Curriculum Vitae

José Manuel Requena Plens

Firmware & Software Engineer

Valencia, Spain · On-site, remote or hybrid

Embedded firmware and software engineer with experience building industrial firmware for solar inverters (C, STM32, FreeRTOS) and a solid R&D background. Focused on low-level optimization, industrial communications (Modbus) and hardware test automation. I maintain open source projects used by developers worldwide. Targeting firmware, software and QA roles, bringing engineering rigor and a focus on quality.

Experience

Apr 2023 - May 2026

R&D Software Developer

Power Electronics (PE)
Solar + Storage (PE Solar)
Lliria, Spain
Firmware development for solar inverters and control systems in photovoltaic plants, working on STM32 microcontrollers with bare-metal and RTOS environments.
  • Reduced RTOS task stack usage by 30%–50%, optimizing memory on STM32 microcontrollers.
  • Optimized Modbus TCP request handling, cutting CPU usage under load (40,000 req/s) from 80% to 17% with no dropped responses.
  • Redesigned embedded file-system access, cutting access times by over 50%.
  • Implemented a scheduled purge (daily/monthly) that safely clears thousands of files, preventing storage exhaustion under continuous operation.
  • Built and maintained industrial communications in C with hardware abstraction layers (HAL): Modbus RTU/TCP, UART, I2C and SPI.
  • Automated the test suite: ~50–80 unit tests per module (Ceedling, thousands in total) reaching 100% line and branch coverage via standard-library mocks/fakes, plus hundreds of on-hardware integration tests (pytest) — TCP/FTP performance and FTP security —; all in CI.
  • Reviewed merge requests across a 12-person team, catching bugs and proposing improvements before integration.
Jan 2023 - Apr 2023

Predoctoral researcher

Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) · Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) · Hospital La Fe (IIS)
Medical Imaging and Therapy Systems (i3M)
Valencia, Spain
Researcher in the R&D line: Acoustic Metamaterials for Ultrasound Histotripsy treatments.
Project: New generation of smart metasurfaces based on additive manufacturing for strategic applications in telecommunications (Metasmart). Funded by the Valencian Agency for Innovation (Reference: INNEST/2022/345).
  • Ultra-close focus acoustic lens design.
  • Prototype manufacturing.
  • Experimentation with ex-vivo tissues.
Jul 2021 - Jul 2022

Predoctoral researcher

Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) · Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Medical Imaging and Therapy Systems (i3M)
Valencia, Spain
The main objective is to conduct research and development of acoustic metamaterials for use in architectural applications and medical imaging.
  • Developed acoustic metadiffusers reaching a diffusion coefficient of 0.8 with a thickness 10× smaller than traditional diffusers.
  • Simulation of the acoustic diffusers and validation of results (MATLAB & COMSOL).
  • Designed and 3D-printed (resin) slitted-tube waveguides with numerically-computed slits (2–3 cm tubes, ~0.5 mm slits) that increased ultrasound directivity and range ~15× in air, validated experimentally.
  • Validated experimental results against those obtained in simulation.
  • Advisor of the Master thesis of a student of the Master's Degree in Acoustic Engineering of the UPV.
Two publications in national and international congresses:
Feb 2020 - Jul 2021

Researcher in European project

Higher Polytechnic School of Gandia (UPV) · European Space Agency (ESA)
Complex Media Acoustics Group of IGIC (IGIC)
Gandia, Spain
Implement and experimentally validate a sound mitigation method, applicable to a real space vehicle launch configuration (VEGA), that results in a significant decrease in sound pressure levels generated in the launch area during spacecraft liftoff.
Project funded by ESA (European Space Agency) with reference ESA AO/1-9479/18/NL/LvH, in collaboration with: CNRS/Laboratoire d'Acoustique de la Université du Mans; COMET Ingeniería; Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Polytechnic University of Madrid.
  • Designed the optimum acoustic-metamaterial geometry, achieving near-total absorption (α ≈ 1) across 200–500 Hz with a subwavelength design (wavelength/thickness ratio ≈ 16.5 vs ~2 conventional), validated on real lab prototypes.
  • Simulation of a real environment to validate design performance (MATLAB, COMSOL & Python).
  • Designed and 3D-printed the first prototype; for the large-scale version designed the injection-molding model and sourced the manufacturing of 600 modules with a supplier.
  • Development of software for acoustic measurements according to ISO 10534-2 and ASTM E2611 standards. A|Lab
  • Design and development of a 3-axis robotic system to perform experimental measurements. Photos and some information here: NEWS
  • Results validated and accepted by ESA.
Three publications/presentations at international congresses (Euronoise and ECSSMET) and one at a national congress (Tecniacústica):
Feb 2018 - Jul 2018

Research internship

University of Alicante (UA)
Dep. of Physics, Systems Engineering and Signal Theory (DFESTS)
Alicante, Spain
Internship in different research projects in the Applied Acoustics Group, belonging to the University Institute of Physics Applied to Sciences and Technologies of the Higher Polytechnic School of Alicante.
  • Simulation of acoustic models.
  • Acoustic measurements by means of a LabView-controlled robotic system.
  • Investigation of the acoustic radiation efficiency (Vibration-borne noise) of metallic plates for an initial study of ship noise emissions in water. Carried out in collaboration with SAES, here you can read a news item on the subject: NEWS.
A publication at a national congress:
Sep 2016 - Jul 2018

Founder and Vocal Member

AmicroTech (AµTech)
University of Alicante (UA)
Alicante, Spain
Association based at the Higher Polytechnic School of the University of Alicante. Promotes project-oriented microcontroller programming knowledge.
  • Taught 30+ students in reinforcement and extension classes for the subject "Digital Electronic Systems" of the Degree in Sound and Image Engineering of the University of Alicante.
  • Laboratory organization and planning (located at the Colegio Mayor).
  • Communication and Public Relations.
Jun 2011 - Feb 2018

Sound technician

Acusticox
Cox, Spain
  • Equipment installation and adjustment for events.
  • Equipment installation and adjustment for permanent installation.
  • FOH Technician.
  • Customer acquisition.
Sep 2005 - Nov 2009

Laboratory technician

Profdent
Alicante, Spain
  • Reception of work and casting of plaster models from impressions (alginate/silicone), with and without implants.
  • Mounting articulators and casting metal crowns in a centrifuge.
  • Ceramic application on crowns and bridges.

Technical Skills

Embedded Firmware & Electronics

  • C , Advanced
  • STM32 & ARM , Advanced
  • ESP32 / ESP-IDF , Advanced
  • PlatformIO , Advanced
  • Texas Instruments
  • FreeRTOS / RTOS , Advanced
  • Comm. Protocols , Advanced
  • HW Debugging , Advanced
  • Keil uVision , Advanced
  • Instrumentation , Advanced
  • Secure Boot & Embedded Security
  • Doxygen , Advanced

Software Engineering & Tools

  • Python , Advanced
  • C++
  • Go
  • TypeScript
  • Bash
  • Clang Tooling
  • Git , Advanced
  • GitHub , Advanced
  • GitLab , Advanced
  • Docker , Advanced
  • MATLAB , Advanced
  • CMake
  • JetBrains Toolbox , Advanced

Quality, CI/CD & DevSecOps

  • GitHub Actions , Advanced
  • GitLab CI
  • Jenkins
  • SonarQube / SonarCloud , Advanced
  • GoReleaser
  • Static Analysis & SAST
  • Testing , Advanced
  • pre-commit hooks , Advanced

Networking

  • TCP/IP & Networking , Advanced
  • MikroTik RouterOS , Advanced
  • WireGuard / VPN , Advanced
  • IPv6 & Dual-stack , Advanced
  • QUIC / HTTP3
  • DNS / Dynamic DNS

Security & Cryptography

  • Applied Cryptography
  • TLS / mTLS / PKI , Advanced
  • Nginx Hardening , Advanced
  • CrowdSec
  • Network Hardening , Advanced

AI & Agentic Engineering

  • Model Context Protocol (MCP) , Advanced
  • AI Coding Agents , Advanced
  • LLM Integration

Simulation & Acoustics

  • COMSOL Multiphysics , Advanced
  • LabView
  • Acoustic Instrumentation , Advanced

General & Platforms

  • Linux / Unix , Advanced
  • MacOS , Advanced
  • Windows , Advanced
  • LaTeX , Advanced
  • HTML / CSS

Open Source Projects

gitlab-mcp-server

Go · Model Context Protocol server
Open-source GitLab MCP server that exposes 1,000+ GitLab operations to AI assistants through a dynamic 2-tool find/execute design, with stdio/HTTP/OAuth transports and safe & read-only modes.
31★38 releases~40k downloadsListed on Glama, mcp.so, Cursor & mcpservers.org

phonometry

Python · DSP · Acoustics
Acoustic measurement toolkit: fractional octave-band filter banks, A/C/Z and Fast/Slow/Impulse weighting, and sound level metrology (Leq, percentiles), conformance-tested against IEC 61260-1 and IEC 61672-1 class 1 tolerances. Formerly PyOctaveBand.
108★24 releasesPyPI

cs-routeros-bouncer

Go · Firewall · MikroTik · WAF
CrowdSec bouncer for MikroTik RouterOS: feeds the collaborative IPS/WAF CrowdSec decisions into the RouterOS firewall (address lists) through its API, blocking malicious IPs in real time.
12★14 releases321 downloadsOn the CrowdSec Hub

Cloudflare-DNS-Updater

Bash · DevOps
Dynamic DNS client for Cloudflare (IPv4/IPv6) written in Bash, with a bats test suite and coverage reporting.
27★6 releases52 downloads

TFG-TFM_EPS

LaTeX · Academic template
LaTeX template for Bachelor's and Master's theses at the University of Alicante (EPS), with an automated CI build pipeline.
83★3 releases21 downloads

Education

2019–2023

PhD program in Health and Wellness Technologies (discontinued)

Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV)
Ultrasound Medical and Industrial Laboratory (UMIL)
Valencia, Spain
Before completing the doctorate, I redirected my career toward industrial software development, applying my foundation in data analysis, programming and analytical problem-solving. The discontinued program focused on industrial and biomedical applications of metamaterials for the control of acoustic beams, combining new air-coupled ultrasound transducers with hyperbolic metamaterials to design vision systems that exceed the imaging capabilities of traditional systems.
  • Biomedical signal processing and acoustic analysis algorithms.
  • Ultrasound characterization for medical applications.
  • Computational modeling and simulation of acoustic phenomena.
  • Development of experimental methodologies for biomedical studies.
  • Publication of results in specialized conferences and journals.
Academic record (ENG) Academic record (SPA)
2019

Master's Degree in Acoustical Engineering

Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV)
Higher Polytechnic School of Gandia (EPSG)
Gandia, Spain
Degree obtained with honors in: Fundamentals of Acoustics, Acoustic Isolation, Musical Acoustics, Signal Processing in Acoustic Engineering, Ultrasonics and Acoustic Simulation Techniques.
Final Master's thesis entitled Difusores acústicos basados en resonadores de membrana y placa ('Acoustic diffusers based on membrane and plate resonators'), qualified with honors with special mention.
Diploma Academic record

Certificates

Occupational Health and Safety 8

Generic · Nanomaterials · Chemical sector · Emergencies · Nutrition · Educational · Services · Researcher

Transversal competences 8

Gender perspective · Teamwork · Design Thinking · Critical Thinking · Adaptability, flexibility and agility · Workplace autonomy and innovation, initiative and creativity · Improving professional efficiency · Entrepreneur gender perspective

Labor/Industrial 5

Op. Industrial trucks · Food Hygiene Course · Self-protection plans · Static electricity · Data privacy

Information technology 3

Using Python for Research · Analyzing Data With Python · Visualizing Data with Python