PCB Design
Schematic capture, layout, design review, bring-up planning, and manufacturing support.
Electronics design • PCB layout • Embedded systems
Practical engineering for ideas that need to become real hardware.
Burkart Studios helps founders, labs, and product teams move from concept to reliable working electronics.
What I build
Custom electronics from concept through prototype.
Whether the project needs a compact PCB, embedded control, analog front end, instrumentation interface, or a manufacturable prototype, the focus is the same: clear requirements, practical design decisions, and hardware that can be tested, improved, and trusted.
Embedded Systems
Microcontroller-based control, sensors, interfaces, and hardware-aware firmware collaboration.
Instrumentation
Precision analog, measurement systems, power electronics, and test equipment concepts.
About James Burkart
My interest in electronics began long before it became my profession.
As a kid, I spent countless hours poring through hand-me-down electronics magazines, building circuits from a 100-in-1 electronics project kit, filling notebooks with circuit ideas and project sketches, and making frequent trips to RadioShack, which quickly became my favorite store. When I discovered the Digi-Key catalog in the early 1990s, I spent hours flipping through its pages, fascinated by the endless possibilities hidden inside electronic components and integrated circuits.
That curiosity eventually led me to teach myself microcontroller programming through books such as Easy PIC'n and PIC'n Up the Pace. Long before online tutorials and development boards were common, I was learning assembly language, experimenting with embedded systems, and discovering the satisfaction of making hardware come to life.
My professional career began in technology and electronics retail, where I sold computers, electronic components, test equipment, tools, and industrial supplies. These early experiences provided a broad understanding of hardware, practical troubleshooting, and the real-world challenges engineers and technicians face when turning ideas into working products.
In 2005, I founded Burkart Studios and spent the next fifteen years building a successful video production business. During that time, I learned how to work directly with clients, manage projects, solve problems under pressure, and deliver professional results. Those business and communication skills continue to serve me well today.
As Burkart Studios evolved, I began taking on electronics design projects for clients, including work for Out of Darts, a well-known manufacturer and retailer of performance upgrades and accessories for foam dart blasters. During this time, I designed motor controllers and other custom hardware used in commercial products, gaining valuable experience in product development, PCB design, manufacturing, and bringing ideas from concept to production.
That experience eventually led me back into electronics full-time, where I now work in research and development supporting the design, integration, testing, and troubleshooting of advanced electronic and aerospace systems. My work has exposed me to a wide range of technologies, including instrumentation, embedded systems, precision analog electronics, power electronics, and complex hardware integration.
In parallel with my professional work, I am completing a Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering Technology while continuing to pursue independent engineering projects and product development. My technical interests include embedded systems, PCB design, instrumentation, precision analog electronics, power electronics, and test and measurement systems.
What drives me today is the same thing that captured my imagination decades ago while reading those electronics magazines: the excitement of understanding how things work and the satisfaction of building something useful.
Through Burkart Studios, I bring together a lifetime of experience in technology, business, communication, and electronics to help clients transform ideas into reliable, working hardware.
Let’s build something useful