Hi! I'm Romina, originally from Venezuela. Left home for a Computer Engineering degree in Iowa — cold winters, good people — which turned out to be good practice. Currently living in Dundalk, Ireland, a move that made more sense than expected. Turns out the Irish and Venezuelans are the same craic, just in different languages. I build firmware and IoT software for connected pet products at PetSafe Brands — smart feeders, GPS collars, automatic litterboxes — the kind of things your pet uses but definitely doesn't appreciate.
When I'm not debugging firmware at odd hours, I'm chasing a better tennis backhand, hunting for the perfect shot to photograph, or lost somewhere in a good book or film.
—Will learn your dog's name before yours.
—Will re-grip your racket before you notice it needs it.
—Spotify Wrapped is always confused. So is everyone else.
—Will make you arepas. This is not an offer made lightly.
—Berlin four times, with Germany and Austria well covered. Tries German everywhere. The locals are very gracious about it.
Left home with two suitcases. This is where they've been.
Valencia
homeVenezuela
Home. The reference point for everywhere else.
Ames
Iowa, USA
Cold winters, a Computer Engineering degree, and the first real taste of far from home.
Knoxville
Tennessee, USA
First job. First IoT product. The company liked it enough to bring me to Europe.
Dundalk
nowIreland
Didn't see this coming. Now it's home.
Valencia
homeVenezuela
Home. The reference point for everywhere else.
Ames
Iowa, USA
Cold winters, a Computer Engineering degree, and the first real taste of far from home.
Knoxville
Tennessee, USA
First job. First IoT product. The company liked it enough to bring me to Europe.
Dundalk
nowIreland
Didn't see this coming. Now it's home.
Nine years of C, FreeRTOS, and hardware that lies about its own behavior.
Connecting devices to the cloud and keeping them there. Daily work, not a side skill.
Whatever makes the job less annoying. Usually works on the second try.
Not the day job, but it shows up. This site is evidence.
—Patience: firmware-grade. Intermittent bugs are not allowed to win.
—Good at finding the gap — whether it's in the code, the system, or the team.
—Can explain BLE pairing to a product manager and a hardware engineer in the same breath. Both leave satisfied.
"If it doesn't work, I will blame the hardware first. Then I will actually read the datasheet."
Nine years, two countries, same company. The problems kept changing — new chips, new protocols, new products — and the mission made it easy to stay. Building things that help pet parents feel safe and connected to their animals is the kind of work I would've called a dream job before I knew what a real job looked like. Turns out it was the first one I landed.
Firmware & IoT Software Engineer
Dundalk, Ireland · 2020 — Present
Firmware & IoT Software Engineer
Knoxville, TN, USA · 2017 — 2020
A full-stack site for the club I play for — events, news, memberships, and a headless CMS. Built alongside a fellow club player who happens to be an experienced web developer and has been patient enough to introduce me to every tool on that stack. What started as "how hard can it be" turned into a Next.js monorepo.
What keeps me going when the compiler finally stops yelling at me.
Doubles champion. Serves still pending.
Phone in hand. The crow didn't even flinch.
Dark, tense, mysterious, and somehow also hopeful.
—On repeat today: Billy Talent, Rawayana, Bad Bunny, Gorillaz. The algorithm has trust issues.
—The sketchbook is full of promising first pages.
—Sushi. Non-negotiable.
—Games: online with friends, solo for the story. The backlog is not improving.
Dundalk LTC
🎾 202617
Wins
7
Losses
71%
Win Rate
Now Playing
Malahide LTC Senior Tour 1000 Open
Season Highlight
🏆 Leinster Spring League Doubles Champions · May 2026
Reading
The Tainted Cup
FantasyRobert Jackson Bennett
It's a biopunk whodunnit that has me hooked so far.
Goodreads →Last Watched
The Odyssey
Epic AdventureFilm
Greek John Wick, but with a bow. Had me completely strung along.
Letterboxd →Want to talk firmware, challenge me to a match, or just say hi? Send me a message — I read everything. Fair warning: I'll ask about your dog first.
