Jon Evans discussing Electrical Engineering, KiCad and the Maker Movement 

Welcome to Tech Explorations Podcast episode 7.

I'm Peter Dalmaris, an online educator, maker, author of Maker Education Revolution, and founder of Tech Explorations. In this episode, my special guest is Jon Evans. Jon is an electrical engineer and open-source software developer based in Boston. Since around 2011, Jon has been designing electronics and firmware for industrial and consumer products, most recently in the 3D printing industry.

Jon has been a contributor to the KiCad EDA project since 2016 and a member of the lead developer team since 2018. He has also created several smaller open-source projects related to LED art installations. In this conversation, we’ll explore Jon’s journey as a maker, engineer, and open-source project contributor—how he started and how he got to where he is today.

Peter: Jon, welcome to the podcast. How are you today?

Jon: Great, thanks, Peter. Glad to be here.

Peter: It’s awesome to have you here. This is the second time we’re chatting in about four weeks. The first was your presentation at the Makers Summit. Today, it’s going to be more open-ended. This conversation is about you as a maker and an engineer rather than giving a formal presentation or teaching something new. Are you ready for that?

Jon: Yeah, bring it on!

Peter: Let’s start from the beginning. Would you like to take a few minutes and tell us about your background? Feel free to go back as far as you like, even to your childhood. What influenced you to become an engineer?

Jon: Sure. I’ve always been one of those kids who tinkered with things. But I think the moment I got serious about making and engineering was in primary school when I got involved in robotics competitions. We had a set task to accomplish, and a short time to build a robot and compete with it. That opened my eyes to different engineering disciplines, and I realized I was interested in seeing the bigger picture and playing with all of them—mechanical engineering, electronics, and software.

From there, I went into electrical engineering in college, and my first job was in industrial product design. What stuck with me from the robotics days was my love for understanding the full system—whether it’s software or electronics, I like to see the end product and understand how all the parts work together.

Peter: Interesting! I want to go back to those early days and hear more about the robotics competitions. What was that like? Was it a STEM program in your school, or something else?

Jon: This was part of the FIRST Robotics program. It was an extracurricular activity, mostly for high school students. Each year, we were given a challenge to build a robot for a game. The rules changed every year, so while you built knowledge about what worked over the years, each challenge required you to solve new problems.

We had a team of students with various backgrounds, and volunteer mentors from the community—some were parents, others were local engineers. It was very DIY—we learned from mentors, but also from each other and online resources.

Peter: It sounds similar to a competition I’m judging next week in Sydney. The students won’t know the challenge until the day of the competition, and they’ll have to solve it within a few hours. Is that how it worked for you too?

Jon: Yes, exactly. You had a few months to prepare before the competition, but the challenges were fresh every year. It was inspiring to see different teams come up with completely different solutions.

Peter: What about your team? What kind of backgrounds did your teammates have in terms of skills?

Jon: Some had experience with hands-on work like car repairs or woodworking, others were already teaching themselves to program at home, and some were just passionate and excited to learn. We’d often have a mix of experienced and new members, and we all taught each other through smaller projects or by tinkering with last year’s robots.

Peter: That sounds like a fantastic learning environment. Was there any hierarchy in the team, or was it more flat, with everyone learning and teaching each other?

Jon: There was a natural hierarchy based on experience, but we didn’t have a formal structure. Everyone worked on what they were most excited about, and the experienced members would mentor the newer ones. It was a bit of organized chaos!

Peter: After your robotics experience, you went into electrical engineering. What was that like? Did college meet your expectations in terms of creativity and technology?

Jon: College wasn’t quite what I expected. Like you, I found some parts boring and tedious, but I had just enough exciting classes and side projects to keep me motivated. Those projects, where I got to actually play with technology, helped me get through the more tedious parts.

Peter: Did you work on external projects during college?

Jon: Yes, I made time for personal projects. I was also interested in music and worked as a recording engineer during college, which allowed me to play with professional equipment. On the side, I tinkered with audio gear and built guitar effects pedals—projects that combined my passions for music and electronics.

Peter: That’s great! Was there a project that stands out as your first real engineering success, either in college or right after?

Jon: My first real engineering project came at my first job after college. I worked on a signal processing system for an x-ray fluorescence analyzer. My boss left shortly after I joined, so I was thrown into the deep end and had to figure it out on my own. It involved analog circuitry, FPGA firmware, and DSP, none of which I had done before in a commercial setting. It was a tough but rewarding experience that taught me a lot.

Peter: That sounds like a baptism by fire! Was it a solo project, or were you part of a team?

Jon: I was the main developer, but I had a few colleagues I could bounce ideas off of. It was a great balance—I had ownership of the project but also a support network when I needed help.

This concludes the first part of episode 7 with Jon Evans. To hear the rest of this conversation, stay tuned for part two in our next episode. You can find links to resources and more information about Jon on our website, techexplorations.com. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and we’ll see you next time!