility Conditions

    Embedded Programming | IoT

    Customizing Internal of Micropython Firmware

    Embedded Programming | IoT

    Outdoor Alzheimer's Patient Tracking System

    Embedded Programming | IoT

    IoT GPS Tracking System for Motorcycle

    AI | Embedded Programming

    Sign Language Detection using YOLOv5

    Embedded Programming | IoT

    Wireless Employee Attendance

    Embedded Programming | IoT

    CoFight - COVID-19 Wristband IoT Device

    Embedded Programming

    FPGA with Pynq-Z2

    Robotics | Computer Vision

    Collaborative Robot for Items Sorting

    More Work can be found here

    Professional Certification

    Publication & Patent

    • Hand Symbol Classification for Human-Computer Interaction Using the Fifth Version of YOLO Object Detection (PDF)
    • ALZO: an outdoor Alzheimer's patient tracking system using internet of things (PDF)
    • Alat Pemantau Aktivitas Pasien Demensia di Luar Rumah. (DJIP Website)
    • Metode pada Perangkat Elektronik yang Digunakan untuk Memantau Aktivitas Orang Dengan Demensia di Luar Rumah. (DJIP Website)
    • Sistem Automasi Bangunan Berbasis Internet Of Things Dan Kecerdasan Buatan Pada Gedung Bertingkat Untuk Mengevakuasi Korban Gempa. (DJIP Website)