Nomineer spotlight: Instrumentation Engineers

Engineers who don't rest until your test stand works with the press of a button – every time

Every test engineer deserves Nominal Connect

Nominal Connect is our fully customizable edge platform for test automation. It can be tailored to the most bespoke interfaces and the most stringent runtime requirements. With Connect’s framework, engineers can build apps that just work – apps that read, write, and control physical systems in real-time, without fail.

Since launching three months ago, Connect has taken off. It's now deployed at flight lines, test cells, and labs across aerospace, defense, robotics, and energy. Why? Because hardware engineers deserve better than duct-taped legacy tools. They need test stand human-machine-interfaces (HMIs) that are reliable, fast, flexible, custom, and ready for complex, mission-critical hardware.

That means more than just software. Sometimes, it takes a hardware engineer to solve the intricacies of HMIs across the wide variety of legacy instruments, software, and protocols that make up hardware test.

First-class test stands, not just software

Enter our new Instrumentation Engineers. Much like our Mission Operations team, Instrumentation Engineers don’t rest until our customers see results. Mission outcomes don’t wait for onboarding – neither does Nominal. They sit on the ground next to the machine until the customer can read, write, and control their asset with the press of a button – every time.

Every test setup is different, but our engineers have seen it all. They're fluent in protocols and libraries like SCPI, PyVISA, and PySerial. They're builders and troubleshooters who know how to deliver working systems that stay working – in hangars, cleanrooms, and high-vibration test environments.

Armed with Nominal Connect and years of experience, Instrumentation Engineers make your test stand sing. This isn’t just SaaS; this is a first-class test stand upgrade. Nominal Connect implementation permanently removes a critical obstacle slowing down your test program.

Meet the team

We’re proud to introduce the first full-time members of this growing team:

Patrick Barrett

Why did you join Nominal?

I want to enable engineers to test as fast as they can imagine it.

I’ve been in organizations that invested in their toolchains – they crank out new products and ideas faster and more reliably than those without those means or culture.

When you’re an engineer without a champion wanting to build those platforms, it can be isolating and demoralizing. Nominal has the ability to be that tool maker and champion for these engineers while simultaneously reducing the amount of duplicate work that plagues so many engineering organizations trying to get their first or 40th product out the door.

Prior experience:

• Radiant Nuclear

  • Senior HIL engineer

• Heliogen

  • Principal test engineer

• SpaceX

  • Systems & build engineer for Starship

  • HIL systems engineer, Falcon & Starship

  • Avionic test engineering manager

• National instruments

  • RF test engineer

  • Applications engineer

Noah Schwab

Why did you join Nominal?

Nominal is pursuing a mission that I deeply believe in and has put together the team to get it done. I have the opportunity to work with the most important and innovative hardware companies in the world, helping them build, test, and deploy critical systems. On top of that, I will get to work alongside a team of best-in-industry experts here at Nominal, where I will learn and grow exponentially.

Prior experience:

• MIT Lincoln Laboratory

  • Space systems analysis & test

  • Department of the Air Force Red Team

• Tesla

  • Autopilot hardware

  • Vehicle algorithms test & evaluation

• Astranis

  • Communication systems

  • Network monitoring

• Education

  • MS in Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania

  • BS in Physics, Haverford College

Nominal Connect is rapidly expanding

This is just the start. We firmly believe that Connect should be on every test stand in America. These are the engineers to make it happen.

All systems Nominal!