Electronic Design Consulting

Powell Electronic Inc.

Electronic Design Consulting.

A consultant and service provider for customers looking to create consumer devices — from first concept and prototype through validated, production-ready hardware and firmware.

Consulting since 2019 · ~20 yrs electronics design
Embedded firmware · Zephyr RTOS · OTA
USB-C Power Delivery · schematic & PCB
Concept → production hardware
About

Senior design judgment, applied to your product.

I started consulting in 2019, after nearly twenty years as a senior electronics developer. That background spans the full arc of a product — architecture and schematic, PCB layout, firmware, bring-up, validation, and the unglamorous work of making hardware survive manufacturing and the field.

Most of my work comes from repeat customers. I take on new projects selectively, where there's genuine mutual interest and where deep, hands-on development actually moves the product forward — not just more hours.

The result is a small, direct working relationship: you talk to the developer doing the work, decisions are grounded in real trade-offs, and the deliverable is hardware that ships.

Selected Work

Case studies.

A look at two recent projects — from the problem on the bench to the hardware in the field.

Case Study 01 · XPO Technologies · Point-of-Sale

USB-C Power Delivery Hub

A custom USB Power Delivery hub for a point-of-sale system. The hub sits between a tablet and a Square Reader, managing power negotiation and routing USB data between the two devices so the terminal stays charged and online through a full retail day.

The design dynamically negotiates PD power roles, keeps legacy devices charging via BC 1.2, and runs on Zephyr RTOS firmware — all packaged into compact, reliable hardware built for continuous commercial use.

  • PowerDynamic USB-C PD role negotiation (source / sink)
  • LegacyBC 1.2 charging support for non-PD devices
  • DataUSB data routing between tablet and Square Reader
  • FirmwareZephyr RTOS
  • HardwareCompact, reliable, built for continuous use
Case Study 02 · Aquaculture

Electro-euthanasia Power Supply

An isolated power supply for the humane electro-euthanasia of salmonids at Inch Creek Hatchery in Mission, BC. The hatchery's off-the-shelf units were unreliable and awkward to service in a wet, demanding environment.

I replaced them with a smaller, simpler, more robust custom solution — a properly isolated supply built for safety and repeatable operation, with fewer parts to fail and a footprint that fits the way the hatchery actually works.

  • ApplicationHumane electro-euthanasia of salmonids
  • SiteInch Creek Hatchery, Mission BC
  • SafetyIsolated supply · relay + crowbar protection · E-stop
  • OutcomeSmaller, simpler, more robust than COTS units
Capabilities

Full-stack hardware, end to end.

From the connected-product architecture down to the copper — and out to the field where it has to work.

U01

IoT & Connected Devices

Architecture and design for connected products and their cloud/edge interfaces.

U02

OTA Firmware Updates

Robust over-the-air update paths with safe rollback and field recovery.

U03

USB-C Power Delivery

PD role negotiation, BC 1.2, and power-path design for modern devices.

U04

Prototyping & Proof-of-Concept

Fast, credible prototypes to de-risk a concept before committing.

U05

Schematic Capture & PCB Layout

Clean schematics and manufacturable, signal- and power-aware layouts.

U06

BOM Analysis & Supply Chain

Cost, sourcing, lifecycle, and second-source strategy for production.

U07

Embedded Firmware Design & Validation

Bare-metal and RTOS firmware, written and validated against the hardware.

U08

Safety, EMC & Regulatory Compliance

Design-for-compliance and support through certification testing.

U09

Product Reliability & Environmental Testing

Designing for — and verifying against — real operating conditions.

U10

Electro-Mechanical System Design

Integrating electronics with enclosures, connectors, and mechanisms.

U11

Industrial & Home Automation Integration

Bringing devices into industrial and home automation ecosystems.

U12

Design Recovery & Legacy Support

Recovering, documenting, and extending undocumented or legacy designs.

U13

On-Site Installation, Service & Troubleshooting

Hands-on commissioning and field support where the hardware lives.

Clients

Trusted by teams building real products.

HP Teradici
XPO Technologies Inc
Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Limited
Keycafe
ProBed Medical Technologies
JDi Design Inc
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Unity Channel Partner
Contact

Let's talk about what you're building.

Tell me about the device, the problem, and where it is today. If it's a good fit, I'll tell you how I'd approach it — and if it isn't, I'll say so.

// submissions are emailed to gregelectric@gmail.com