Kevin Lai
I’m a versatile software engineer with internship experience in end-to-end development of full-stack applications and internal software. My experience spans both startup and government environments, where developing solutions with adaptability and upgradability in mind is paramount. I am actively seeking internship opportunities to apply and expand my skills professionally.
Software Engineer
Technical Skills:
- Languages: Python, TypeScript/JavaScript, Java, C/C++, HTML, CSS, MATLAB
- Libraries and Frameworks: Next.js, React.js, React Native, Express.js, Django, Expo, PyQt, Tkinter, Tailwind CSS, Mongoose, PyTest, Material UI, Jest, NumPy
- Additional Skills: CI/CD, Node.js, AWS RDS, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Postman, Supabase, Prisma, Colab
Education
BS, Computer Science | Stony Brook University (Expected May 2025)
Professional Experience
Full Stack Developer Intern @ J3C (October 2023 - January 2024)
- Developed a back-end server and infrastructure to facilitate a REST API for management of coupons and brand data in a PostgreSQL database.
- Translated Figma designs into seamless React.js web pages with Material UI, Tailwind CSS, and Framer Motion. Improved perceived load times by 30%+ through proficient use of Next.js
- Collaborated with the product manager and engineers to define minimum-viable-product specifications for a coupon sharing platform. Utilizing UML diagrams to convey the design of the application.
Teaching Assistant @ Stony Brook University (August 2023 - December 2023)
- Assisted Dr. Abid Malik in writing grading scripts written in C and provided technical support for Ubuntu Virtual Machines in a course with 180 students.
Software Engineer Intern @ NYC Department of Education (July 2023 - August 2023)
- Developed a proxy server using Node.js and Express.js to support the use of CSRF tokens for web servers protected with JSON Web Tokens. Supervised by Adeel Syed in the Identity Management Team.
- Worked closely with other interns in the Identity Management Team to implement the proxy server, composing postman documentation and tests in the process for the team.
Projects
Milton: Scan Art With Machine Learning
- Trained a YOLOv8 object detection model on a custom dataset to create a proof of concept of a art scanning feature that utilizes machine learning to identify art pieces in the Charles B. Wang Center.
Forum Microservice
- A containerized forum microservice that powers Reddit-style discussions with voting, user profiles, scalability, and an API.
- Users can register, login, and perform various actions such as creating posts, commenting, and voting on posts.
Research Contributor: MIPS Simulator
- Worked alongside Dr. McDonnell in a team of 4 at Stony Brook University to develop STARS, a program that emulates MIPS assembly execution by simulating a MIPS processor’s instruction memory, registers, system calls, and controller.
- Reduced program execution time by 60% by reworking inter-tread communication as measured by the timeit.
- Wrote extensive unit tests to evaluate the correctness of MIPS syscalls.
RaceTree
- Developed a full-stack web application using the Next.js framework to build a platform for creating racing themed social media landing pages.
- Integrated Clerk to authenticate with OAuth and manage user accounts securely.