PROFESSIONAL
Dell Technologies
Software Engineering Intern (Austin, TX)
May 2024 - Aug. 2024
- Developed Python SDK for AWS, Azure, and GCP platforms for Dell APEX Protection Storage Virtual
Edition (DDVE) - Utilized object-oriented programming practices to design a scalable and maintainable SDK
- Implemented deployment and post deployment configuration to automate workflows
- Collaborated with a team of architects and managers to ensure product will be effective for consumers
- Developed Python SDK for AWS, Azure, and GCP platforms for Dell APEX Protection Storage Virtual
High Performance Engineering (HiPE) Lab
Undergraduate Researcher (San Marcos, TX)
Jan. 2023 - Expected Completion: Aug. 2024
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- Project Overview:
- Pioneering the development of three distinct drones designed to enhance firefighting efforts by collecting critical data before firefighters arrive at the scene.
- Collaborating with an electrical engineering student to integrate software and hardware functionalities.
- Drone Specifications:
- Drone 1 : 43” drone designed for autonomous circling of burning structures. Tasks include temperature data collection, smoke particle analysis, and overhead human search.
- Drone 2: 30” drone for entering burning buildings. Capabilities include mapping using Hector-SLAM, obstacle avoidance using lidar and OAK-D Pro W depth camera, and autonomous indoor flight for exploration of building and person detection, building mapping, and human search. Features a Jetson Nano, OAK-D Pro W, 2D Lidar, and 1D Lidar (for autonomous takeoff and landing).
- Drone 3: 35” hexacopter drone focusing on wildfire scenarios. Aims include optimizing firefighters’ paths and identifying escape routes.
- Achievements and Progress:
- Successfully built and tested Drone 1, addressing feedback loop challenges at high altitudes. Tested autonomous navigation and circling of building using a drone flight simulator.
- Constructed Drone 2 with a 2lb payload capability, achieved a flight time of 10.5 minutes, and initiated autonomous take-off using the pymavlink library in Python. Configured Hector-SLAM to map a room and have started development on frontier exploration for autonomous navigation.
- Built and configured Drone 3 with a thermal camera for finding hotspots in wildfires. Started code implementation and simulation testing.
- Developed UI for all three drones using React, Express, and MongoDB. The UI enables a live camera footage, plotting of data collected, modes to be changed (fully autonomous, semi-autonomous, manual), and integrated Hector-SLAM onto the UI.
- Responsibilities:
- Craft and refine autonomous flight code for Drone 1.
- For Drone 2, optimize Hector-SLAM and build exploration path planning with mobility constraints. Test and refine autonomous takeoff, landing, altitude hold, and position hold modes using our implementation of an asymmetric PID controller.
- Fully implement and test autonomous code for Drone 3 as well complete mounting and 3D design.
- Project Overview:
High Performance Engineering (HiPE) Lab
Software Engineer Intern (San Marcos, TX)
Jun. 2022 - May 2023
- July 2024 Update: Find the IEEE Publication here!
- April 2024 Update: This work has been accepted for publication at the 2024 IEEE World AI IoT Congress
- August 2023 Update: Dell has featured this work in a recent white paper!
- Worked on finding solutions to the problems of firefighter safety and information gathering in dangerous environments
- Designed and built a robot with the ability to climb stairs, detect people, detect screams, and collect environmental data (temperature, humidity, air pressure, and air quality) as to give firefighters an insight of structures before entering
- Developed software in Python using the Robot Operating System (ROS2) framework which enabled firefighters to communicate with the robot and control it via the terminal
- Set up three Nvidia Jetson Nanos with a custom Ubuntu image enabling client communication with ROS2 and Cuda
- Wrote software to publish robot data from all three Jetson Nanos in real-time using the pub/sub design pattern so that firefighters can use the data for live decision making and strategizing
- In addition to writing the software, I also built the physical hardware that enabled the robot to efficiently climb stairs by adapting the NASA Rocker Bogie design which they used for their Mars rovers
- Worked with a separate team of engineers who designed the machine learning models for detecting people and screams to integrate that functionality into the robot. I accomplished this by splitting up core robot functionality and machine learning models into multiple processes using the Python subprocess library and parsing through the model output in real-time to guide core robot behavior.
- Presented entire project in a competition against other NSF REU students and won first place, I was also invited to present at the Numerical Methods for Data Science and Engineering Seminar, and the Data Science Symposium at Texas State for an audience of researchers, faculty, and students
IOR Research Team
Machine Learning Researcher (San Marcos, TX)
Aug. 2021 - May 2023
- Worked in Dr. Ivan Ojeda-Ruiz’s lab on the research problem of reducing human error in the scoring of physical activities (such as martial arts and dance)
- Invested in deeply understanding Robust Principal Component Analysis (RPCA) and k-means algorithms by reading papers and reviewing case studies of other researchers applying these statistical analysis methods in their work (e.g. search recommendations, clustering data)
- Using the aforementioned techniques, developed an algorithm which isolates motion from a video by taking a video as input, removing the still parts of a frame using RPCA, clustering the different parts of the body using k-means, and returning a video of just the moving parts (i.e., a person moving through a room would return a video of just the moving person)
- Implemented the algorithm using MATLAB which enabled us to refine the clustering parameters and have a working code solution that we could run on any .mp4 video file
- Presented research at the undergraduate research conference hosted by the honors college to an audience of faculty and students
Texas State University Collaborative Learning Center
Tutor (San Marcos, TX)
Aug. 2021 - Present
- Tutor all upper-level computer science and applied mathematics courses including C++, Python, and Assembly
- Guide students toward the correct answer by breaking down complex ideas into simpler ideas and engaging in metacognition
- Mentor students with various studying techniques, advice, and resources I have found as a student
- Collaborate with other tutors for higher-level problems for different teaching strategies
Texas State University Learning Assistant
Calculus II Learning Assistant (San Marcos, TX)
Aug. 2021 - Dec. 2021
- Assisted students in the Calculus II lab with studying and homework
- Worked with other learning assistants and professors to develop lab activities each week
- Shared student needs with the professor to create a more comfortable classroom environment
- Recorded findings about student understanding of more difficult concepts and presented our findings at the end of the semester
- Redesigned Calculus II syllabus that applies more to the student’s needs with the math department and other learning assistants
Code Ninjas
Code Tutor (Austin, TX)
Mar. 2019 - Jul. 2020
- Tutored students in Python and Javascript aged 7-14
- Explained programming concepts in different varieties to adapt to different learning styles and methods of thinking about a problem
- Led one-on-one sessions with students where I would explain more advanced programming concepts such as Object Oriented Programming and Data Structures
- Developed weekly Python projects for one-on-one students to complete as homework
- Led multiple week-long coding camps with 30+ students entailing programming lectures, project building, game development, and team-building activities
Kumon
Math and Reading Tutor (Austin, TX)
Sep. 2018 - Mar. 2020
- Tutored Math and English to students aged 7-15
- Led one-on-one sessions with students to explain more advanced math topics
- Excelled in data entry of students’ homework grades
- Assisted management in logistics of multiple Kumon locations in Austin