Jonathan Shaffer joins IOTA as a Senior Electrical Engineer, based out of Atlanta, Georgia, with expertise in programmable logic devices, digital signal processing, and hardware design. He brings with him an extensive background in avionics systems and a passion for all things engineering.

As a teenager, Jonathan discovered his interest in embedded software design after learning MIPS assembly language to hack video games. It wasn’t until much later, halfway through his co-op at Georgia Tech Research Institute, that he would change his focus (and major…) to hardware. He also improved his skills in firmware development for programmable logic designs and peripheral interfaces. Since then, he has expanded his knowledge in systems-level analysis and verification test procedures, which has helped ensure design robustness.

He completed his Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from Kennesaw State University and hopes to finish his Master’s when he can find the time to do so.

On Joining IOTA

In May 2019, I stumbled upon an article about the IOTA Crypto Core FPGA. With my interest piqued, I found my way to the IOTA discord and was immediately matched up with the Qubic development team. Needless to say, I have been involved as much as I could be since then. Even with Qubic being my current primary interest at IOTA, I couldn’t help but be inspired by all the other ideas being passed around. Not just the members from the IOTA foundation, but the community as a whole. As a member of IOTA, I look forward to working with the existing high-level talent to make the IOTA vision a reality.

We’re extremely happy to be able to add someone as talented as Jonathan to the Qubic FPGA team. His experience has already caused several breakthroughs, and while functioning as a mentor, he has already up-leveled the entire team. Please give him a warm welcome!