About

I am an embedded software engineer at Collins Aerospace (RTX) with an active Secret clearance. I earned a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota with a 4.0 GPA.

My primary languages are Rust, C++, C, Python, and Bash. The majority of my work is in distributed embedded systems. This work includes integrating and bringing up RDMA driver stacks for x86, FPGA, and GPUDirect data paths. I write CUDA kernels and develop RTOS applications with SPI, I2C, UART, and Ethernet interfaces. To keep systems reliable, I have helped develop hardware-in-the-loop test frameworks that run in continuous integration.

I am most interested in the point where software meets hardware. This includes embedded systems, hardware-accelerated computing, and high-speed interconnects.

Outside of work, I play hockey, lift, experiment with graphics programming, and take road trips across the Midwest.

Experience

Software Engineer I

Collins Aerospace (RTX)

2025–Present Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Build low-latency, high-throughput compute platforms for real-time systems.

Design and optimize embedded services in Rust, C++, and CUDA.
Move data between hosts over RDMA (RoCEv2) and define service interfaces in gRPC.

RustC++CUDAgRPCRDMARoCEv2Active Secret clearance

Computer Vision Teaching Assistant

University of Minnesota, College of Science and Engineering

2024–2025 Minneapolis, Minnesota

Taught CSCI 5561 Computer Vision under Volkan Isler and wrote its assignments.

Built an auto-grading system that cut grading time sevenfold.
Designed assignments on RANSAC, homographies, stereo depth estimation, SVM classifiers, and convolutional networks.

PythonComputer vision

Undergraduate Robotics Researcher

Robotics Perception and Manipulation Lab, University of Minnesota

2023–2025 Minneapolis, Minnesota

Researched self-supervised visual representation learning for robot manipulation under Karthik Desingh.

Pretrained a multimodal encoder on RGB, depth, and force-torque data, raising peg-in-hole success from 0 of 20 rollouts to 10 of 20.
Deployed the resulting policies on a UR5e arm in simulation and on hardware.
Benchmarked pretraining methods across image modalities to compare visual representations for robotics.

PyTorchUR5eImitation learningSelf-supervised learning

Software Engineering Intern

Collins Aerospace (RTX)

2024 Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Continued development of embedded software for legacy radio platforms on fighter jets and Air Force One.

Fixed ten bugs and shipped nine features, three times the six tickets expected of an intern.
Presented the team's Q3 plan to an audience of over three hundred, and became the first intern to do so.

Embedded CReal-time operating systemsEthernetAgileJiraActive Secret clearance

Education

University of Minnesota, College of Science and Engineering

B.S. Computer Science, Minor in Mathematics · GPA 4.0

2022–2025 Minneapolis, Minnesota

Selected coursework (13)

CSCI 5551 RoboticsCSCI 5561 Computer VisionCSCI 5607 Computer GraphicsCSCI 5619 Virtual RealityCSCI 5980 Deep Learning for RoboticsCSCI 5521 Machine LearningCSCI 5143 Real-Time and Embedded SystemsCSCI 4061 Operating SystemsCSCI 4041 Algorithms and Data StructuresEE 5251 Optimal FilteringMATH 5248 CryptographyMATH 4242 Ordinary Differential EquationsMATH 3283 Real Analysis

Skills

Languages: RustC++CPythonCUDABash
Embedded and Hardware: FreeRTOSESP32LoRaSPII2CUARTEthernetRDMA (RoCEv2)GPUDirectFPGA data paths
Infrastructure and Testing: LinuxGitgRPCPodmank3sQEMUKVMGitLab CIHardware-in-the-loop testing
Applied Mathematics: State estimationKalman filteringControl systemsComputer visionMachine learningPretrainingRay tracingVoxel meshing

Awards

Best Solo Hack, University of Iowa Hackathon

University of Iowa

2023

Built a social network of the entire hackathon from GitHub contribution history.

Contact

Email: mason.hawver@gmail.com
GitHub: github.com/MasonJohnHawver42
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mason-jh