Full-Time
Firmware Engineer
WindBorne Systems
51-200 employees
Atmospheric data collection via controllable balloons
Compensation Overview
$100k - $200k/yr
San Carlos, CA, USA
In Person
 Software Engineering (1) |
|---|
- Experience programming, shipping, and maintaining hardware in a real-world setting.
- Must be excited by rapid iteration more than trying to perfectly plan ahead of time
- Fluent in C/C++ and Python.
- Should have experience writing low-level drivers for a number of various chips.
- Should be comfortable reading PCB schematics and doing some electrical engineering design work
- Be able to form hypothesis and run experiments about the behaviour of the system
- Must be an effective communicator, able to cut through misunderstandings to the core of an issue and reason about tradeoffs in complex multidisciplinary spaces
- Excellent debugging skills in complex settings
- Develop and maintain drivers & low level libraries for new chips, modules, & sensors
- Own our custom open source RTOS hardware abstraction layer, Amslah. It has many custom features made for our unique application (I’m excited to tell you about them!) but but requires hardening and architecture refinements as we scale
- Push the limits of our custom sensor hardware & calibration infrastructure, ensuring our GSBs are power optimized & survive extreme cold beyond subcomponent specifications.
- Work closely with people doing R&D on novel hardware as we seek to improve the accuracy of our meteorological measurements.
- Design fault-tolerant systems that can recover gracefully from unexpected conditions
- Debug highly non-trivial issues across hardware and software
- Experience with FPGAs and HDL
- Knowledge of RF systems and wireless protocols
- Degree in Computer Science/Electrical Engineering or related field
- Stellar understanding of undergrad level physics
WindBorne Systems collects and sells atmospheric data using a fleet of specialized, controllable balloons. These balloons navigate through different layers of the atmosphere to capture specific data "slices" repeatedly, providing 10 to 100 times more information per dollar than traditional methods. Unlike static sensors or standard weather balloons, this system can be steered to specific altitudes and locations globally to meet the needs of weather forecasters and climate researchers. The company's goal is to provide a more cost-effective and comprehensive way to monitor the Earth's atmosphere at scale.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
Series A
Total Funding
$21M
Headquarters
Palo Alto, California
Founded
2015
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- $15M Series A funding accelerates 10,000-balloon constellation by 2028.
- NOAA, Air Force contracts ensure stable data-as-a-service revenue streams.
- Re/insurers adopt WeatherMesh for precise risk assessment and loss mitigation.
What critics are saying
- Google DeepMind's GraphCast 2.0 surpasses WeatherMesh in 6-12 months.
- NOAA's aerostat drones eliminate WindBorne contracts in 12-18 months.
- FAA airspace rules ground 70% of fleet after collision in 3-6 months.
What makes WindBorne Systems unique
- Controllable balloons collect 150x more data per dollar than traditional methods.
- Atlas constellation delivers real-time profiles from surface to stratosphere globally.
- WeatherMesh AI surpasses GraphCast for most accurate medium-range forecasts.
Help us improve and share your feedback! Did you find this helpful?
Benefits
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Unlimited Paid Time Off
401(k) Company Match
Stock Options
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↓ -1%1 year growth
↑ 2%2 year growth
↓ -4%Object that hit United flight's windshield may have been weather balloon, company says. (NEW YORK) - A United Airlines flight diverted to Salt Lake City last week after an object struck the plane's windshield at 36,000 feet, causing it to crack and injuring the pilot, according to the airline and officials. Amid the mystery of what could have hit the plane's windshield, on Monday night, WindBorne Systems, a long-duration smart weather balloon company, released a statement saying the object that hit and cracked United flight's windshield may have been a weather balloon from the company. The company said it is working with FAA and the NTSB on the investigation. "We are working closely with the FAA on this matter. We immediately rolled out changes to minimize time spent between 30,000 and 40,000 feet. These changes are already live with immediate effect. Additionally, we are further accelerating our plans to use live flight data to autonomously avoid planes, even if the planes are at a non-standard altitude. We are also actively working on new hardware designs to further reduce impact force magnitude and concentration," WindBorne said in a statement. The windshield is being transported to the National Transportation Safety Board's laboratory as the investigation continues. Data from flight tracking website Flight Radar24 shows the plane was 36,000 feet in the air when an object hit the windshield. The flight then descended to a lower altitude, following standard protocol, before making an emergency landing at Utah's Salt Lake City International Airport. "This is an extraordinary situation in terms of the glass being able to create any damage at all to the people in the cockpit, and what it might have hit at 36,000 feet. That's really the great puzzle," said ABC News aviation analyst John Nance. Aircraft windshields are designed with multiple layers to be able to sustain damage caused by things like a bird strike, weather or even debris, but experts say it's rare for it to be a bird strike that high in the sky. "You're talking about a bird at that altitude. It's very, very rare to say the least, you're talking about maybe a drone, a weather balloon, anything of that nature that has enough mass to be able to cause this kind of shattering," said Nance. United Airlines said the Boeing 737-MAX 8 with 134 passengers landed safely in Utah "to address damage to its multilayered windshield." Officials said the pilot was treated for minor injuries. Heather Ramsey, a college student and a passenger onboard, said she first noticed something was weird about 50 minutes into the flight, even before any announcements, when she overheard one of the flight attendants sharply raising her voice and telling the other to stop the service and get to the back of the cabin. Shortly after, Ramsey said the pilot made an announcement of the flight diverting. "The aircraft has collided with an object and a window in the cockpit has shattered, so we need to make an emergency landing in Salt Lake City," Ramsey told ABC News, recalling the pilot's message. The airline said passengers were accommodated on another aircraft to Los Angeles later that day and United is working with its team to return the plane to service.
Mobile, Ala. - The Alabama School of Math and Science (ASMS) is partnering with WindBorne Systems to launch weather balloons from its Midtown Mobile campus into Hurricane Milton on Wednesday at 9:00 a.m.
WindBorne has also partnered with the U.S. Air Force (the 557th Weather Wing, 16th Weather Squadron, and the Air Force Lifecycle Management Center) to develop AI forecasting solutions that are already outperforming top AI weather models, including Huawei's Pangu-Weather AI model and Google's GraphCast.
WindBorne Systems, known for its extensive atmospheric sensing system and highly accurate AI weather model, has announced $15M in a Series A
WindBorne raises $15M in Series A funding.