HARDWARE ENGINEER · PRODUCT MANAGEMENT · BUILDER
Hello, I'm
Sida Cheng
ECE @ Carnegie Mellon. I want to build hardware products that create lasting value for users. I'm particularly passionate about consumer electronics (and go to CES as a visitor exhibitor) →
About
Education & Profile
B.S. Electrical & Computer Engineering
+ Engineering Design, Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Carnegie Mellon University
I just want to build products. Growing up, I watched hundreds of tech reviews and unboxing videos, fascinated by how companies keep innovating features that "wow" me. Seriously, the wow effect is so much better than software products. Whether it's computer peripherals, cool gadgets, or IoT devices, some of these products make me go "damn it's such a good product" every time I use them. Now, I want to bring my passion and skills to a company that builds such amazing products.
OS Keyboard is my current focus — an ergonomic split keyboard I've shipped to 40+ beta users. I did everything to bring the project from 0 to 1: PCB design & assembly, firmware development, 3D modeling, video editing, reddit posts, and community building. Prior to this project, I also led hardware development of a smart dice tower that won ~$70K investment at XbotPark.
HARDWARE
SOFTWARE
PRODUCT
Projects
A selection of recent projects
An ergonomic keyboard ecosystem with joystick analog inputs for gaming, keystrokes, and mouse control. Full-stack product.
VIA OS Keyboard Configurator
A mod to the open-source VIA Configurator
Web-based tool for real-time browser-to-keyboard configuration via WebHID. Key remapping, layers, macros, joystick tuning.
Smart Dice Tower
D&D Dice Tower with Smart Detection
D&D dice tower with camera-based roll detection, light/sound effects, and wireless mobile app. Won 1st Prize at XbotPark.
Robot Card Dealer
Automatic card-dealing robot designed and built in 7 days at CMU Build18. Arduino-powered stepper motor + LCD Interface + Pseudo-shuffling algorithm.
Experience
How I contribute to the team
Hardware & Product Engineer
Designed custom PCBs in EasyEDA/KiCad, built 3D models in SolidWorks, wrote QMK/ZMK firmware for STM32/RP2040/nRF52840. Shipped 40+ keyboard units.
Full-Stack Developer
Built web configurator with React + TypeScript + Vite + WebHID API for real-time browser-to-keyboard communication. No driver install needed.
Startup Founder
Founded OS Keyboard, ran customer discovery, filmed marketing content, and competed in venture competitions. McGinnis 2nd Place (Undergraduate), Innov18 Award winner.
Educator & Mentor
TA for Intro to Engineering Design and Intro to ECE at Carnegie Mellon. Mentored ~260 students on prototyping, circuits, and engineering fundamentals.
My journey
McGinnis Venture Competition — 2nd Place
Won 2nd Place in the undergraduate track with OS Keyboard. $4K cash + $10K AWS credits.
McGinnis Venture Competition — 2nd Place
Won 2nd Place in the undergraduate track with OS Keyboard. $4K cash + $10K AWS credits.
XbotPark Summer Camp
Built a smart dice tower. Won 1st Prize + ¥500K investment offer at XbotPark Demo Day.
TA — Intro to Engineering Design
Teaching assistant for Intro to Engineering Design at CMU, mentoring ~60 students on prototyping.
TA — Intro to Engineering Design
Teaching assistant for Intro to Engineering Design at CMU, mentoring ~60 students on prototyping.
Founded OS Keyboard
Founded OS Keyboard at CMU Build18 — won Innov18 Award. Shipped 40+ units to customers worldwide.
TA — Intro to ECE + Sigma Eta Pi
Teaching assistant for Intro to ECE (~200 students). Joined Sigma Eta Pi entrepreneurship fraternity.
TA — Intro to ECE + Sigma Eta Pi
Teaching assistant for Intro to ECE (~200 students). Joined Sigma Eta Pi entrepreneurship fraternity.
Robot Card Dealer — Build18
Led 3-person team to design and build an automatic card-dealing robot in 7 days at CMU Build18.
Started at Carnegie Mellon
Enrolled in ECE + Engineering Design, Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University.
Started at Carnegie Mellon
Enrolled in ECE + Engineering Design, Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University.
Mengyou DIY PC — Social Media
Produced weekly Bilibili videos for Mengyou DIY PC shop, growing followers by 28%.
Stanley50z Keyboard Studio
Launched keyboard studio at age 16 — managed a 50+ customer group buy and sold 200+ products separately, built 2.8K-member community, 100K+ Bilibili views.
Stanley50z Keyboard Studio
Launched keyboard studio at age 16 — managed a 50+ customer group buy and sold 200+ products separately, built 2.8K-member community, 100K+ Bilibili views.
Contact
Want to get in touch?
I'm currently looking for internship opportunities in hardware product development, embedded engineering, and consumer electronics — roles where I can contribute to building products that create lasting value for users.
sidac@andrew.cmu.edu