Controls & Software Engineer — Troy, MI
Atef Elsharkawy
I design, program, and validate the automation that builds vehicles and EV batteries, and I build AI software that lets engineers audit designs in minutes instead of hours.
- Currently
- Controls Engineer, General Motors
- Studying
- MSc Artificial Intelligence, University of Leeds (expected 2027)
At a glance
- Years in automation
- 5+
- Automotive, EV battery, and process industries
- Fewer recurring alarms
- 50%
- From production and downtime data analysis at GM
- Automated tests
- 1,200+
- Behind the AI design-audit platform I built
- Certifications & trainings
- 11
- GM, Rockwell, Siemens, EPLAN, FANUC, Zebra Matrox
01Selected work
Projects I'm proud of
Three projects from my work at General Motors, spanning AI software, robotics, and EV battery automation. Each one opens into a full case study.
- 01
AI Electrical Design-Audit Platform
A platform I built as sole developer, available to all GM Automation engineers and suppliers, that reads electrical drawings and flags issues such as power supply overloads and missing safety devices.
General Motors · AI & Software
- 02
Robotic Final Line Automation
Automating a manual final line at GM with new-to-industry robotics, Atlas Copco tightening, feeders, net form and pierce, and gap-and-flush cameras.
General Motors · Robotics & Automation
- 03
EV Battery Mini-Stack Automation Validation
Validation of EV battery mini-stack automation at two GM plants, supporting Cadillac, HUMMER, and Equinox battery builds.
General Motors · Controls & PLC
02Experience
Where I've worked
Five roles across automotive manufacturing, machine vision, process automation, and electrical design in the US and Canada.
- Controls EngineerGeneral Motors · Warren, MICurrent2023 – Present
Project Controls EngineerS and T Controls · Kitchener, ON, Canada2023
Controls SpecialistOnyx Engineering Inc. · Windsor, ON, Canada2022 – 2023
Machine Vision Engineering TechnicianVista Solutions Inc. · Windsor, ON, Canada2021 – 2022
Controls TechnologistSIDAC Automated Systems Ltd · North York, ON, Canada2021
03Education
Where I've studied
- Master of Science, Artificial IntelligenceUniversity of Leeds · UKExpected 2027
Bachelor of Engineering Technology, MechatronicsUniversity of Windsor · ON, Canada · With Distinction2022 – 2023
Ontario College Advanced Diploma, Electro-Mechanical Engineering TechnologyDurham College · ON, Canada2017 – 2020
04About
Where the plant floor meets software
I'm a controls engineer at General Motors, where I'm automating a manual final line with new-to-industry robotics and have validated automation for EV battery production. I've spent more than five years in industrial automation: writing PLC logic, commissioning vision systems, and designing the control panels that run it all.
Alongside that work, I build software. As the sole developer, I created an AI platform, available to all GM Automation engineers and suppliers, that audits electrical designs in minutes instead of hours or days. I'm now pursuing an MSc in Artificial Intelligence to go further at the point where industrial automation meets modern software.
Open to: Controls Engineer · Automation Engineer · Software Engineer · Full-Stack Developer
Core competencies
PLC & Controls Engineering
PLC logic for 5 body shop cells and 3 process plants
Robotics & Line Automation
New-to-industry robotics on a GM final line
AI & Full-Stack Software
Sole developer of a GM-wide AI design-audit platform
Machine Vision
All vision cameras in a GM body shop
Electrical Design
5 control panels designed in AutoCAD Electrical
SCADA, HMI & Process Automation
PLC, HMI, and SCADA for a distillery, food plant, and wastewater facility
05Toolkit
What I work with
Industrial controls on one side, modern software and AI on the other, and comfortable translating between them.
Industrial automation
- Studio 5000 & RSLogix
- Siemens TIA Portal / STEP 7
- Robotics integration
- Machine vision
- HMI & SCADA
- EtherNet/IP · Profinet
Electrical design
- AutoCAD Electrical
- EPLAN Electric P8
- Wiring diagrams
- Panel layouts
- Power sizing calculations
- Commissioning
Software engineering
- Python · TypeScript
- FastAPI & REST APIs
- React & Next.js
- PostgreSQL
- Docker · CI/CD
- Kubernetes on Azure
AI & machine learning
- LLM APIs
- RAG & embeddings
- pgvector · FAISS
- YOLO & OpenCV
- OCR
- PyTorch · Hugging Face
Get in touch
Let's work together
I'm open to Controls Engineer, Automation Engineer, Software Engineer, and Full-Stack Developer roles, remote or on-site. If you're building something where automation and software meet, I'd like to hear about it.
elshark.atef@gmail.com