Shams M. Monem
العربية

Computer Systems Engineer · Cairo, Egypt

From transistorsto the cloud.

I’m a computer systems engineer who works on every layer of the stack. I design digital hardware in SystemVerilog, from CPU architectures and high-speed interfaces to specialized accelerators, build bare-metal firmware, embedded C libraries and RTOSes for ARM, and develop the event-driven backends, web and mobile apps that real businesses run on. Need a specialist? Pick a layer. Need someone who sees the whole system? That’s my favorite job.

Right now I could be building a CPU core

See my workGet in touch
140+
technologies
16
projects shipped & built
8
layers of the stack
4+
years leading at Surge
Shams M. Monem

The joker card

One engineer. Every layer.

Most engineers pick a layer and stay there. I keep going down until I hit silicon, and up until I hit the user. Every layer below is backed by something I actually built.

  1. L8

    Teaching & Content

    YouTube Content CreationTeachingPresentationCommunication

    ProofA bilingual YouTube channel on digital design & electronics

  2. L7

    Mobile & Frontend

    FlutterDartReact.jsTypeScriptTailwind CSSAndroid

    ProofAl-Abgady, published on Google Play & the App Store

  3. L6

    Backend & Distributed Systems

    Spring BootFastAPIRabbitMQNode.jsOdoo ERPPostgreSQLRedis

    ProofEvent-driven platforms at Surge Technologies

  4. L5

    DevOps & Infrastructure

    DockerDocker ComposeNginxLinuxCoolifyGit

    ProofEvery service I ship runs in containers I deploy

  5. L4

    Firmware & RTOS

    CC++ARM AssemblyRTOSARM Cortex-MRust

    ProofAn RTOS written from scratch for STM32

  6. L3

    Computer Architecture

    RISC-VComputer ArchitectureRISCJTAGOpenOCD

    ProofA pipelined RISC-V SoC that OpenOCD can debug

  7. L2

    RTL Design & Verification

    SystemVerilogVerilogUVMRTL designFPGA (Gowin Tang Nano 9K)CDC/RDC analysisFormal VerificationSTA

    ProofAES accelerator verified with UVM, sponsored by STMicroelectronics

  8. L1

    Electronics & PCB

    PCB DesignPCB FabricationElectronics SolderingElectronicsOscilloscopesEagle CADFDM 3D Printing

    ProofSmartha: home-made PCBs, awarded in 2020

Selected work

Things I’m proud of

A crypto accelerator integrated into an ARM SoC, a CPU that answers a debugger, an RTOS written from zero, and an app my grandfather’s book lives in.

PRJ-01Graduation Project, Sponsored by STMicroelectronics Egypt

HW Implementation and Verification for Crypto Engine Accelerator

  • Surveyed 500+ papers and co-developed 4 novel, area-efficient lightweight AES state-array architectures, personally architecting one variant.
  • Collaboratively implemented and verified the RTL core in SystemVerilog using a UVM testbench with directed and constrained-random testing for functional coverage closure.
  • Integrated the accelerator onto an ARM Cortex-M0 AHB bus, successfully bringing up the full SoC and debugging hardware-software execution with bare-metal C drivers.
Digital DesignVerilogSystemVerilogFPGA (Xilinx)CMOSARM AssemblyCComputer Architecture
PRJ-02Personal Project, Open Source, In Progress

Linux-Capable RISC-V SoC on FPGA

  • Designing a hazard-free 5-stage pipelined RV32 core with data forwarding in synthesizable SystemVerilog, with the goal of booting Linux.
  • Built a simple bus interconnect for easy peripheral integration, with CLINT timer interrupts (PLIC in progress).
  • Implemented a JTAG Debug Transport Module; OpenOCD successfully examines the core through a Raspberry Pi Zero used as a bit-banged JTAG adapter.
  • Synthesized on a Gowin GW1NR-9C (Tang Nano 9K) FPGA.
RISC-VComputer ArchitectureRISCDigital DesignSystemVerilogRTL designFPGA (Gowin Tang Nano 9K)JTAG
Source
PRJ-03Personal Project, Open Source

Custom STM32 RTOS with bare metal C++ libraries built from scratch

  • Developed RTOS (in ARM assembly) from scratch using a scheduler for STM32F103XB chip.
  • Developed bare metal libraries for many peripherals including GPIO, IIC, SPI, Timers, UARTs, and more.
  • Bundled easy to use Makefile and CMakeLists.
Embedded SystemsARMARM AssemblyDigital DesignRTOS
Source
PRJ-04Personal Project, for my grandfather

Al-Abgady for Quran Word Meanings

  • A simple application with options for Arabic and English languages, that translates most common Quranic words into easier language.
  • Uses a SQLite database with over 4000+ different meanings, imported from a book written and collected by my grandfather that is searchable in an easy way.
  • First app to upload to Apple Store (published to Google Play Store).
DartSQLFlutterGoogle Play ConsoleApple Developer
Visit

Experience

Surge Technologies

Ignite your excellence with seamless solutions.

An Egyptian computer engineering and consulting company built on modern open-source technology. It’s where my biggest systems ship, from real-time platforms to ERP integrations, and where I lead engineering end to end.

Lead Full-Stack & Systems Engineer2022 — Present Cairo, Egyptsurge.com.eg
  • Architect end-to-end distributed software systems, leading technical design and cross-platform implementation across web, mobile, and backend microservices.
  • Design resilient, event-driven backends using Spring Boot, FastAPI, and RabbitMQ, driving decoupled service communication and seamless integration with Odoo ERP cores.
  • Lead frontend and client application engineering across Flutter and React.js, delivering high-performance cross-platform interfaces and embedded media/IoT clients.
  • Lead technical client demos and oversee containerized service deployments using Docker and Nginx for dependable production rollouts.

Highlights

Advertising Platform

Worked on a real time advertising platform for mobile vehicles, that shows ads based on geographical location and advertisement campaigns.

Contributed to the development and evolution of a large-scale advertising platform, gaining experience across a system maintained and continuously enhanced over more than three years.

PHPJavaRabbitMQNode.jsJTestDocker ComposeDockerPython

Odoo ERP integrations

Event-driven services that plug business workflows into Odoo ERP cores, decoupled through RabbitMQ.

Odoo ERPPythonRabbitMQFastAPIDocker

6+ organizations served through Surge

Skill explorer

Hire me as…

Pick a role. The skills and projects re-arrange around it, using the same data my CV is generated from.

140 skillsTip: click any skill to see where I used it.

Languages

Fundamentals

Computer Science

Electrical Engineering

Digital Design

Teaching

Platforms

Protocols & Interfaces

Software

Frameworks

Tools

Soft Skills

Matching projects (13)

  • HW Implementation and Verification for Crypto Engine Accelerator

    Graduation Project, Sponsored by STMicroelectronics Egypt

    Surveyed 500+ papers and co-developed 4 novel, area-efficient lightweight AES state-array architectures, personally architecting one variant.

    Digital DesignVerilogSystemVerilogFPGA (Xilinx)CMOSARM AssemblyCComputer ArchitectureRTL designFSMsCryptography

  • Linux-Capable RISC-V SoC on FPGA

    Source ↗

    Personal Project, Open Source, In Progress

    Designing a hazard-free 5-stage pipelined RV32 core with data forwarding in synthesizable SystemVerilog, with the goal of booting Linux.

    RISC-VComputer ArchitectureRISCDigital DesignSystemVerilogRTL designFPGA (Gowin Tang Nano 9K)JTAGOpenOCD

  • Custom 4-bit Computer on a Breadboard

    Source ↗

    Personal Project, Hobby

    Designed and implemented a Turing-complete 4-bit computer using 74-series ICs.

    Circuit DesignDigital DesignZ80 AssemblyFPGA (Gowin Tang Nano 9K)Verilog

  • Al-Abgady for Quran Word Meanings

    Visit ↗

    Personal Project, for my grandfather

    A simple application with options for Arabic and English languages, that translates most common Quranic words into easier language.

    DartSQLFlutterGoogle Play ConsoleApple Developer

  • Madinaty Bus Schedule

    Visit ↗

    Business Project, for my community

    Buses schedule for Madinaty Buses.

    DartRESTful APIsFlutterGoogle Play ConsoleApple Developer

  • SD-Card Controller

    Source ↗

    Personal Project, Hobby

    Developed a half-duplex SPI master controller (Mode 0) and an SDIO controller for SD-card communication.

    Digital DesignSPISDIOFPGA (Gowin Tang Nano 9K)VerilogSystemVerilog

Beyond the code

Learning out loud

Education

Bachelor of Science in Computer & Systems Engineering

Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

Fall 2021 — Spring 2026

Certifications

AI-900 Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals

Microsoft Certification · August, 2023

YouTube

YouTube channel

Tutorials in Arabic and English on digital design, electronics and the stuff in between.

Watch shamsmm.com

Blog

A place to preserve what I learn and engrave what I build into words. It’s been quiet here for a while, but not for much longer. I’ll be back soon, with lessons learned, systems explored, and projects worth documenting.

Read

Off the clock

When I’m free

  • Photography & CinematographyBehind the shot

    Photography & Cinematography

    Shooting stills and video on my Canon EOS R50, from macro shots of circuit boards to cinematic video.

  • Retro Gaming

    Retro Gaming

    Classics like DOOM, Warcraft, Duke Nukem 3D and Chicken Invaders (the DOS ones via DOSBox), which I enjoy both as games and as feats of engineering.

  • Cycling

    Getting out on two wheels to clear my head between builds.

  • Running

    Running to keep the mind as sharp as the code.

Contact

Let’s build something, any layer.

Hiring, collaborating, or just curious how a JTAG TAP works? My inbox is open.

Request my CVMy full CV is shared on request, so I know who’s reading it.