Hardware that works outside the lab.

JGA Engineering designs electronics for companies that build physical products: RF and radar, microprocessor and connected hardware, and the test jigs that prove it works. Built on fifteen years of defence, space and mass-production programs.

What we design

One engineer accountable from schematic to bench test. You get a design that has been built, measured and documented, not just drawn.

RF, microwave and radar

Radar and radio hardware from the antenna to the baseband: FMCW and pulsed radar, frequency generation, receivers and custom antennas, simulated first and then proven on the bench.

  • mmWave, X- and S-band radar
  • Antenna design
  • STALOs and synthesisers
  • CST, Genesys, SystemVue
  • VNA and spectrum measurement

Microprocessor and embedded hardware

Processor boards with DDR memory, high-speed interfaces and the Linux bring-up that makes them boot, plus FPGA logic and microcontroller designs where they fit better.

  • TI Sitara AM62x and AM335x
  • LPDDR4, DDR3L, eMMC
  • FPGA and Verilog
  • STM32 and PIC
  • Linux and device tree

Connected and low-power products

Devices with several radios in one enclosure that still pass compliance, and battery products that last years on a coin cell.

  • LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE
  • Zigbee, Thread, LoRa, NFC
  • Multi-radio coexistence
  • Ultra-low-power design
  • USB-C PD

PCB design for manufacture

Multilayer, high-speed and RF boards designed with the enclosure, the antenna and the contract manufacturer in mind from the first sketch.

  • Altium Designer (Advanced)
  • High-speed and RF layout
  • DFM and DFT
  • IP67 mechanical integration

Test jigs and production test

Programming jigs, functional test stations and automated test rigs that check every unit the same way, in development and on the factory floor.

  • Programming and test jigs
  • FPGA-based test rigs
  • Python and C# test software
  • Factory provisioning

Compliance, certification and manufacturing

Taking a design through certification and into production: test campaigns, contract manufacturer handover, component sourcing and end-of-life risk.

  • Compliance and certification
  • Contract manufacturing
  • Second sourcing and EOL
  • Field trials

Systems engineering and design review

Requirements, architecture and verification for complex programs, run to defence and space standards, or an independent review of a design that is not behaving.

  • Requirements and ConOps
  • Architecture
  • Verification and validation
  • Design reviews

Selected work

A sample of programs delivered as an engineer, lead or independent consultant. Several defence programs are classified and are described only in outline.

Connected personal-alarm hub

Lead hardware engineer from first sketch to mass production: an 8-layer processor board with LPDDR4 and six radios (LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, Zigbee, Ethernet) under strict safety requirements. More than 7,000 units are in use across Australia and New Zealand.

Wearable LoRa alarm pendant

A coin-cell device with years of battery life, fall detection and custom sub-GHz antennas reaching 100 m and more, integrated into an IP67 enclosure.

Military X-band and S-band radar

Subsystem engineering, frequency-generator redesign and power-supply architecture for radar modernisation programs, delivered under ISO 9001 with full verification and validation.

SAOCOM 1A and 1B satellites

RF test specialist: new procedures for measuring pulsed chirp waveforms, and RF performance verification on engineering and flight models.

60 GHz radar for fall prevention

PhD research at Monash: a 3-transmit, 4-receive MIMO FMCW radar with sensor fusion in a wearable, including conformal 3D-printed antenna arrays.

Production programming and test jigs

Five programming jigs for mass-produced products in use at a contract manufacturer, and an FPGA-based rig that tests the full device, cloud and call-centre chain end to end.

How a project runs

Fixed stages with a clear deliverable at the end of each, so you always know what you are paying for and where the design stands.

  1. Define

    We agree requirements, constraints and acceptance tests, then you get a fixed quote for the first stage.

  2. Design

    Architecture, schematics and layout, with a design review before anything is ordered.

  3. Build and verify

    Prototypes are assembled, brought up and measured against the agreed tests.

  4. Hand over

    Manufacturing files, source files and test reports. You own the design.

Who you work with

JGA Engineering is led by José Gabriel Argañarás, an electronic engineer in Melbourne who has been designing hardware professionally since 2010 and running his own engineering practice since 2002.

He spent eight years at INVAP, Argentina’s aerospace and defence company, on military radar and satellite programs, then five years leading hardware design for connected health products taken from concept to mass production. He holds a PhD in mmWave radar sensing from Monash University, where he also teaches electronics design.

Every project is handled personally, from the first conversation to the final test report.

  • PhDMonash University, 2022: mmWave radar sensing
  • BEngElectronic Engineering, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán: Gold Medal
  • PE · NERProfessional Engineer, Engineers Australia’s National Engineering Register
  • MIEAustMember of Engineers Australia
  • MIEEEMember of the IEEE

Discuss a project

Tell us what you are building and where you are stuck. You will get a reply within one business day.

Or email hello@jgaengineering.com.au

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