Sijia Qiu (He/Him)

/ˈsiːdʒə tʃuː/ (See-jyah Chyuu)

Startup Engagement Program Lead

Bridging deep engineering and AI to move ambitious ideas from concept to deployment.

About

Strategic solutions leader bridging aerospace, defense, and AI, with a decade-plus designing mission-critical systems and driving the adoption of next-generation engineering technology. I advise founders, engineering teams, and program leaders on how to harness emerging capabilities for national-security and high-assurance missions, translating complex technology into clear strategic value.

Equal parts technologist and visionary, I move ambitious programs from concept to deployment, with a particular interest in embodied AI, computer use, and space. I am currently pursuing an MS in AI & Machine Learning at Purdue to deepen my technical foundation and continue shaping the future of intelligent systems.

Work Experience

2025 – Present
Keysight — Startup Engagement Program Lead

Remote

  • Incepted the startup engagement program for Keysight's New Space segment, building the go-to-market motion from the ground up.
  • Partnered with Account Executives to translate startup requirements into technical solutions, serving as a trusted advisor from evaluation through deployment and expansion.
  • Won technical evaluations by helping startups build frameworks to measure Keysight's performance for their specific use cases.
  • Built technical credibility with founders and startup engineering teams by speaking their language and guiding architecture decisions.
  • Gathered insights on emerging use cases and deployment patterns, delivering feedback to Product and Engineering teams.
  • Traveled to customer sites, startup events, and industry conferences for workshops, technical deep dives, and relationship building.
2022 – 2025
Keysight — Sr. Solutions Engineer, Eggplant Division

Remote

  • Drove enterprise customer acquisition through hands-on technical evaluations, custom demos, and rapid POCs for Eggplant's test automation platform.
  • Owned the technical sales cycle end-to-end, aligning stakeholders from engineering teams to C-suite decision-makers to close complex deals.
  • Partnered with R&D to build generative AI proof-of-concepts, de-risking feature development through customer validation and rapid prototyping.
  • Designed and delivered an AI/ML enablement curriculum for the sales organization, translating emerging capabilities into business value.
2021 – 2022
Keysight — Solutions Engineer, Eggplant Division

Remote

  • Delivered technical demonstrations and proof-of-concepts that established credibility with enterprise prospects early in evaluation cycles.
  • Developed prospecting strategies and engagement frameworks that accelerated pipeline growth across multiple verticals.
  • Navigated complex stakeholder ecosystems spanning QA, DevOps, and IT leadership to advance deals.
2019 – 2021
Colorado Engineering Inc. — Sr. Business Development Engineer

Colorado Springs, CO

  • Authored comprehensive technical proposals and closed complex B2B hardware sales deals.
  • Led RFI/RFP response efforts and authored technical whitepapers translating engineering capabilities into customer-facing value propositions.
  • Key results: secured >$1M in FY2019 and >$3M in FY2020 contracts.
2017 – 2019
Colorado Engineering Inc. — Senior Engineer

Colorado Springs, CO

  • Designed system architectures and PCB‑level layouts using Visio and Altium.
  • Owned component placement and signal routing; modeled with MATLAB and Python.
  • Led PM for 77GHz radar evaluation kit for Infineon leveraging state‑of‑the‑art MMIC.
2015 – 2017
Gogo Business Aviation — Aircraft Electrical Engineer

Chicago, IL

  • Executed and maintained harness designs and electrical schematics in AutoCAD.
  • Delivered full lifecycle design and on‑site install of 2KU satellite Wi‑Fi systems on Delta aircraft.
  • Drove continuous improvement to reduce waste and optimize manufacturing costs.
2013 – 2015
Northrop Grumman — Electrical Systems Engineer, PDP

Rolling Meadows, IL

  • Rotational program in the Electronic Systems division in the following departments:
    • Power Electronics
    • Modeling and Simulation
    • Digital Systems
    • Integration and Test

Education

Expected 2026
Purdue University — MS, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

West Lafayette, IN

2009 – 2013
Purdue University — BS, Electrical & Computer Engineering

West Lafayette, IN

Certifications & Skills

Certifications

  • AWS Certified AI Practitioner (September 2025)
  • FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate (expired)
  • Certified Scrum Master (CSM, 2022, ScrumAlliance.org)

Skills

  • AI Tools, Products, and Systems: Generative AI integration, LLM application design, prompt engineering, and AI evaluation frameworks. Experienced in developing enterprise AI solutions and creating technical enablement materials for AI adoption.
  • Solutions Engineering: Full technical sales cycle management from prospecting to closure. Expert in translating complex requirements into tailored value propositions, building proof of concepts, and delivering compelling product demonstrations for enterprise clients.
  • Hardware and Software Cross-Domains: PCB design, system architecture, radar systems, satellite communications, and embedded systems. Proficient in bridging physical layer engineering with software solutions using Python, MATLAB, and CAD tools.

Interests

  • Generative AI and machine learning
  • Agentic AI, Computer/Browser-use Agents
  • Computer Vision, VLMs

Fun Facts

  • Have a mini-Aussie named "momo"
  • My favorite ice cream is Strawberry Honey Balsamic with Black Pepper from Salt and Straw
  • I grew up in Hawaii