Matthew Christian
Details
Electrical Engineering
University of Southern California
2010 : 2011
BSEE
Electrical Engineering
University of Southern California
2005 : 2009
PhD CENG
Computer Engineering
University of Southern California
2011 :
Nikola Motor Company
Functional Leader, Vehicle Cybersecurity
Designed, implemented, and verified base software modules and complex drivers for the runtime environment.
Instrumented a bootloader to support multiplatform boot and diagnostic operations.
Designed embedded architectures for secure boot, diagnostic authentication, secure lifecycle management, device attestation, and unique key pairing.
Architected and implemented the PKI support for image signing, device id attestation, and device lifecycle management.
Architected vehicle-level, cryptographically strong immobilizer solutions.
Created concepts for over-the-air software update of embedded controllers.
Created embedded development processes aligned to ISO 26262 for the base software.
Created and executed processes for vehicle-level embedded cybersecurity risk management according to ISO 21434 and UN ECE R155.
2019 : 2022
Nikola Motor Company
Embedded Systems Architect
Provided system level analysis and input for System Software Architectures, Platform Architectures, and Component Microarchitectures against a relevant set of industry standards for Functional Safety.
2017 : 2019
Intel Corporation
Systems Engineer, Functional Safety
Configured, ran, and analyzed VMWare private cloud solutions on Intel hardware against cloud benchmarks.
2016 : 2017
Intel Corporation
VMM Performance Engineer
Supported the delivery of secure media content with driver development for Intel's graphics hardware across multiple operating systems and product generations.
Developed and supported production releases of code across multiple product branches, utilizing tiered test infrastructure for release preparation, merge-control tools, and version control systems.
Maintained high quality code reviews focused on maintainability, readability, and functional completeness of changes.
Crafted full-coverage Unit Level Tests (ULTs) for variable-length message format parsers for several protocols.
Collaborated closely with customers, including many travels for onsite co-engineering taskforces.
Implemented i2c drivers over GPIO and DpAux driver interface layers.
Added features related to graphics command buffer construction, submission, and state tracking.
Gained a depth of knowledge in multiple secure transmission formats and protocols for protected content.
Regularly debugged architectural and implementation issues in hardware, drivers, firmware, and integration points.
2013 : 2016
Intel Corporation
Graphics Software Engineer
Skills
Bootloader, C, C++, Cadence Virtuoso, Code Review, Computer Architecture, Cybersecurity, Device Drivers, Functional Safety, ISO 21434, ISO 26262, Linux Kernel, Microarchitecture, Microsoft Office, ModelSim, Multithreading, Operating Systems, Python, Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS), Secure Coding, Software Development, SQL, SQL Server, UDS, Verilog, VHDL, Virtualization, x86 Assembly, Xilinx
About
I am a senior technical specialist in embedded systems architecture with Nikola Corporation, leveraging previous experience in automotive functional safety, media cryptography/DRM, multicore programming and analysis of OS schedulers, cache and memory reliability research, and a hobby of legacy software security puzzles.
I previously pursued a PhD in Computer Engineering from the University of Southern California with focus in Computer Architecture and VLSI design before withdrawing to take a full time position at Intel. There I learned tremendous lessons about creating high quality, multi-platform, production software as I was exposed to the inner workings of high bandwidth content protection and graphics drivers, the low level hardware mechanisms supporting server virtualization, and the detailed ins-and-outs of every complex SoC subsystem looking to maximize safety. More recently, I found an opportunity to work on a unique contribution to future generations with hydrogen trucking.
I am interested in driver development, embedded systems, platform architecture, security research, and other technical areas with room for growth in the Phoenix area.
In the world of computer engineering, most of my hard skills will be obsolete in ten years. The greatest skill I have is the ability to adapt quickly and learn new concepts/languages/skills as I require them.
Specialties: Multithreading, Computer Architecture, Microarchitecture, Virtualization
I have experience with:
Languages:
C++ (user-mode driver development), C (kernel-mode/embedded driver development), Python, Intel x86 assembly
Programs:
VisualStudio, WinDBG, ADB, GDB, iSystems idea, Lauterbach T32, Perforce, Gitlab, GitExt, CodeCollaborator, Jira, Enterprise Architect, LucidCharts, IBM DoorsNextGen, Jama, CMake, Doxygen, Klocwork, ccov, cProfile
Operating Systems of target modules:
Linux (for Ubuntu and RHEL), SafeRTOS, FreeRTOS, ThreadX, Windows 10, VMware ESXi, Android (J,L,K)
Skills:
Embedded driver development for microcontrollers/SoCs
System design, software design, and full product lifecycle support according to ISO 26262.
Development in the Linux kernel environment
Security driven coding and design
Designing, writing, and theoretically proving correctness of multithreaded modules
Balancing implementation constraints with higher-level architectural concepts
Creating readable and maintainable code
Reading, comprehending, and accurately implementing specifications and protocols
Profile Photo
