Welcome to My Portfolio!

Hello! I'm Matt Krueger, an engineer who enjoys building systems that improve humanity's coexistence with technology. I am a Midwest native, spending my formative years in Wisconsin, my high school and university years in Iowa, and now starting my post-grad career in Minnesota. Born to two teachers in the K-12 education system, I was instilled with the importance of continuous learning and creativity at a young age. Some of my hobbies as a young child were building LEGOs, grinding Khan Academy badges, and playing Minecraft. My youth was also marked by many years of competitive sports, which taught me the importance of practice and teamwork: baseball (2 years), tennis (2 years), basketball (2 years), swimming (4 years), and soccer (10 years).

I always wanted to be an engineer but did not know which discipline to choose. During high school, I took as many advanced courses as possible, studying chemistry, physics, and mathematics to gain a broad sense of what some engineering disciplines may entail. However, none of these classes really piqued my interest. It wasn't until I built a gaming computer at age 15 that my eyes were opened to computer engineering. At this time in my life, I had high hopes of becoming a professional Fortnite player, competing in online tournaments and earning money through 1v1 wagers. I treated the game as a sport, devising an intense training schedule to master my craft. At my peak, I could win matches with ease, win solo-squad matches, regularly achieve 20 eliminations, and held a 300+ win/2 loss record against opponents in a competitive 1v1 community. What held me back from becoming a true professional was my lack of computer knowledge. I did not do proper research before purchasing computer parts; I thought you could assemble any CPU, GPU, RAM, and Disk, turn the computer on, and be good to go. Not knowing the effects these poorly selected parts would have on performance, I built an antiquated computer for the processing power required in late-game tournament scenarios which required the GPU to process upwards of 40 players and thousands of structures. In these scenarios, my i3 CPU and RX580 GPU machine simply could not compete with machines multiple generations newer. The desire to squeeze every bit of processing power from my limited computer led to do research into computer parts and gain a high-level understanding about computer hardware basics. I learned about RAM types, CPU vs GPU processing, and caching optimizing both the firmware and running software that improved game performance. Although I no longer play any video games, my “what-if” career in professional Fortnite ultimately led me to major in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Iowa with a focus on computer hardware.

My college years were busy, developing software part-time at John Deere (5 semesters) and FarrPro (1 semester) while juggling engineering and mathematics coursework. Having grown as an engineer alongside the rise and adoption of Artificial Intelligence and LLM-enabled coding tools, I challenged myself to learn engineering that is harder to automate: 3D Modeling and electronics. I purchased a 3D printer and taught myself CAD to elevate my projects and enrolled in cross-disciplinary EE/CSE courses to build a strong theoretical foundation in electronics. Apart from school and work, I enjoyed participating in intramural soccer and basketball, playing poker, and exploring Iowa City's bars and restaurants with friends. I would be lying if I said that my college years did not challenge me; every week felt like a balancing act, and there were many times I lost my footing. However, by combining my academic studies, industry experience, and perseverance through setbacks, I have built a solid foundation for future engineering success.

Currently, I am working in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area as a Service Controls Engineer for TruNorth Automation. Here, I am gaining hands-on experience working with precision industrial robots and vision systems to automate the creation of medical device parts. During my free time I enjoy spending time with friends and family, staying active, cutting hair, and enhancing my engineering skills through projects, books, and courses. My current interests lie in robotics for industrial and mission-critical applications.