Our Founder
Our founder Tony McDowell has nearly two decades of professional experience in the FPGA industry focused on embedded software. He founded Interlocken Labs in March of 2026 to bring world-class professional training and support to those who are don't fit with traditional offerings.
During his time in industry, Tony has worked at Xilinx, the FPGA industry founder, in both their technical support and marketing organization. He also spent time at Rapid Silicon, the industry's first open source-centered FPGA vendor, where he was Director of Open Source.
Since 2016, he's traveled the world speaking and training at events ranging from internal conferences to industry panels. Tony doesn't just recycle the same presentation every time. He designs the content to fit your specific purpose so that you walk away with exactly what you need.
Most recently, Tony held a leadership position in AMD's Adaptive and Embedded Computing Group (AECG) where he drove the development of AMD's robust Yocto Project-based development environment called the Embedded Development Framework (EDF).
Tony was on the front lines as the FPGA industry moved from "glue logic" to centerpiece of the board. He gets it. He has hands-on experience with everything from design entry to board bring-up to documentation. Let him put his experience to work for you.
Our Approach
We pride ourselves on being people-focused and solution-driven. We understand that by the time a customer reaches out for help they've already spent weeks or months trying to solve it themselves. We've been there ourselves with sleeves rolled up. We won't waste your time with endlessly delayed deliverables.
We will treat your problem like it is our own. We don't chase the latest industry trend unless it adds concrete value. In addition to our technical expertise, you get a partner who will take the time to understand your overall project goals and then help you craft a practical, tangible and cost-effective solution that includes a concrete plan.