Ryan Alford

I’m an embedded electronics engineer, specializing in rugged solutions for use in extreme environments and mission critical applications.

In 2020, I founded Engineering Design Group (Edg) as a hardware design agency with the goal of bringing my own product line to the market. The company evolved to develop a soil gas sampling platform for the carbon capture industry. Among other work, we’ve developed our own stackable IoT architecture, and an API to facilitate monitoring and commanding large numbers of distributed embedded equipment. Today, we’ve pivoted away from contract work entirely.

Recently, I’ve missed solving the unique challenges presented by contract work. And so I launched Alford Embedded, LLC to help others bring their solutions to market.

I hope you’ll browse a gallery of my recent work, and read some kind words from my clients. If you need a hand with a project, please contact me through the links below.

Technical Competencies

• Architectural Design
  • Proprietary bus design
  • Stackable and cable-free architectures
  • High speed interconnect
• Embedded PCB Design
  • Fabrication acceptance up to IPC-6012 Class 3
  • Single and multi-lamination high density PCBs
  • Advanced via technologies (blind, buried, stacked, via-in-pad, etc.)
  • Stack-up design (controlled impedances, reference planes, copper weights, prepreg thickness, etc.)
  • Rigid, rigid-flex, and flex PCBs
• Design Optimizations
  • For repeatable and long-term manufacturing
  • For high reliability
  • For cost-sensitivity
  • For -40°C to 85°C operation
• Quality Control
  • Experience with AS9100 and ISO 9001 quality processes
  • Formal design rule checks integrated into every design cycle
  • Structured part review and qualification process
  • BOM / schematic component traceability
• Test and Lifecycle Management
  • Prototyping and test planning
  • Signal integrity analysis
  • Power supply verification, including sequencing, rail behavior, and stability across variable load conditions
  • Environmental and reliability testing (thermal, shock/vibration, altitude/vacuum)
  • Part obsolescence management
• Independent Design Review & Verification
  • Third-party design review and output verification
  • Physical device testing and validation
  • Independent assessment of designs developed by other engineers or teams