Arvin Au
SAN JOSE,CA
Summary
Results-oriented, motivated, independent, and dedicated field application engineer (FAE) with over 6 years of server hardware components (L6-L11) testing experience in different Linux distribution systems, primarily in development environments and in different validation prototype stages (EVT/DVT/PVT). I am also responsible for responding to customer inquiries, developing and performing Python or Shell scripts for testing, and writing engineering documentation such as test scripts, test procedures, SOPs, and troubleshooting documents.
Overview
24
24
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Senior Field Appliction Engineer (FAE)
ASUS Computer International
11.2023 - Current
- Served as Subject-Matter Expert (SME) for server motherboard hardware, BMC, BIOS, and system-level debugging across Linux and Windows environments, supporting enterprise and datacenter deployments.
- Led advanced root-cause analysis and failure investigation, resolving ~90% of hardware and firmware issues within 2–3 business days through corrective action and detailed failure analysis reporting.
- Provided expert support for BMC, BIOS, and Redfish API configuration, firmware upgrades, recovery procedures, and SNMP integration (MIB OIDs) across multiple ASUS server platforms.
- Reduced RMA rates by over 90% by enabling firmware recovery via BMC reprogramming, EEPROM replacement, pre-programmed chip delivery, and close collaboration with U.S., Canada, and HQ RMA teams.
- Delivered critical remote and on-site technical support with a 2-hour average response time, consistently exceeding SLA requirements for system integrators and enterprise customers.
- Engineered and automated secure Linux and Windows server deployment pipelines, including PXE, HTTP/HTTPS infrastructure, eliminating manual OS installations and optimizing GPU debugging, benchmarking, and validation workflows.
- Acted as the technical liaison between customers, sales, project management, and R&D teams, supporting POC, EVT, DVT, PVT, and MP validation for new server platforms.
- Provided pre-sales technical support, validating hardware compatibility, identifying qualification gaps, and supporting customized server solutions for datacenter and enterprise infrastructure.
- Developed and authored SOPs, technical documentation, and workflow flowcharts, and delivered customer training on FAE engagement models, escalation paths, and firmware procedures.
- Mentored and trained FAEs through bi-weekly technical sessions, coordinated with U.S. and HQ engineering teams, reduced solution turnaround time from weeks to under 8 hours, and achieved 99% SLA compliance.
- Oversaw field engineering support for 15 system integrators and 3 major enterprise customers, contributing to $300M+ in annual revenue.
Field Application Engineer
Penguin Computing
05.2023 - 09.2023
- Create technical documentation, standard operating procedures (SOP), and work instructions to support pre-sale and post-sale.
- Provide technical training to production support teams, marketing, direct sales, and customer support teams.
- Adaptability, multitasking, and good problem-solving skills
- Working with the latest data center technology, including chilled door rack cooling systems, liquid cooling server racks, and immersed server cooling support.
- Support clients for BIOS, BMC, and CMC firmware upgrades
- Report the latest Intel and AMD vulnerabilities to OEMs and keep track of their firmware update status. Provide onsite support for firmware upgrades if needed.
Validation Engineer/ Field Application Engineer
Inspur Systems Inc
05.2017 - 05.2023
- Works with customers, assesses their requirements, and studies product characteristics to select validation objectives and standards
- Conference call and perform live demo for troubleshooting and firmware upgrade assistance, using Zoom, WebEx, or Skype software
- Collaborates and coordinates with the Customer Project Manager (CPM), warehouse support team and other test engineers regarding the scheduling or implementation of validation testing
- Modifies testing scripts, revisits testing SOP or previous documentation to resolve testing problems and identifies root causes during development and EVT/DVT/PVT stages
- Rack and stack servers/TOP switches/storage drives, run network cabling (cat5 and fiber), configure network connections, and break/fix servers, storage drives at our test/production laboratory rack space
- Configure L3 25G/40G/50G/100/G/200G/400G networks switches (Cisco, FS, Juniper & Ruijie) , VPN, and endpoint security, and have knowledge of security best practices Validation and calibration custom servers with various engineering activities that include test and system validation, modeling and simulation, requirements analysis, data analysis, and overall systems integration
- Create detailed testing procedure plans, including standard operating procedure (SOP) and report for all test results
- Install, configure, and setup different distros of Linux, RHEL, Ubuntu, CentOS, Rocky Debian, and SUSE, as well as different versions of Windows server OS, in 2016/2019 and 2022.
- Modify the Linux kernel version according to the customer requirements document (CRD).
- Test firmware for different hardware, for example, a hard drive, network card, power supply, BIOS, BMC, and CPLD. Using the Postman API and cURL cli tools to test Redfish functions, for example, creating or modifying users, installing SSL certificates, and upgrading BMC or BIOS firmware.
- Testing NVIDIA GPUs using CUDA and NVQual tools downloaded from the NVIDIA portal.
- Perform system and other hardware functional testing using open-source test scripts.
- Debugging and performance analysis of hardware and software issues using the system event log or system log.
Windows Server Administrator
Washington Software, Inc, WSI
07.2008 - 05.2017
- Designed, implemented, configure and administered Windows Server 2012 R2/2016 with Active Directory Environment for the entire organization
- Created and setup multiple Windows 2012R2/2016 servers at Rackspace, AWS, Azure Cloud environment
- Configure new Internet Information Services, Migrated web sites from Windows 2003/SQL 2005 to Windows 2012R2 & SQL 2014
- Installed, configured and administered all: Windows Server 2012 R2: Primary Domain Controller, Secondary Domain Controller, DNS Servers, DHCP, DFS Servers, Print Servers, and Created Virtual DR Servers using vSphere Replication
- Installed and configure Network Policy server (NPS) and created Radius authentication for Cisco Access point
- Created GPO and organizational unit (OU) Containers according to the requirement
- Installed and configure Windows Server Update Service (WSUS) with GPO to manage and distribute windows updates on all servers, workstations and company laptops
- Setup and configure compound NTFS permissions for DFS
- Documented step-by-step procedures to implement into the production environment
- Installed and configured Remote Server and Workstation in all locations for Remote desktop access
- Maintained and updated Operations and Maintenance standard operating procedures
- Reviewed security alerts and coordinated with Cyber Security teams on security events
- Provided technical assistance and expertise to the Service Desk and Site Support administrators.
Software Programmer
Verizon communications
10.2001 - 01.2008
- Software developer
- For the, Trouble Administration System with the Wisdom Customer Internet Pre-Order applications
- Developed middle-ware for front end system using JAVA and IBM DB2 at the back-end
- Documented all code fixes in details and enhancements for inclusion in future code releases and patches.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Information Systems
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Maryland01.1999
Skills
- Preboot eXecution environment management for FAE team
- Developed standard operating procedures for system usage
- Test network performance and throughput using iperf, iperf3, netperf, netstat and ping
- Assist firmware upgrade for different manufacturer's hardware
- Wiring, setup, and maintenance of multiple testing server racks with POC engineering systems in the test lab
- Collaborate with CPM and R&D engineers to meet project goals
- Documentation creation and modification
- Respond to networking, HW, FW, and application related questions from customers
- Adaptability, multitasking, and good problem-solving skills
Certification
- CompTIA Security+
- Cisco Certified Network Associate: Security (CCNA)
- IBM Certified Specialist - Rational AppScan Standard Edition, System X
- IBM QRadar Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
- Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP)
- Microsoft Certified Enterprise Administrator: Windows 2008 Server (MCITP)
- Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)
- QualysGuard Certified Specialist (Vulnerability Management)
- Symantec Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
- (ISC)² Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP)
- VMware Certified Associate - Data Center Virtualization (VCA-DCV)
- VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Languages
Chinese (Mandarin)
Professional Working
English
Full Professional
Timeline
Senior Field Appliction Engineer (FAE)
ASUS Computer International
11.2023 - Current
Field Application Engineer
Penguin Computing
05.2023 - 09.2023
Validation Engineer/ Field Application Engineer
Inspur Systems Inc
05.2017 - 05.2023
Windows Server Administrator
Washington Software, Inc, WSI
07.2008 - 05.2017
Software Programmer
Verizon communications
10.2001 - 01.2008
Bachelor of Science - Information Systems
University of Maryland, Baltimore