---
title: 'Hardware Engineer at Proto-Town'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/hardware-engineer-proto-town-lockhart-79wwfn7rqgwg'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-10'
---

# Hardware Engineer at Proto-Town

- **Company:** Proto-Town
- **Location:** Lockhart
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-04-24
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-10
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/proto-town/5d580b8b-c559-48a5-abcc-bd1c604d64a7

## Job description

Proto-Experiments runs ambitious projects. Our current focus is ML-driven crystal growth systems that close the loop between sensors, ML-driven control, and physical hardware. We're looking for a tinkerer whose core strengths are sensors, microcontroller programming, and breadboard-level fabrication. A lot of this role is figuring out how to prototype and build. Materials science or ML background is a plus but not required. Hiring ASAP. Crystal growth is the immediate project, but Proto-Experiments has other unusual builds in the pipeline. If it is a good fit, there is real opportunity to keep working together on what comes next.

## What you'll do

- Build the sensing side of our growth rigs: thermocouples, optical sensors, cameras, pressure sensors - selecting them, wiring them cleanly, and getting clean signals out of noisy environments.
- Program the microcontrollers running the rigs: sensor sampling, control loops, motor sequencing, and host comms.
- Breadboard and prototype-level fabrication: protoboards, harnesses, simple carrier boards, plus 3D-printed brackets and basic mechanical scaffolding.
- Power side: heater control, motor drives, PID loops, MOSFETs, isolation, grounding.
- Take rigs from "works on the bench" to "runs reliably for a 72-hour growth," and debug across the stack when they don't.

We're looking for

- A natural tinkerer - someone who learns quickly, stays deeply curious, works extremely hard, and brings creativity to the bench.
- Strong sensor integration experience
- Solid microcontroller programming
- Real breadboard and prototype-fab skills
- Light mechanical fab: basic CAD, 3D printing

You don't need every one of these. We care more about mindset and attitude. Logistics

- Contract: Hours flexible. Hiring ASAP. Potential to convert to full-time.
- On-site in Lockhart, TX.
- To apply: email jack@earthship.city

## About Proto-Town

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Proto-Town is an industrial campus and startup incubator in Lockhart, Texas, that provides integrated manufacturing, testing, and R&D infrastructure specifically for hardware and defense startups.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Angel stage, raised $20M)
- **Headquarters**: Lockhart, Texas, United States
- **Founded**: 2023
- **Founders**: Merle Nye (Co-Founder, COO) and Joshua Farahzad

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Industrial real estate, hardware incubator, venture capital, advanced manufacturing support
- **Target customers**: Early-stage hardware, defense, robotics, energy, and construction technology startups
- **Mission or purpose statement**: To revive American manufacturing by creating a physical frontier where hardware entrepreneurs can build, test, and scale with fewer constraints—modeled loosely after the Shenzhen manufacturing ecosystem but rooted in Texas.

## Products & Services
- **Industrial Campus**: A 1,200-acre (485-hectare) ranch with machine shops, office space, testing grounds, manufacturing facilities, and on-site housing—all co-located to eliminate friction for hardware companies.
- **Venture Capital Portfolio**: Proto-Town invests capital into select companies operating on its campus, pairing real estate with startup funding.
- **Development Agreement**: Has a standing agreement with Caldwell County that grants it partial regulatory freedom in exchange for basic development standards, allowing rapid construction without excessive permitting delays.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed (investor-backed, no public filings)
- **Key Metric**: $20M total raised (seed/angel round closed mid-2026)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Bill Ackman (billionaire hedge-fund manager), Josh Kushner (Thrive Capital), Fred Ehrsam (Coinbase co-founder)
- **Growth Signals**: 12 companies are already operating on the ranch as of mid-2026, including Oklo (nuclear test reactor), Bedrock Robotics (autonomous construction, $280M raised at $1.75B valuation), Dynamo (large drones), Terran Robotics (robotic home construction), Base Power (energy storage), and Atmos Thermal Systems (solar cooling panels). The company has grown from ~20 employees in early 2025 to a small but growing team; LinkedIn data shows 4 employees at the parent company level but the broader campus ecosystem is much larger.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Physical co-location moat**: Unlike software accelerators (e.g., Y Combinator), Proto-Town puts machine shops, testing grounds, power infrastructure, housing, and office space directly adjacent—so hardware companies can iterate at “Manhattan Project-era speed.”
- **Regulatory flexibility**: The signed development agreement with Caldwell County grants a unique ability to build and modify infrastructure without typical red tape, a key edge over urban tech hubs like the Bay Area or even California Forever.
- **Critical mass of hardtech talent**: Attracts founders and engineers from Waymo, Neuralink, Tesla, and other elite hardware companies, forming a dense community of builders rather than software “button clickers.”
- **Self-selecting culture**: The isolated ranch environment filters for serious, hands-on founders willing to live in shipping containers and work on physical prototypes—impossible to replicate in a city.

## Strategic Focus
- **Expand campus infrastructure**: Continue constructing test reactors, drone runways, robotic construction sites, and housing to attract more hardware startups.
- **Broaden venture portfolio**: Deploy remaining capital from the $20M fund into more resident startups, while likely seeking additional fundraises.
- **Strengthen political relationships**: Leverage local government connections (Texas House Rep. John Cyrier is a partner) to maintain regulatory flexibility and fend off potential future community backlash.
- **Catalyze US manufacturing revival**: Position Proto-Town as a template for how to bring hardtech manufacturing back to America, potentially inspiring similar projects in other states.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as a “resurrected spirit of experimentation” with a “frontier” mentality. The environment is deeply hands-on, hardware-first, and driven by builders rather than software optimizers. One employee described it as “not just LinkedIn and fake buttons that you’re clicking.”
- **Work environment**: On-site living is common (retrofitted shipping containers, old school buses, inflatable office buildings). The remoteness fosters deep focus and rapid iteration. Safety gets high attention (security checkpoint, emergency protocols).
- **Remote/hybrid policy**: Not explicitly stated, but the nature of the work (physical hardware, on-site testing, nuclear reactors) heavily implies on-site, hands-on presence is required. Likely not remote-friendly.
- **Notable perks**: Access to cutting-edge hardware infrastructure, proximity to elite founders and investors, ability to influence the physical build-out of an entire new town from scratch, and the chance to be part of a project that has been compared to the Manhattan Project in its speed and ambition.
- **Engineering culture**: Direct, gritty, and high-autonomy. You’ll likely be working on real physical systems—robots, reactors, drones, energy storage—rather than web dashboards. The talent pool includes ex-Waymo, Neuralink, and Tesla engineers.

## Sources
1. [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2026-proto-town-texas/)
2. [Proto-Town Website](https://www.proto.town/)
3. [CB Insights](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/proto-town)
4. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/proto-town)
5. [Proto-Town Careers (Ashby)](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/proto-town)

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