Engineer in Training @ Thomas Ruth Electrical

JACOB
DREYER

I design and build where hardware meets software — control panels and functional safety systems on one end, embedded devices and cloud pipelines on the other.

// based in London, Ontario

Portrait of Jacob Dreyer

About Me

I’m Jacob — a software engineer who likes working where software meets hardware. I earned my Bachelor of Engineering Science in Software Engineering from Western University, and I’m now an Engineer in Training at Thomas Ruth Electrical, where I work on network infrastructure, design and drawings for control systems and functional safety, and get out in the field for installation work.

Before that I spent two internships at Umicore building industrial automation: PLC and HMI control systems, computer vision for part classification, and Python tooling that saved the team over a month of manual data entry. Whether it’s a control panel, an embedded system, or a cloud pipeline, I like building things that hold up in the real world — designed carefully, documented properly, and built to last.

Skills

Languages

  • Python
  • Java
  • JavaScript
  • TypeScript
  • C#
  • C++
  • C
  • SQL
  • HTML
  • CSS
  • MATLAB
  • Assembly
  • VB

Frameworks & Libraries

  • React.js
  • Express.js
  • Node.js
  • REST APIs
  • TensorFlow
  • ASP.NET Core
  • Django
  • GraphQL
  • JWT
  • Vite

Development Tools

  • Git
  • AWS
  • GCP
  • Docker
  • Kubernetes
  • Azure DevOps
  • MS SQL Server
  • MongoDB

Standards & Codes

  • IEC 61508 Functional Safety
  • IEC 61511 Safety Instrumented Systems
  • ULC S524 Fire Alarm Installation
  • CSA B149 Gas Code
  • Ontario Electrical Code

Specialties

  • PLC & HMI Programming
  • Control System Design & Drawings
  • Functional Safety Design
  • Network Infrastructure
  • Computer Vision / ML
  • Industrial Automation
  • Full-Stack Web Development

Work Experience

select a role for the full details

  • Design and produce drawings for industrial control systems and functional safety systems, working to standards including IEC 61508 and IEC 61511.
  • Plan and carry out network infrastructure work — designing, building out, and documenting the networks that industrial control systems run on.
  • Support installation work in the field, seeing designs through from the drawing to the finished install.
  • Work alongside licensed electricians and senior engineers, building the practical experience hours toward a P.Eng. licence.
  • Control Systems
  • Functional Safety
  • Network Infrastructure
  • Design & Drawings
  • Installation
  • IEC 61508 / 61511
  • Led a team of 11 through a data migration and system implementation, writing Python automation scripts that cut more than a month of manual data entry.
  • Designed, developed, and trained computer vision systems in C# with machine learning to detect and classify diverse part types, improving identification accuracy and automation efficiency.
  • Designed and implemented a hardware system — an offline laser station with a camera system to print and grade part codes — that reduced daily downtime by over 4 hours.
  • Built SQL-driven tooling for database transfer plus automated label generation and grading.
  • Engineered a complete PLC and HMI control solution for a ball mill system, coordinating equipment automation, sensor feedback, and operator interfaces to improve process reliability.
  • Provided critical IT and production support under tight time constraints, keeping downtime minimal on critical equipment.
  • Python
  • C#
  • SQL
  • PLC / HMI
  • Computer Vision
  • Machine Learning
  • Industrial Automation
  • Led monthly training sessions for 150+ employees, translating safety concepts into clear, engaging presentations that drove adoption of best practices.
  • Gathered and synthesized employee feedback to inform updates to safety policies, procedures, and tools, collaborating with stakeholders on usability and adoption.
  • Developed and improved operational documentation with cross-functional teams, improving clarity, standardization, and knowledge transfer.
  • Safety Training
  • Technical Documentation
  • Stakeholder Collaboration

Projects

select a project for the full breakdown

  • Built an AI-driven system that automatically extracts key sustainability and ESG metrics from complex, unorganized corporate reports, cutting manual data processing.
  • Partnered with stakeholders to turn requirements into user stories, and designed a modular architecture covering ingestion, processing, model inference, and structured output.
  • Implemented an evaluation framework to benchmark multiple AI solutions on accuracy, latency, and integration complexity.
  • Leveraged AWS and GCP services — including Amazon Textract — to automate document ingestion, OCR, and data extraction in a scalable pipeline.
  • Architected a PostgreSQL database layer and chatbot interface so users can query extracted ESG metrics, with configurable rules standardizing metric calculation.
  • AI / LLM
  • AWS
  • GCP
  • Amazon Textract
  • PostgreSQL
  • OCR
  • Programmed and maintain an accessible website built around inclusive design principles and custom accessibility tools.
  • Implemented announcements, event registration, and real-time chat on the MERN stack so users can interact securely with the organization.
  • Implemented secure Single Sign-On with Google Identity Services — streamlining access, tightening security, and improving accessibility for users of varying technical ability.
  • Partnered directly with the client through an agile process to gather requirements, iterate on features, and validate the result with ongoing stakeholder feedback.
  • MERN Stack
  • MongoDB
  • Express
  • React
  • Node.js
  • Google SSO
  • Accessibility
  • Agile
  • Developed and trained a multi-class image classification model with Python and TensorFlow to sort waste into compost, landfill, and recycling.
  • Experimented with multiple CNN architectures and tuned hyperparameters to reach 80% accuracy on held-out validation data.
  • Integrated the model into a real-time classification system with confidence scoring, giving users immediate feedback while disposing of waste.
  • Python
  • TensorFlow
  • CNNs
  • Computer Vision
  • Extracted and analyzed CAN bus signals from a production vehicle using an Arduino-based embedded system.
  • Translated raw ECU data into structured signals for dashboard visualization and system-level understanding of the vehicle’s network.
  • Arduino
  • CAN Bus
  • Embedded Systems
  • C/C++

Education

Bachelor of Engineering Science — Software Engineering

Western University · London, ON · Graduated April 2026

Dean’s Honor List · Years 2 & 3

selected coursework — select a course for details

The TCP/IP stack, routing and switching, addressing, and network design — the foundation for the network infrastructure work I do today at Thomas Ruth Electrical.

Programming microcontrollers close to the metal: hardware/software interfacing, peripherals, and real-time constraints. Put straight to work in the CAN bus dashboard project.

Test design and strategy — unit, integration, and system testing, coverage analysis, and automated test frameworks.

Distributed systems, virtualization, and building scalable deployments on cloud platforms — applied hands-on with AWS and GCP in the RBC sustainability extractor.

AC/DC circuit analysis, components, and electrical fundamentals — the theory behind the electrical work I do today.

Processor architecture, assembly language programming, and interfacing with external hardware.

Processes and threads, scheduling, memory management, and concurrency — the machinery running underneath every program.

Full-stack web development — front-end frameworks, back-end services, and the protocols that tie them together. The foundation for the MERN-stack client work.

The rendering pipeline, geometric transformations, and shading — the math that turns models into pixels.

Scheduling, risk management, and agile delivery — keeping a job on time and on budget, whether it’s software or a site install.

Resume

Jacob-Dreyer-Resume.pdf · 1 page · 78 KB

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Contact

Have a project in mind, or just want to connect? Reach out any time.