Meet JKI Team: Henry Sillin

I'm Henry Sillin, Staff Project Engineer at JKI. I help scientists and engineers transform experimental LabVIEW code into production-ready systems that are reliable, maintainable, and aligned with their business goals.

I got started with LabVIEW and NI products during my PhD at UCLA, where we used these resources to investigate electrical properties of atomic switch networks. I was drawn to LabVIEW because the applications tend to be at the interface of computers and the real world - it’s rewarding to see a software project measure and interact with it’s surroundings.

I specialize in building modular systems that adapt quickly to changing requirements. I also evaluate each customers needs to bring the right balance of rapid prototyping and rigorously tested, scalable code to production standards. Some in the research space need to rapidly prototype and iterate on evolving designs. Other clients in aerospace or medical devices need rigorously tested, stable platforms from day one. At JKI, I evaluate each customers needs to bring the right balance of experimental innovation and rigorously tested, scalable code to production standards.

Some clients need flexibility - when my team developed the Gigamat Wafer Sorter, we started with a flexible, modular architecture to begin with safe, slow wafer movement and progressively optimized to 300 wafers/hour as we understood the system better. I design architectures that match the project's actual constraints, not a one-size-fits-all template.

I also enjoy developing FPGA and GPU algorithms to improve performance and expand on an instrument’s capabilities. Each project brings new technical challenges (instrument drivers, communication protocols, architecture designs) and new partnerships with engineers solving genuinely novel problems. I work for clients in aerospace testing, semiconductor manufacturing, flow cytometry, and more.

I earned my CLA in 2018 but continue learning from the creative applications our customers develop. At JKI, I'm part of a team that goes beyond executing requirements - we understand your business model and objectives to deliver solutions better than what you initially envisioned.