Embedded Software Consulting, Product Development, and Training Built on Real-World Experience

I’m Timothy Adu. I help startups bring connected hardware products from concept to production. This is my consulting practice.

Most embedded products do not fail because the core logic is wrong. They fail at the seams: between hardware and software, between bench and field, between prototype and production.

I started Helix Embedded after more than a decade working on embedded systems across cellular IoT, batteries, sensors, and connected consumer products. The pattern I kept seeing was the same: founders with strong product visions, hardware that mostly worked, firmware that mostly worked, and an integration layer between them that was nobody’s clear responsibility. That gap is where pilots slip and budgets disappear.

Helix Embedded exists to close that gap. I work as the senior embedded lead on connected hardware projects so my clients can ship reliable products without building an in-house embedded team to get there. There is no team behind the curtain. When you hire Helix Embedded, you hire me directly.

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Real-World Embedded Systems Experience

I have worked on embedded systems throughout the full product lifecycle for over a decade: early feasibility and architecture decisions, firmware development in C and C++, hardware-software integration, debugging the bugs that only show up in the field, and getting products through to production and the long tail of supporting them after launch.

The clients I work with are typically hardware startups, product teams, and founders who need experienced embedded leadership without the cost and timeline of hiring it full-time. Engagements range from short-term technical reviews, to hands-on development as the embedded lead on a project, to ongoing fractional CTO-level technical advisory work.

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Training and mentoring

Alongside consulting, I also run training and mentoring for embedded engineers. The programs are built directly on real consulting work and focus on the skills engineers need to ship production code, not just pass interviews.

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My Background

I started writing firmware professionally over a decade ago and never really wanted to do anything else. My work has spanned cellular IoT, batteries and power systems, sensors, and connected consumer products, usually as the senior embedded person on small, fast-moving teams.

A few patterns from that work shaped how I run Helix Embedded today:

The interesting bugs are almost never in the code I wrote that morning. They are at the seams: between hardware and firmware, between firmware and cloud, between the bench setup and the field. Most of what I do is work at those seams.

The best engineers I have worked with were honest about what they did not know. The worst were the opposite. I try to be the first kind, especially in the discovery phase of an engagement.

Hardware moves slowly compared to web software, and that is not a bug. The cost of a bad architecture decision compounds for years afterward. Slowing down at the right moments saves months later.

I am based in Denmark and work with teams across North America and Europe. When I am not working, I write about embedded engineering on the blog and run a small community of embedded engineers who are figuring this out alongside me.

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Let's Talk

If you are building a connected hardware product and want a senior embedded lead in your corner, get in touch. The first conversation is a free 45-minute discovery call to see whether I am the right fit, no pressure either way.

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