Engineering Manager · Autonomous Vehicles

Daniel Doan

Engineering Manager at Wayve

Building and leading firmware validation teams in the autonomous vehicle industry. Over a decade shipping products at Apple, Cruise, and Zoox — now managing the next generation of AV firmware at Wayve.

Wayve · Autonomous Vehicles Cruise · Zoox · Apple RE Investor · Irving, TX SJSU Computer Engineering
Daniel Doan
About

Who I Am

I'm the child of refugee parents who fled a war-torn country and rebuilt their lives in America — earning advanced degrees and instilling in me a deep appreciation for hard work and the opportunities we're given.

I earned a B.S. in Computer Engineering from San Jose State University, where my team won 2nd place at the Silicon Valley Innovation Challenge with a hand interface device.

Since then I've spent over a decade in firmware and validation — progressing from individual contributor to manager across Micron, SanDisk, Apple, Cruise, Zoox, and now Wayve, where I lead an engineering team building the future of autonomous vehicles.

Outside of work I'm a real estate investor — I built custom data analysis tools on top of live property management APIs to track occupancy, lease risk, and market trends across my DFW portfolio.

Career

Work Experience

Apr 2026 – Present
3 mos
Wayve Current
Engineering Manager
Leading firmware validation engineering at one of the world's most ambitious autonomous vehicle companies. Managing team strategy, execution, and growth in a fast-moving AV environment.
Engineering Leadership Autonomous Vehicles Firmware Validation Team Management
Mar 2024 – Apr 2026
2 yrs 2 mos
Zoox (Amazon)
Firmware Validation Manager
Managed firmware validation for Zoox's purpose-built robotaxi. Led a team through rigorous validation cycles covering safety-critical vehicle systems in a highly regulated AV environment.
Firmware Validation People Management Safety-Critical Systems Robotaxi
Nov 2021 – May 2024
2 yrs 7 mos
Cruise (GM)
Sr. Software Engineer in Test
Senior SDET at GM's autonomous vehicle subsidiary. Built and owned test infrastructure for firmware and software systems on self-driving vehicles.
Python Test Infrastructure Autonomous Vehicles Embedded Systems
Jun 2017 – Nov 2021
4 yrs 6 mos · Cupertino
Apple
Engineer
Worked on world-class consumer products — validating the entire battery ecosystem across multiple generations of Apple hardware. Exposure to machine learning for validation automation.
Python Embedded Systems Battery Products Hardware Validation
Sep 2014 – Jun 2017
2 yrs 10 mos
Micron Technology
Sr. Firmware Test Engineer
Developed automated validation infrastructure using Python and Jenkins. Led an Agile Scrum team to test firmware and device functionality for NAND storage products.
Python C Jenkins Agile / Scrum
2012 – 2014
SanDisk
Firmware & Production Validation Engineer
First role out of college. Built the framework interfacing drivers, test libraries, and firmware for client storage products. Volunteered as Lead Citizen Teacher (US2020 program). Co-led SanDisk's first hackathon team.
C++ Python NAND Embedded
2011 – 2012
Yahoo! & Entusic
Advertising SEO Developer · Startup Co-founder
Interned at Yahoo! building dashboard interfaces for advertising SEO. Concurrently co-founded Entusic — an entertainment + music platform connecting venues and artists, built full-stack with Rails and PHP.
HTML / CSS PHP JavaScript Rails
Expertise

Skills

Engineering Leadership
Expert · Zoox + Wayve people management
Firmware Validation
Expert · AV, consumer hardware, storage
Python & Automation
Expert · 10+ years across 5 companies
C / C++ / Embedded Systems
Proficient · Micron, SanDisk, SJSU
Data Analysis
Proficient · pandas, matplotlib, FRED API
Real Estate Underwriting
Growing · live API analysis · DFW market
Projects

Things I've Built

🏠
Emerald Point RE Analysis
Live real estate analytics built on the ResMan property management API and FRED macroeconomic data. Generates 9-chart PDF reports — occupancy, lease expiration risk, rent distribution, DFW market indicators. 76-unit property in Irving, TX at 90.8% occupancy.
Python ResMan API FRED API pandas matplotlib
🤚
Hand Interface Device (HID)
Non-intrusive glove interface prototyped as a senior project at SJSU. ARM920T interfaced with touchscreen, accelerometer, 4 flex sensors, and SD card. Won 2nd place at the Silicon Valley Innovation Challenge.
ARM920T Embedded C Hardware SJSU 2011
🎵
Entusic
Co-founded a startup during senior year connecting venues and artists on a shared platform. Built the full-stack web app with attention to UI/UX, security, and database design.
Rails PHP MySQL Security Startup
Contact

Get in Touch

Open to conversations about autonomous vehicles, firmware engineering leadership, real estate investing, or anything interesting.

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