Alex Hirzel
Owner at Lake Superior Algorithmic Solutions
Hancock, Michigan, United States
Summary
👤
Senior🎓
Top SchoolAlex Hirzel is an interdisciplinary engineer and owner with 13 years of experience building control systems and embedded software across satellites, rockets, aircraft, marine and automotive platforms. He combines systems thinking with hands-on development—contributing to notable open-source projects like Marlin firmware and modernizing Python setuptools for compatibility—demonstrating both low-level hardware interfacing and robust back-end maintenance. Alex has led dynamic product development at Halla Mechatronics and founded Lake Superior Algorithmic Solutions, routinely applying MATLAB/Simulink, Modelica, Python and Julia to modeling, tooling and release automation. He also teaches and mentors, having served as an adjunct professor and lab lead, and brings documented strengths in requirements decomposition, stability analysis and vehicle tuning. Based in Hancock, Michigan, he pairs practical field experience with formal systems engineering training from MIT and an MS in mechanical engineering from Michigan Tech.
13 years of coding experience
11 years of employment as a software developer
Master of Science (MS) Mechanical Engineering, Master of Science (MS) Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Technological UniversityProfessional Certificate Systems Engineering, Professional Certificate Systems Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyHigh School Diploma n/a, High School Diploma n/a at L'Anse High School
english, yooper
Stackoverflow
1,784reputation
454kreached
14answers
8questions
word-wrap
top-5%
vim
top-5%
Github Skills (21)
package-management10
python10
setuptools10
firmware10
compatibility10
3d-printing10
avr10
sys10
embedded10
arduino10
api-design9
c-language9
word-wrap9
vim9
cprogramming-language9
Programming languages (24)
Github contributions (5)
MarlinFirmware/Marlin
Jan 2015 - Apr 2016
Marlin is an optimized firmware for RepRap 3D printers based on the Arduino platform. Many commercial 3D printers come with Marlin installed. Check with your vendor if you need source code for your specific machine.
Role in this project:
Embedded Systems Engineer / IoT Developer
Embedded Systems Engineer / IoT DeveloperContributions:7 commits, 3 PRs, 28 comments in 1 year 3 months
Contributions summary:Alex primarily contributed to fixing and improving the Marlin firmware, a key component for 3D printers. Their work involved correcting typos in the code, and reworking and merging code from development branches, demonstrating involvement in software maintenance and integration. Furthermore, the commits reveal modifications to LCD display functionality and delta printer kinematics, suggesting a focus on hardware interaction and optimization related to 3D printing.
vendorreprapmarlinesp32commercial
pypa/setuptools
Oct 2018 - Nov 2018
Official project repository for the Setuptools build system
Role in this project:Back-end Developer
Back-end DeveloperContributions:5 commits, 3 PRs, 10 comments in 12 days
Contributions summary:Alex primarily focused on updating the `pkg_resources` module for Python 3.7 compatibility, specifically transitioning from `find_module` to `find_spec`. They implemented fallbacks and ensured graceful handling of potential failures. In addition, the user added a changelog entry to document the changes. The user also addressed deprecation warnings in the EasyInstall module.
setuptoolsbuild-system
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