William N. Butler

Embedded Firmware & Systems Engineer

Experienced embedded systems engineer with deep expertise in low-level firmware, board bring-up, and custom embedded platforms. Adept at leading engineering teams and integrating complex hardware/software systems across a wide range of industries.

Technical Summary

• Hardware Platforms: STM32, ARM (Cortex-M/R/A, MX6, Atom, AMR-SABRE), TI DSP (DM365/DM368, 320C240, C5000/C6000), Motorola (MCF5xxx, 68HC812, MC68xxx, Coldfire), VLSI ARM, IBM PC/x86, MIL-STD-1553
• Operating Systems: Embedded Linux (Timesys, Yocto), Android (4.4 KitKat+), QNX, RTEMS, FreeRTOS, VRTX, Nucleus, PSOS, Windows (9x/NT/2K/XP), UNIX, OS2/WARP, MS-DOS, Trusted Execution Tech (TXT)
• Languages: C, C++, Assembly (ARM, 8051, Motorola, TI DSP), Pascal, Fortran, YACC, Visual Basic, MFC
• Debug/Development Tools: GDB, Tektronix Logic Analyzers & Oscilloscopes, ICE/JTAG (Single Step, TI), HP 7400 ICE, CADRE Emulator, HP4951a Protocol Analyzer, Git, Jenkins
• Interfaces/Protocols: UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, Bluetooth (BLE), GPIB-488, Compact Flash, SDRAM, Flash, RTC, TPM
• Case & Design Tools: Evergreen and CADRE CASE tools

Professional Experience

The 20 LLC, Plano, TX — VP / Shareholder (2023–2024)
Drove $500,000+ in ARR via technical pre-sales, engineering-backed MSP solution designs, and channel partnerships.

Dallas Network Services Inc, Addison, TX — Engineer / Co-owner (2017–2022)
Managed systems engineering, transitioned to MSP automation (CRM, ticketing, billing), directed firmware dev and disaster recovery projects.

Ion Designs, Plano, TX — Senior Embedded Software Engineer (Contract, 2019–2021)
Developed STM32 firmware with BLE, motor control, Hall effect sensing, and power systems.

Heads-Up Inc, Carrollton, TX — Principal Software Engineer – Firmware Lead (2010–2017)
Led embedded firmware for aviation electronics on QNX and Embedded Linux platforms (ARM, Atom, AMR-SABRE).

Dell, Austin, TX — System Engineer – Platform Security (2009–2010)
SME for Trusted Execution Technology and Broadcom TruManage technologies; drafted white papers and managed TPM provisioning.

Estech Systems Inc, Plano, TX — Principal Firmware Engineer / Team Lead (2002–2008)
Led ARM9/TI DSP firmware development for telephony systems; supervised a 5-engineer team.

Advanced IP Communications, Richardson, TX — Sr. Embedded Engineer (Contract, 2002)
Developed VoIP firmware for Motorola ColdFire and TI DSPs.

Comspace Corp, Coppell, TX — Senior Embedded Engineer (2000–2001)
Developed RF optimization firmware on ARM/Motorola platforms.

Vari*Lite, Irving, TX — Firmware Lead – Embedded Lighting Systems (1995–2000)
Developed real-time lighting system firmware using TI DSP, Motorola HC12, and 68040 processors.

Sabre Decision Technologies, Dallas, TX — Software Engineer (1988–1990)
Developed airline scheduling and revenue management software in C/Fortran under UNIX systems.

Electrospace Systems Inc, Richardson, TX — Project Lead / Firmware Engineer (1990–1994)
Developed control software for satellite communication systems integrating MIL-STD-1553 and GPIB-488 protocols.

Education

B.S. Computer Science, Minor in Electrical Engineering
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

Certifications & Training

• TI DSP Systems Integration
• Embedded Linux Essentials
• Booch Object-Oriented Design