Embedded / IoT Engineer
Embedded and IoT engineers work at the boundary of hardware and software. This path covers the specialised English for technical specifications, hardware protocols, firmware documentation, and communicating hardware constraints to software teams.
Topics covered
- Microcontrollers & SoCs
- Real-time OS (RTOS)
- Hardware protocols
- Firmware & drivers
- Power management
- IoT platforms & connectivity
Vocabulary spotlight
4 terms every Embedded / IoT Engineer should know in English:
A hardware or software signal that stops the processor to handle a higher-priority event
"We handle the temperature sensor reading in a hardware interrupt to ensure real-time response."
A hardware timer that resets the system if the software becomes unresponsive
"The watchdog timer reboots the device if the main loop stalls for more than 5 seconds."
Direct Memory Access — transfer between memory and peripherals without CPU intervention
"Using DMA for ADC transfers reduced CPU load from 40% to 2%."
The total energy available to a device and how it is allocated across components
"The power budget only allows 10mA for the radio, so we use the lowest transmit power setting."
📚 Vocabulary Reference
Key terms organised by category for Embedded / IoT Engineers:
Hardware Fundamentals
Protocols
RTOS
IoT & Connectivity
Recommended exercises
Real-world scenarios you'll practise
- Explaining a firmware bug that causes intermittent resets to a cross-functional team
- Writing a hardware specification for a custom PCB design
- Presenting power consumption profiling results to product management
- Documenting UART and SPI bus communication protocols for an integration partner
🎯 Interview questions specific to this role
Practise answering these questions out loud — or in writing. Each question targets a real interviewer concern for Embedded / IoT Engineers.
- What is the difference between a microcontroller and a microprocessor?
- How do you handle resource contention in a real-time operating system?
- What are the trade-offs between I2C and SPI protocols?
- How do you debug intermittent firmware issues without a debugger?
- Walk me through your process for optimising a device to run on battery for 6 months.