Purnendu Kumar

Quantum Electronics Engineer

Quantum electronics engineer and technical architect with 9+ years of experience in quantum communication systems, photonic hardware R&D, FPGA design, and precision timing circuits.

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Professional Summary

Currently serving as Quantum Electronics Engineer at SpeQtral.Space, leading quantum payload and ground station development. With 9+ years of proven track record in translating cutting-edge quantum research into deployable hardware solutions—from theoretical foundations through system architecture, advanced instrumentation design, and commercial-grade implementation.

Core Expertise

Quantum Electronics & Systems - Single-photon detection systems, quantum key distribution platforms, quantum transceiver systems (BBM92, BB84 protocols)
High-Frequency FPGA Architectures - Xilinx (Vivado, ISE), Altera Quartus, time-stamping, optical control, precision timing circuits
Analog RF Design - Laser drivers, photon detectors, EMI/EMC compliance, thermal management
Real-Time Digital Signal Processing - Quantum state measurement and control, data acquisition systems
Leadership & Innovation - Architecting quantum communication platforms, team building, research-driven product development

Specializations

Quantum and photonic hardware research and development
Precision timing electronics and TDC design
Advanced instrumentation for quantum device characterization
Image sensor characterization and validation
Post-silicon analysis and root cause analysis (RCA)

Experience Highlights

Current Role

Quantum Electronics Engineer | SpeQtral.Space | Apr 2024 - Present

Developing electronics for dual quantum transceiver systems supporting satellite and ground station operations
Designing FPGA architectures for high-speed time-stamping and single-photon detector management
Engineering Linux device drivers for quantum hardware control
Leading engineering team for terrestrial quantum projects

Previous Key Positions

Staff Engineer, Pixel Design (TL) at onsemi (Apr 2022 - Apr 2024) - Post-silicon characterization, AI-assisted automated testing
Senior Engineer, Pixel Design (TL) at onsemi (Jan 2020 - Apr 2022) - Camera module validation, quantum efficiency measurements
Project Lead at QNu Labs (Jul 2018 - Jan 2020) - Architected ARMOS quantum communication platform, led 10+ engineer team
Sr. Hardware Design Engineer at QNu Labs (Mar 2017 - Mar 2018) - Single photon detector design, SPAD characterization
Project Associate & JRF at IIT Madras / Delhi University (Aug 2013 - Feb 2017) - High-energy physics research, RPC detector development

Education

Post Graduate Certificate in AI & MLOps - NSE TalentSprint & Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (Grade: A+)
- Specializations: CNN, Computer Vision, NLP/LLM, Transformers, AWS, Docker, GitHub Actions
M.S. in Electrical Engineering - Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (CGPA: 8.47)
- Thesis: “Design and Characterization of Discrete Analog Front-End for RPC Detector”
- Focus: Signal Processing, RFIC Design, Analog IC Design, VLSI Design
B.E. in Electrical Engineering - G H Raisoni College of Engineering, Nagpur (73.09%)

Technical Skills

Programming Languages

VHDL • SystemVerilog • Verilog • Python • C • tcl • Go • Rust

FPGA & EDA Tools

FPGA: Xilinx Vivado • ISE • Altera Quartus Prime
EDA: Cadence Allegro • Orcad • KiCad

Circuit Simulation & Analysis

PSpice • NG Spice • LT Spice • QUCS

Data Processing & Scientific Computing

MATLAB • Scilab • GNU Octave • Anaconda

DevOps & Infrastructure

AWS • GitHub Actions • Git • Docker

Advanced Skills

AI/ML: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), Statistical Modeling
Leadership: Team building, Project Management, Mentoring

Patents & Publications

QRNG Patent (Indian Patent Office) - System and method to generate random number (2019)
Multiple peer-reviewed publications in Springer Proceedings in Physics and Journal of Instrumentation
Published research on RPC detectors, glass electrodes, and quantum detector characterization

Recognition

Best Mentor/Coach Award - QNu Labs (2018)

Notable Projects

Speqtral-1 Satellite QKD Operation Controller - SpeQtral.Space
Alice/Bob PCB Design (ARMOS) - QNu Labs quantum communication platform
Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG) - Ring oscillator-based TDC, Kintex Ultrascale FPGA
Image Characterization Laboratory Setup - onsemi Intelligent Sensing Group
RPC Data Acquisition System - 128 LVDS channels, 10Gbps SFP+ interface (IIT Madras)

Additional Activities

Technical Content Creator at Techniex.com (Feb 2018 - Present) - Articles, guides, tutorials on electronics
Speaker - Workshop on Contemporary Trends in High Energy Physics (2014)

The Guardian of Voltage: A Comprehensive Guide to Zener Diodes

Explore the fascinating physics behind Zener diodes—from quantum tunneling to avalanche breakdown—and learn how these …

February 1, 2026 • 12 min read

Zener Diode Voltage Regulation Semiconductor Physics Power Supply Circuit Design Breakdown Voltage Quantum Tunneling Avalanche Effect Electronic Components Voltage Reference

WaveDrom: Digital Timing Diagrams with Markdown

Create professional digital timing diagrams and state charts using simple text syntax without special software.

December 20, 2025 • 3 min read

wavedrom timing diagrams digital logic visualization

Building Safe and Concurrent Memory-Mapped Register Access in Rust: The mmreg Journey

Memory-mapped I/O on embedded Linux traditionally requires unsafe pointer arithmetic, manual mmap calculations, and …

December 6, 2025 • 8 min read

Rust Linux MMIO Embedded Hardware devmem2

Color Targets for Imaging and Display Devices

Color profiling tools and targets for photographers and engineers ensuring accurate color reproduction.

June 1, 2020 • 5 min read

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DIY Two-Channel 120W DC Power Supply

Build a custom dual-channel 12V AC-DC power supply with 120W capacity for projects and tools.

March 28, 2020 • 8 min read

power-supply ac-dc-converter diy bench-supply inrush-current circuit-design meanwell

Decoupling - Path to power integrity

Decoupling strategies for power integrity covering transient current suppression and multi-frequency design.

May 19, 2019 • 6 min read Electronics Hardware Design

PCB Design Guidelines decoupling power-integrity capacitors hardware signal-integrity

Engineered to Doom - Red Flags for PCB Design

Identify critical PCB design mistakes: clock selection, signal routing, and grounding pitfalls.

May 19, 2019 • 3 min read Electronics Hardware Design

PCB Design Guidelines pcb-design design-mistakes emc signal-integrity grounding best-practices

Strategy for component placement

PCB component placement strategies considering mechanical, manufacturing, and circuit design constraints.

May 17, 2019 • 8 min read Electronics Hardware Design

PCB Design Guidelines component-placement pcb-layout hardware design-strategy

Selecting a PCB stack-up for EMC compliance

EMC-optimized PCB stack-up selection considering signal routing, frequency, and emission requirements.

May 1, 2019 • 6 min read Electronics Hardware Design

PCB Design Guidelines stackup emc pcb-design hardware electromagnetic-compatibility

15 PCB Layout guidelines to achieve EMC requirements

EMC compliance guidelines for PCB layout covering signal integrity, grounding, and radiation management.

April 20, 2019 • 7 min read Electronics Hardware Design

PCB Design Guidelines emc pcb-layout electromagnetic-compatibility hardware design-guidelines

Checklist for error-free optimized PCB layout

Comprehensive PCB layout checklist covering footprints, placement, routing, and verification steps.

April 15, 2019 • 8 min read Electronics Hardware Design

PCB Design Guidelines pcb-layout checklist optimization hardware

4 Steps to Review the PCB Layout

A comprehensive PCB layout review process covering data collection, placement verification, routing analysis, and …

April 10, 2019 • 3 min read Electronics Hardware Design

PCB Design Guidelines pcb-layout review-process hardware design-verification

Board bring up: Giving life to the design

Complete board bring-up process covering assembly verification, testing, debugging, and validation steps.

April 9, 2019 • 4 min read Electronics Hardware Design

PCB Design Guidelines board-bringup testing debugging hardware validation

100 Point Checklist for Schematic Design

Comprehensive 100-point schematic design checklist covering design rules, components, and verification steps.

April 6, 2019 • 7 min read Electronics Hardware Design

PCB Design Guidelines schematic design-verification checklist hardware

6 Steps of Verification for Error-free Schematic

Systematic schematic verification covering requirements, datasheets, power, components, signals, and final checks.

March 28, 2019 • 6 min read Electronics Hardware Design

PCB Design Guidelines schematic verification review-process hardware design-flow

Avalanche Diode

Avalanche diode characteristics, breakdown mechanisms, and applications in surge protection and RF.

March 10, 2019 • 4 min read

diode avalanche-breakdown semiconductor surge-protection zener-diode

Memristor Development - A Chronological Perspective

With the radical capability to retain its state memristor is going to bring a revolutionary change in the way, we store …

March 19, 2018 • 3 min read

memristor semiconductor circuit-theory technology-timeline innovation hp-labs non-volatile-memory

Memristor - A Brief Overview of Missing Basic Element

If you are keeping up with the latest technology, it will be no wonder to be aware of a memristor. Well, we are aware of …

March 18, 2018 • 3 min read

memristor semiconductor circuit-theory passive-components non-volatile-memory resistive-ram analog-computing

Git Introduction: Understanding Version Control Systems

Learn the fundamentals of Git, a modern distributed version control system. Explore Git terminology, workflows, and …

February 18, 2018 • 9 min read

git version-control vcs distributed-systems source-code-management development-tools

Installing/Uninstalling Vivado 2017.4 in Ubuntu 16.04

Vivado is a name which the reader should be familiar with if ever worked with Xilinx development cycle. In my opinion, …

February 18, 2018 • 4 min read

xilinx vivado ubuntu linux installation-guide fpga-tools

Generating and Configuring Xilinx FPGA with MCS

While working with Xilinx FPGA and Vivado design suite, you might come across many binary file formats. Most of them are …

February 14, 2018 • 3 min read

xilinx vivado fpga-programming mcs-file flash-memory bitstream hardware-configuration

Introduction to Diode

Fundamentals of diodes: unidirectional current flow, rectification, and applications in electronic circuits.

February 13, 2018 • 3 min read

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Why devmem2 is a Loaded Gun: Solving RCU Stalls with mmreg

Direct memory access with devmem2 can trigger unrecoverable hardware deadlocks on modern SoCs when accessing …

January 10, 2026 • 6 min read

Rust Linux MMIO Embedded Hardware devmem2 RCU AXI Kernel Safety

Octave:1> Getting Started

Introduction to GNU Octave, its history, installation, and basic environment setup for numerical computing.

October 30, 2019 • 5 min read GNU Octave

gnu-octave matlab programming numerical-computing open-source scientific-computing

Beyond the Blueprint: Why mmreg Needs a Hardware Pre-Flight

While mmreg prevents most system hangs by validating against the kernel’s resource map, zombie hardware …

February 8, 2026 • 5 min read

Rust Linux MMIO Embedded Hardware RCU AXI Kernel Safety mmreg zynq FPGA soc

Octave:1> Variables and Constants

Master variables, constants, data types, and naming conventions in GNU Octave environment.

February 19, 2020 • 5 min read GNU Octave

gnu-octave matlab variables constants data-types

Octave:1> Expressions and operators

Learn expressions, operators, and assignment statements in GNU Octave programming language.

February 21, 2020 • 6 min read GNU Octave

gnu-octave matlab expressions operators syntax

Octave:1> Built-In Functions, Commands, and Package

Explore GNU Octave built-in functions organized by topic for mathematical and scientific computing.

March 9, 2020 • 6 min read GNU Octave

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Octave:2> Vectors and Matrices Basics

Master vectors and matrices in GNU Octave with practical examples and n-dimensional array operations.

April 18, 2020 • 7 min read GNU Octave

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Octave:2> Conditional Execution

Control program flow with if/else, loops, and switch statements in GNU Octave.

April 19, 2020 • 3 min read GNU Octave

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Octave:2> Functions

Define and use custom functions in GNU Octave: MATLAB files, inline, and anonymous functions.

April 19, 2020 • 4 min read GNU Octave

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Octave:2> Scripts and Algorithm

Create reusable Octave scripts and implement algorithms through sequential command execution.

April 18, 2020 • 5 min read GNU Octave

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Octave:3> File Operations

Learn file operations in GNU Octave including saving/loading workspace and data import/export.

April 19, 2020 • 5 min read GNU Octave

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Octave:3> Data Visualization

Create professional data visualizations using Octave plots, graphs, charts, and figure windows.

April 25, 2020 • 10 min read GNU Octave

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