Michael Dickens
Software Engineer at National Instruments
Goshen, Indiana, United States
Summary
🤩
RockstarMichael Dickens is a seasoned software engineer with 16 years of experience and a programming pedigree stretching back to 1981 across assembly (6502, 680x0, PPC, x86, ARM), C/C++, and Python. Based in Goshen, Indiana, he specializes in low-level systems, build infrastructure, and back-end architecture—particularly for software-defined radio—having contributed notable fixes and refactors to EttusResearch's UHD and GNU Radio projects. His work emphasizes portability and robustness: improving CMake integration, libusb/USB initialization, cross-platform build scripts, and type-safety to reduce compiler warnings and runtime issues. Michael combines deep hardware-adjacent knowledge with pragmatic engineering, focusing on system stability and maintainability rather than flashy features. An active open-source maintainer, he brings decades of institutional knowledge about embedded and radio platforms that’s rare in modern dev teams.
16 years of coding experience
Github Skills (16)
system10
configuration-management10
macos10
uhd10
build-system10
c-language10
cmake10
driver10
architectures10
cprogramming-language10
libusb10
architecture10
sdl9
fpga9
embedded9
Programming languages (11)
Github contributions (5)
EttusResearch/uhd
Oct 2013 - Sep 2022
The USRP™ Hardware Driver Repository
Role in this project:
Back-end Developer & System Architect
Back-end Developer & System ArchitectContributions:99 commits, 6 PRs, 2 branches in 8 years 11 months
Contributions summary:Michael primarily focused on improving the low-level implementation of the UHD (USRP Hardware Driver) project. Their contributions include bug fixes and refactoring related to environment variable handling, and improvements to the build system. The user also added and modified CMake configuration files to improve integration with GNU Radio. They addressed compiler warnings and corrected type definitions, demonstrating a focus on code quality and system stability.
driverusrphardwaresdruhd
gnuradio/gnuradio
Apr 2018 - Aug 2020
GNU Radio – the Free and Open Software Radio Ecosystem
Role in this project:Back-end & System Architect
Back-end & System ArchitectContributions:10 reviews, 12 commits, 144 PRs in 2 years 5 months
Contributions summary:Michael primarily worked on low-level system configuration and build scripts, including those related to libusb, specifically related to its use with USRP hardware. They modified build configuration files to enhance support for different operating systems and architectures, and addressed bugs related to USB device initialization. The commits also include adjustments to C++ source code, indicating a focus on integrating libusb correctly and on enabling compatibility with specific hardware configurations.
pythonwirelessc-plus-pluscybersecuritycommunications
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