- Independently traced a major performance bottleneck in ANGOKA's patented core software stack to a shared operating-system abstraction layer and implemented the corrective mechanism, reducing CPU utilisation from 25.9% to 3.7% in like-for-like testing.
- Developed the operator-facing Ground Control System and custom physical-controller subsystem for a secure drone command-and-control prototype, spanning software, firmware, controller electronics, enclosure design and system integration.
- Work across embedded systems, secure communications, networking, performance engineering and autonomous platforms.
Ali Asgar Lokhandwala
Fig. 1 My name as two signals, X on channel 1 and Y on channel 2, steering one beam. Bring your cursor close and it bends like a CRT near a magnet. Press Listen to hear both signals in stereo; patch that into a scope in XY mode and it draws my name.
Embedded software engineer working across secure systems, cybersecurity and autonomous technology.
I build and optimise systems across software, networking, embedded firmware, electronics and physical hardware.
Currently at ANGOKA in Belfast; previously BT Group and the BT Ireland Innovation Centre.
- CPU load 25.9% → 3.7% 7× lower in ANGOKA's core stack
- Test reporting ~6× faster than the Allure workflow at BT
- Concurrent users 15,000+ on cloud infrastructure I built
- Final-year avg 89.75% First Class BEng (Hons)
- The IET Prize 2026 best student, undergraduate electronic engineering
About Engineering below the surface
I'm an engineer who likes understanding systems below the surface. That curiosity has taken me from building electronics and software independently, through production engineering at BT Group and applied cybersecurity research at the BT Ireland Innovation Centre (BTIIC), to embedded and secure systems development at ANGOKA.
My work increasingly sits where software meets the physical world: operating systems, networking, firmware, electronics, cybersecurity and autonomous systems. I particularly enjoy problems where the obvious symptom is not the real cause and solving them requires moving across multiple engineering layers.
Away from work, I cycle, travel and tinker with hardware.
- Applied research & production software
- Cybersecurity
- Networking & secure communications
- Operating systems & performance
- Embedded software & firmware
- Electronics & hardware integration
- Autonomous systems
Experience Every role, on one timebase
My career as a logic-analyser capture: each role is a channel that goes high while I'm there. Select a channel to decode it.
D3Sep 2025 — Jul 2026 · Belfast, UK
Visiting Researcher
BT Ireland Innovation Centre · Ulster University
- Designed and implemented behavioural device-fingerprinting and adaptive network-security research capable of re-identifying devices despite MAC-address randomisation.
- Developed work across cybersecurity, networking, blockchain-enabled identity and privacy-preserving authentication.
- Demonstrated research to senior BT leadership, including BT Group CEO Allison Kirkby, and to industry and research partners.
D2Sep 2024 — Aug 2025
Industrial Placement — SRE / Software Engineering
BT Group
- Built production engineering and automation tools across reliability, QA and internal platforms.
- Developed a custom Robot Framework reporting solution approximately 6× faster than the previous Allure-based workflow and adopted by the team.
- Built the frontend for Guardian, an AIOps/revenue-protection platform, alongside dashboards and operational tooling used within BT.
- Developed a blockchain-enabled digital identity prototype selected for demonstration at BT's London innovation showcase.
D1Sep 2022 — Jul 2026 · Education
BEng (Hons) Computer Systems Engineering
University of Huddersfield · IET-accredited
A cross-disciplinary degree spanning electronics, embedded systems, software engineering and distributed computing.
- First Class Honours, with a final-year average of 89.75%.
- Final-year project: Distributed Edge Computing with Low-Powered Devices (87%).
- Industrial placement year at BT Group.
D0Oct 2021 — Nov 2022
Software Engineering Intern
Visionary Services
- Delivered full-stack systems, APIs, e-commerce and inventory platforms.
- Built cloud infrastructure supporting an event with 15,000+ concurrent users.
Selected work Captures from the bench
Secure Drone Command & Control
Developed the operator-facing Ground Control System and custom physical controller for a secure drone command-and-control prototype, integrating flight control, telemetry, live video, mapping, gimbal control, firmware, electronics and physical hardware.
Core Software Performance Engineering
Investigated a performance bottleneck in a shared low-level software layer, traced the root cause through OS and scheduler behaviour, and implemented a fix that reduced measured CPU utilisation from 25.9% to 3.7% under equivalent workload.
CPU utilisation 25.9% → 3.7%
Behavioural Device Fingerprinting
A network-security prototype designed to maintain device identity despite MAC-address randomisation. It combines evidence across network layers and behavioural characteristics, supports confidence-based identification and can preserve security policy when a device reconnects under a different private address.
SeatLease — Privacy-Preserving Digital Identity
A prototype exploring how subscription services can enforce simultaneous-use limits without unnecessarily identifying the user. SeatLease uses anonymous cryptographic 'seats' as the unit of entitlement rather than directly making personal identity the unit of enforcement. The contribution is in the system design, built on established cryptographic and distributed-ledger techniques.
Distributed Edge Computing
My final-year engineering project explored decentralised discovery, resource sharing and computation across low-powered edge devices, allowing constrained devices to cooperate rather than depend entirely on centralised infrastructure.
Final-year project result: 87%
BT Test Reporting Platform
A lightweight reporting system built around Robot Framework outputs to generate self-contained interactive reports, including filtering, screenshots and structured diagnostic information. It replaced a slower Allure-based workflow within the team.
~6× faster than the Allure workflow
Earlier projects
- IoT Challenge An ESP32-based system with a companion mobile app. First place among 10+ teams at the University of Huddersfield.
- Independent electronics RF remote controls built with shift registers, and IoT sensor systems.
Recognition Prizes, awards and kind words
2026 · University of Huddersfield
The IET Prize 2026
Best Student on the Undergraduate Electronic Engineering Programme
Official Institution of Engineering and Technology recognition.
IET 2026 winners list (opens in a new tab)- Nov 2025 · The IET IET Future Talent Award — Boost Scholarship Supported by The RAF Charitable Trust.
- 2026 · Huddersfield First Class Honours BEng (Hons) Computer Systems Engineering.
- Chartered Management Institute CMI Level 5 Award in Leadership & Management Foundation Chartered Manager (fCMgr).
Leadership & community
- Twice elected Chair of the University Engineering Team, leading peers in engineering competitions, including a first-place finish.
- Represented BT at SistersIN, speaking with young women about careers in technology.
Recommendation
I have had the pleasure of working with Ali on two key projects: a blockchain-based identity management system and the development of device profiling for a smart hub. Throughout these projects, Ali consistently demonstrated strong technical skills, a proactive attitude, and an impressive ability to learn and adapt quickly.
… I am confident that Ali will be an asset to any organisation, and I highly recommend him for future opportunities.
Skills Pinout
AAL-26, a 40-pin DIP: 36 I/O across five ports, plus the four pins that keep it running. Hover a pin or a port.
PASystems & embedded
- C/C++
- Linux
- POSIX
- Performance profiling
- ESP32
- Arduino
- PIC
- Octavo
- OP-TEE
PBNetworking & security
- Wi-Fi / 802.11
- TCP/IP
- DNS/TLS
- hostapd / dnsmasq
- Device fingerprinting
- OIDC
- Digital identity
- Hyperledger Fabric
PCSoftware
- Python
- JavaScript
- TypeScript
- Bash
- SQL
- React
- Next.js
- Node.js
PDCloud & engineering
- AWS
- Docker
- Git
- CI/CD
- Robot Framework
- Playwright
- Selenium
PEAutonomous & hardware
- MAVLink
- Embedded firmware
- Controller electronics
- Hardware/software integration
SYSPower & clock
- Curiosity (VCC)
- Cycling (CLK)
- Travel (RST)
- Belfast (GND)
Contact Connect a probe
I'm happy to talk about embedded systems, secure communications, networking or research. Email is the best way to reach me.
hi@aliasgar.devBelfast, United Kingdom