Mark Rizko

My name is Mark Rizko, I am an Embedded Software Engineer from Burbank, California.  I currently hold a position at Collins Aerospace (formerly held at Raytheon Missiles and Defense) as a Real-Time Embedded Software Developer. 

I began my career working for a small company in the digital cinema space, where I helped create an integrated media block for digital cinema. Some of my work included:

• Implementing security measures on the hardware of the Integrated Media Block
• Reviewing digital cinema standards and gaining knowledge and experience in this industry
• Developing a simple video player using uncompressed PCM audio and JPEG image frames
• Developing Tier 1 JPEG2000 arithmetic block decoder from scratch to be implemented on FPGAs
  • Began with a full C/C++ simulation before porting decoder to FPGA using Verilog in Vivado

After I received my Master's degree, I moved onto Raytheon Missiles and Defense (later transferred to Collins Aerospace) where I began working on a classified program for the US Navy. Some of my work included: 

• Writing, testing, and debugging C++ code
• Working with advanced simulation tools to verify status of the system running and identify defects
  • Tools include simulation programs from Applied Physics Laboratory and others from the RTI Data Distribution Service (DDS) suite.
• Facilitated and led an effort within the company to transition an important piece of in-house middleware from C to Rust. 
• Served as a scrum master on a separate internal company project to create a Python front-end for a scheduling comparison tool. 

I have achieved a Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science and Engineering from Santa Clara University and a Master's of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (spec. Digital Signal Processing) from University of California, Irvine.