Louis Frank.
Louis Frank

Software Developer & Hardware Engineer

I design and build research apparatus end-to-end — circuit boards, firmware, 3D-printed and machined mechanics, and the software that ties it together. Some of the setups I built are now in use at field stations and institutes in Senegal, France and across Germany.

Right now I'm Lead Engineer at cortEXplore, building optical tracking and neuronavigation systems for research institutes and medical partners, and Software Developer & Project Lead at CADS.

Skills

Software & Firmware
PythonC/C++OpenCVPyTorchQtCUDA
Electronics & PCB
KiCadRaspberry Pi HATsBMSSensorsSoldering
Hardware & Mechanical
Fusion 360FreeCAD3D printingCNCVoron
3D & Rendering
BlenderFusion renderPhotoshopOBS
Leadership & Teaching
Project leadGit trainingTutoringOutreach

Selected projects

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  • nARvibrain

    nARvibrain

    2024–2025

    Augmented-reality functional brain mapping for navigated surgery. I extended the CORTEXPLORER neuronavigation system with AR guidance for TMS/DCS.

  • Exploration Room

    Exploration Room

    2022–2024

    A room to study the brain behind full-body behaviour in monkeys. I worked on the markerless tracking and the interactive stations the animals use.

  • Risky Decision-Making Apparatus

    Risky Decision-Making Apparatus

    2021–2022

    Do macaques gamble differently with an audience? The apparatus I built to find out: a food dispenser on a custom Raspberry Pi header PCB with Python firmware.

  • Cooperation Box Experiment

    Cooperation Box Experiment

    2023–2023

    Two lever boxes that only pay out if wild Guinea baboons pull both at once: a forced-cooperation test. C++/PlatformIO firmware, Fusion 360 hardware, published in Animal Behavior and Cognition.

  • UFO — Unknown Feeding Object

    UFO — Unknown Feeding Object

    2022–2022

    A photo of the cooperation box, which took first place in the science category of the DPZ photo competition 2022.

Experience

Full CV →
  • 2025–now

    Software Developer & Project Lead

    CADS GmbH, Perg, Upper Austria. Leading software development for surgical-navigation products — sprint planning, architecture and hands-on C++/Qt development in partnership with cortEXplore.

  • 2024–now

    Software Engineer

    cortEXplore GmbH, Perg, Upper Austria. Building CORTEXPLORER — a frameless, markerless and wireless neuronavigation system used by research labs and clinics worldwide, from surgical planning on CT/MRI data to high-resolution 3D-guided navigation.

  • 2020–2024

    Computer Science and Hardware Engineer

    German Primate Center GmbH, Department Cognitive Ethology and Cognitive Neuroscience. Development and realization of projects like the 'Exploration Room' and 'Monkey Risk Study'. Apparatus I built are now in use at field stations and institutes in Senegal, France and across Germany.

Writing

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