Electronics Innovator, Hellen Parpinel, Bluespec Inc.

Hellen Parpinel is a Solution Architect at Bluespec Inc., a leading provider of RISC-V tools and silicon IP for use in FPGAs. In her role, Hellen oversees the development and implementation of the Company’s product packaging and deployment strategy.

From product testing to performance improvement, Hellen’s guidance, technical prowess, and hands-on approach has been instrumental in delivering and amplifying the ease-of-use and sustainability of Bluespec’s product line to further meet increasing customer demands and industry trends.

RISC-V, the open standard ISA, continues to gain momentum in the semiconductor industry and is being adopted across many industries from embedded systems and Internet of Things (IoT) devices to high-performance computing. Since 2014, RISC-V has clearly established itself as a versatile and open standard that empowers innovation and collaboration among a growing community of developers, researchers, and industry players.

Hellen’s fresh perspective on RISC-V IP and tooling use cases provides a customer-centric approach to this effort. During her tenure at Bluespec, she created an integrated design environment that consolidates Bluespec’s RISC-V silicon IP and hardware/software development tools, giving customers greater freedom to innovate through this unified environment. Hellen has also been a key contributor to Bluespec’s hardware/software acceleration strategy deployment, including the Company’s recently announced Accelerate-HLS tool, which simplifies and speeds hardware development using High-Level Synthesis (HLS).

In addition to her role in driving Bluespec’s product packaging and deployment strategy, Hellen also creates product reference designs and technical collateral, showcasing product capabilities and detailing how to leverage them in applications. Her efforts continue to accelerate the customers' ability to bring their products to market.

Overall, her leadership and contributions to Bluespec’s product development has resulted in saving customers and users immeasurable resourcing time, ultimately driving Bluespec’s mission of amplifying RISC-V to broad scale adoption.

Hellen is passionate about nurturing the next generation of STEM leaders. In addition to her invaluable mentorship at Bluespec, she actively mentors students, with a particular focus on promoting and advocating STEM among women and Latinas. Informed by her unique path into tech, Hellen helps others navigate their own journeys by providing guidance and support, fostering a supportive community.

While growing up in Costa Rica, a focus on tourism and hospitality careers often took precedence over STEM professions. However, Hellen was always interested in science and technology. Eager to pursue an advanced technical education, she moved to the United States, where she was accepted into the University of Washington’s computer science program.

During her studies, Hellen was a teaching assistant in the computer science department and coached students beginning their studies in the field. She also served as a student representative to the faculty board, advocating for the needs and perspectives of her peers in academic matters, including curricula, resources, and the education experience. Today, she volunteers at local elementary schools where she teaches Spanish in afterschool programs, integrating STEM into her lesson plans to further promote these fields within the Hispanic community.