About
Engineering For Startups (EFS) is focused on one thing: building tools that hardware startups actually need. We believe hardware development shouldn't be held back by outdated workflows, and we're committed to open-source solutions that make a real difference.
Location
We are based in North County San Diego, California.
San Diego is home to one of the deepest concentrations of hardware engineering talent in the world — from wireless and medical device pioneers at Qualcomm, NuVasive, and Illumina to the defense and aerospace ecosystem around General Atomics and Northrop Grumman. Being here means we're connected to a deep network of contract manufacturers, test labs, and specialized suppliers that most hardware startups don't have access to. It also means we can recruit from a talent pool shaped by UCSD, SDSU, and Cal Poly SLO — graduates who understand systems engineering, not just software.
Our team
We are a team of mechanical, electrical, firmware, and software engineers specializing in complex electromechanical systems. From concept through production, we bring deep domain expertise across the full hardware stack — sensors, actuation, embedded control, connectivity, and cloud integration.
Members
Carl Demolder
CEO
Carl Demolder has more than a decade of experience building complex electromechanical products that utilized advanced sensors. Prior industry experience at Oura, Apple, and Novo Engineering. Has a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from The Georgia Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from The University of California, San Diego.
Throughout his career, Carl has led cross-functional teams through the full product lifecycle — from early architecture and prototyping through design for manufacturing and high-volume production. His work spans consumer wearables, health sensing platforms, and precision electromechanical systems, giving him a deep understanding of what it takes to bring complex hardware to market.
Nick Boring
Electrical Engineer
Highly driven Electrical Engineer with a wide variety of experience helping design, implement, and drive product development for Biomedical, Medical, Industrial, and Consumer electronics through the product development cycle according to IEC 60601 standards in an ISO 13485 quality management system.
Nick brings deep expertise in board-level design, system integration, and regulatory compliance for safety-critical products. He has taken multiple products from concept through FDA-cleared medical devices, managing the full electrical engineering scope — including schematic capture, layout review, prototyping, verification testing, and design transfer to manufacturing. His background spans low-power embedded systems, sensor signal chains, motor control, and wireless connectivity across Bluetooth, WiFi, and cellular platforms. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the California Polytechnic State University — San Luis Obispo.