Sai Wai Phyo

Emerging Engineer — Propulsion · RF Systems · Maritime Autonomy · FPGA
e1527360@u.nus.edu · @RcSboii · LinkedIn · GitHub/RandomAerospace · Singapore
Available: Winter Internship (Dec 2026 – Jun 2027) · Summer Internship (Jun – Dec 2027) · 6-month engagements preferred · H-1B1 / J-1 visa eligible (no lottery)

Profile

I build hardware that has to work in environments where failure is not an option — from liquid rocket engines at 650psi to subsea RF antenna systems to stratospheric payloads. My core strength is systems integration across mechanical, electrical, and software domains: taking a subsystem from requirements to test in the shortest possible time, questioning every inherited assumption along the way.


Currently a Year 1 Electrical Engineering student at NUS. Formerly Aeronautical Engineering (Diploma, GPA 3.75/4.0) at Singapore Polytechnic. Self-taught in liquid propulsion, RF systems integration, FPGA-based signal processing, and embedded systems — not from coursework but from building things and letting reality correct the model.

87% Cost reduction, BeeX subsea RF antenna
46% Sea trial data throughput increase
540N Peak thrust, self-designed LRE
2 Balloon flights with self-designed avionics

Projects

Balloon Experiments with Amateur Radio (BEAR) — Payload Avionics
Aug 2024 – Present
SARTS · NUS STAR Centre · Personal
Multi-flight high-altitude balloon programme with entirely self-designed and self-built avionics hardware. Three distinct missions flown to date, each with different RF and systems objectives.
BEAR-11: 7,966m altitude · RTTY/FSK @ 432.600MHz BEAR-12: WSPR on 20m amateur band · super pressure balloon BEAR-13: Live video from stratosphere @ 1.28GHz
BEAR-13 (Live Video): Custom 4-layer impedance-controlled PCB designed in KiCad with CPW calculator for GNSS RF frontend bandpass filter. ESP32-based state machine handling RF transceiver operation, battery heater control, and altitude-triggered nichrome wire payload cutter. Link budget validated using RF power meter and calibrated attenuators prior to flight. FM carrier modulated by AFSK audio tones from ESP32 DAC @ 144.390MHz. Independently credited on NUS ECE Department official news page.
Flown Hardware KiCad 4-layer PCB RF Link Budget ESP32 Firmware FSK/AFSK GNSS 1.28GHz Video TX WSPR Impedance Matching

Hardware: github.com/RandomAerospace/COMMS-BOARD · Firmware: github.com/RandomAerospace/BEAR13_FIRMWARE
Liquid Propulsion Development — Multiple Engine Variants
Sep 2022 – Present
Singapore Polytechnic · Volunteer Technical Lead · Self-directed
Self-taught design, fabrication, and hotfire testing of multiple liquid rocket engine variants. Believed to be the only student in Singapore to have independently designed and hotfired liquid engines from scratch. All engines self-funded; all designs originated from first principles rather than copied reference designs.
V1: 550N · 650psi · N₂O/EtOH · Impinging injector V2: 540N · 400psi · N₂O/IPA · Pintle injector · Design-to-hotfire: 6 months V3: 600N · Regeneratively cooled · AlSi10Mg additive manufactured chamber
Full test infrastructure designed and built from scratch: pressure feed system (1200psi, 0.3kg/s N₂O), custom DAQ system (432Hz pressure / 10Hz load cell, Python/Linux), torch ignitor, structural test stand. Mentored 12 students across the programme.
Hotfire Validated Pintle Injector Regen Cooling Pressure Feed System Custom DAQ CATIA SolidWorks Additive Manufacturing GD&T
FPGA-Based Spectrum Analyser
Mar 2026 – Apr 2026
EE2026 · NUS
Band-pass, low-pass, and high-pass digital FIR filters designed and simulated in GNU Radio, then implemented sequentially in Verilog on FPGA. FFT core generated using CMU's SPIRAL FFT Core Generator, configured for target transform size, data bit-width, and LUT/DSP resource constraints.
Implemented on Silicon Verilog GNU Radio FIR Filters FFT IP Core FPGA
Custom SDR: CDMA/TDMA RF Front End with TCP/IP Stack
Summer 2026 – Ongoing
Personal
Fully custom software-defined radio with DIY RF front end PCB — not a HackRF or USRP derivative. CDMA and TDMA multiple access protocols implemented in GNU Radio on FPGA digital baseband. 30dBm power amplifier on custom PCB. Full stack from antenna interface through waveform to TCP/IP networking layer. Target application: multi-node communications for autonomous vehicle fleet operations.
In Progress Custom RF Front End PCB 30dBm PA CDMA/TDMA GNU Radio FPGA TCP/IP KiCad
DIY GNSS Receiver — COCOM Limit Target
2026 – Ongoing
Personal
Ground-up GNSS receiver design targeting operation beyond COCOM altitude and velocity limits — constraints baked into commercial receivers that prevent operation on high-speed or high-altitude platforms. To be flown on a sounding rocket. Custom RF front end, correlator architecture, and navigation filter.
In Progress GNSS RF Front End Correlator Design Navigation Filter Sounding Rocket Payload

Professional Experience

Electrical Engineering Intern — BeeX Autonomous Systems

May 2025 – Aug 2025
Singapore

Undergraduate Researcher — Temasek Laboratories @ NUS

Summer 2026
Fluid Dynamics and Combustion Domain · Singapore · NDA

Technical Executive — Singapore Polytechnic

Apr 2023 – Jun 2023

Volunteer Junior Propulsion Engineer — Equatorial Space Systems

Jun 2021 – Aug 2021

3rd Sergeant Automotive Technician — Singapore Armed Forces

Dec 2023 – May 2025

Student Organisations

Electrical Engineer — Bumblebee Autonomous Systems NUS

Apr 2026 – Present
I²C Electrical Subteam · Robosub · RobotX

Skills

RF & Communications

Antenna design & characterisation · Subsea RF systems · Impedance matching · Link budget analysis · FSK · BPSK/QPSK · CDMA/TDMA · SDR · Spectrum analysis · GNSS · RF front-end hardware · KiCad impedance-controlled PCB · GNU Radio · LTspice

FPGA & Digital Design

Verilog · Vivado HLS · FIR filter implementation · FFT IP core integration · Spectrum analyser · Digital baseband · Altium Designer · KiCad

Propulsion & Mechanical

Liquid rocket engine design · Injector design (impinging, pintle) · Pressure feed systems · Regenerative cooling · Hotfire test infrastructure · SolidWorks · CATIA · Inventor · GD&T · DFM · FEA · Machining drawings

Embedded & Software

Arduino · ESP32 · C/C++ · Python · Linux · Embedded firmware · State machines · DAQ systems · IP networking · ROS2 (developing) · Git

Education

Bachelor of Electrical Engineering — National University of Singapore

Aug 2025 – May 2029

Year 1 · Singapore

Diploma in Aeronautical Engineering — Singapore Polytechnic

Mar 2020 – Mar 2023

Cumulative GPA: 3.75 / 4.0 · FYP Grade: Distinction · Silver Award, SP Engineering Show 2023

Licences & Awards

Amateur Radio — Singapore
9V1WP · General (Class B)
FCC Amateur Radio — USA
KF0MBH · General
Distinction — Intl. Space Challenge 2023
LiDAR satellite mission proposal · Space Faculty SG

Currently

→ Temasek Laboratories @ NUS — Fluid Dynamics & Combustion (Summer 2026, NDA)
→ Custom CDMA/TDMA SDR with DIY RF front end PCB + 30dBm PA (Summer 2026)
→ DIY GNSS receiver targeting COCOM limits, rocket flight planned
→ Bumblebee NUS — AUV/ASV electrical systems, Robosub/RobotX
→ Mixed signal PLL tape-out on Tiny Tapeout / SKY130 (Year 2–3 target)
→ VTVL liquid rocket engine — likely FYP