1. Michael A. Ploof
Address: 3069 Caminito Sagunto Telephone: (858) 775-2024
Del Mar, CA 92014 Email: mploof@mac.com
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
Goal:
Utilize the knowledge and skills I have acquired throughout my career in an engineering environment to help grow the
capabilities of the organization.
Prominent Skills:
Offer a unique proficiency – understanding and managing product flow from conception through design to production across
multiple disciplines of engineering, technical marketing and user applications. Key skills are in design engineering, management,
technical marketing and applications interfacing.
Extensive experience includes:
- Hardware (HW) design engineering (RF, analog and digital circuitry)
- Engineering management including HW / system design, PCB layout, Lab, and applications
- Engineering lab design, set-up, equipment definition, procurement and staffing
- Program / project management across all engineering disciplines
- Engaging with prominent global customers to ensure designs and end-products meet their requirements
- Integral player in early-stage start-ups and public companies
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
ENTROPIC COMMUNICATIONS, INC., San Diego, CA 2007 – Present
Fabless semiconductor company with emphasis on Home Networking, Satellite channel stacking (CSS)
and Set Top Box SoC’s integrated circuits
Sr. Manager, Hardware Engineering
o Manage 22 engineers within US and China (Design, PCB layout and Lab testing engineers)
o Implementing company / worldwide HW design flow process standardizing methodologies, tools and interaction
across multiple engineering disciplines and departments.
o Allocating personnel with right talent set to meet aggressive schedules with limited resources.
o Designing multiple hardware platforms:
 Design verification testing (DVT) boards, Software (SW) development platforms, reference designs and turn-key
customer/OEM designs.
 Designs include all aspects from generation of a Functional Specification, Design, PCB layout, Fabrication,
Assembly, First Article Testing (FAT) to releasing into production.
o Evaluating Marketing Requirements Document (MRD) and provide necessary inputs to define the HW specifications
which meet the needs of engineering, marketing / applications and the customer’s ultimate goals.
o Defining annual operating plan (AOP) including headcount and Capital Expenditures.
o Project Management:
 Assignment in lead role of project. Typical project is hardware centric, focused towards critical revenue producing
design defined by key customers (turn-key).

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 Review of requirements and assembling team to move forward. Teams include HW, SW, System integration
testing, Comm systems and Operations engineering.
 Generate schedule for project with intermediate milestones for tracking progress.
 Driving project to successful completion.
o Development Lab, Production Testing management:
 Test bench set-ups for chip-back evaluation/validation
 Automation of production level testing of HW prior to distribution to engineering groups
 Scheduling, prioritization of testing stations and resources to meet overall milestones of projects
Notable accomplishments
o Demand for internal HW designs increased dramatically resulting in increased cost of over $1.5 million a year.
 Implementing modular design to evaluation platforms allowing for small, lower cost changes to be made to sub-
assemblies vs. entire redesign, enabling the reuse of ~75% of existing design.
o Manage turn-key designs from conception into high volume production for Fortune 500 customers:
 Involvement at earliest stages of customer engagement ensuring product meets all customer specifications and
expectations.
 Implementing tightly coordinated team including internal engineering groups (locally and overseas) and the end-
customers’ design team.
o Implementing strategy to consolidate engineering bring-up board design along with early access partner (EAP)
product design requirements within same platform.
 50% reduction in time to market for company IC’s and customer product.
 Unknown IC/SW/HW design issues uncovered, resolved at very early stages of the project.
 Leveraging follow-on design wins with initial platform speeding up engagement with other tier one partners.
o Implementing standardized HW design work flow across HW engineering worldwide.
 Allows for putting right skills on right project dramatically increasing productivity.
 Enabled dynamic allocation or resources based on company priorities. Engineers can readily be moved in and
out of a given project regardless of product line or resource location.
RF MAGIC (merged with Entropic Communications Inc.), San Diego, CA 2001 – 2007
Start-up fabless semiconductor company with focus on highly integrated RF IC’s; Tuners (cable, OTA
and satellite), WiMax transceivers (up to 5 GHz) and analog channel stacking switch (aCSS) for DBS
service providers.
- Joined RF Magic at start-up stage. Responsible for everything including setting up new lab, hiring HW design
engineering staff, designing of IC DVT, evaluation boards and customer specific HW designs.
- Defining and implementing infrastructure / process for; internal components part numbering, HW design flow, ECN
releasing, procurement and purchasing materials, and use of contractors.
- Set up internal PCB layout group and methodologies for generating schematics, PCB layout guidelines, and qualifying
FAB and assembly houses.
- Functioned in role of technical marketing. Traveling extensively world-wide with product line managers to demonstrate
products to engineering management of lead customers.
- Set up application engineering group and processes.
o Hiring included HW design, SW integration and Field Engineers.
o Implementation of customer portal allowing dissemination of collateral in organized manner to customers.
o Worked with marketing to clearly define project and customer priorities.
o Defined guidelines for applications involvement with customers as well as ownership of deliverables/collateral.
o Assisted in defining next generation products to be designed, continue staying ahead of the competition while
maintaining tight customer engagement / relationships.

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CONEXANT, San Diego, CA (Spin-off of Rockwell) 1997 – 2001
Makers of Silicon Tuners, Demodulators and RF/Analog front ends
- R&D Engineer focused on Satellite tuner/demodulator systems and digital cable technologies.
Comstream Corporation, San Diego, CA (acquired by Rockwell Semiconductor) 1992 – 1997
Design of Digital/QAM/RF system engineering
- Hi-Media R&D engineer, Technical expert for marketing. Focused on QAM and digital transition of cable signals.
Ocean Applied Research, San Diego, CA 1985 – 1992
Design and manufacture of Radio direction finding systems
- Design engineer: R&D, Design, Technical lead and customer interface. Full radio, antenna and system design.
US Navy 1979 – 1985
- Electronic Technician (E6), honorable discharge.
EDUCATION
- BSEE San Diego State University
- UCSD LAMP (Leadership and Management Program)