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// computer engineering · uwaterloo

Sachan Rai

Computer engineering student building across the stack — from STM32 firmware and custom PCBs to full-stack, AI-driven web services.

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About

I'm a Computer Engineering student at the University of Waterloo. Most of what I build ends up touching both hardware and software. I've written firmware for STM32 and ESP32 boards, designed my own PCBs in KiCad, and put full-stack and AI services into production. The stuff I enjoy most tends to sit right at that boundary, where the code has to actually deal with the physical device it's running on.

Experience
Jan 2026 — Apr 2026

Software Engineering Intern

Narrative Projects · Toronto, ON

  • Designed an inbound email parsing webhook, routing mail via an MX record and processing 100+ daily messages, recovering threads via header and subject matching.
  • Replaced an in-app messaging system with an email-driven Comms Hub in Node.js + TypeScript on Cloud Run, AI-tagging emails to products at 90% accuracy across 1000+ products.
  • Self-hosted the OpenClaw AI framework on a GCP Compute Engine VM to power email-driven order intake and daily inbox digests, scoped under an IAM-controlled service account.
May 2025 — Aug 2025

System Operations Intern

Canadian Analytical Laboratories · Mississauga, ON

  • Audited 200+ IT assets across 4 departments via a standardized ITAM tracker, surfacing end-of-life devices and warranty gaps to inform the infrastructure refresh and budget cycle.
  • Configured workstations for lab, regulatory, QA, and admin teams with standardized Windows builds and chromatography systems (Waters Empower, Agilent OpenLab) under GMP/Health Canada standards.
  • Coordinated rollouts with scientists, IT leads, and regulatory staff, scheduling cutovers around active assay runs to deliver upgrades with zero downtime.
Sep 2024 — Apr 2025

Controls Engineer

Waterloo Rocketry · Waterloo, ON

  • Engineered a mechanical airbrake system in SOLIDWORKS with symmetric deployable drag panels within the airframe and mass budget, for a projected 20% aerodynamic efficiency gain.
  • Designed and tested a custom PCB airbrake control board in KiCad, integrating sensor inputs and filtering noisy telemetry in real time to deliver deployment commands.
  • Partnered with avionics and recovery to integrate the airbrake PCB with the flight computer's data and power buses, resolving cross-subsystem issues to lock in a flight-ready revision.
Projects

Apex — AI Racing Telemetry Coach

Real-time F1 25 telemetry coach that parses binary UDP at 60Hz and pinpoints where a lap loses time against a reference, with track-agnostic corner detection.

PythonFastAPIReactPostgreSQLNumPyAnthropic API
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Atlas AI — PCB Defect Detection

A PyTorch CNN classifying six PCB defect categories at 90%+ accuracy, with an LLM service that auto-generates PDF inspection reports under 120ms per image.

PyTorchReactFastAPIPostgreSQLRedisDockerAWS
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LifeSync — AI Wellness Platform

Cross-platform health app with GPT-4 RAG over 500+ nutrition and fitness documents for context-aware meal planning and exercise coaching.

React NativeNode.jsPythonFastAPIPostgreSQLAWSDocker
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Embedded Irrigation Controller

STM32 firmware running a 24-hour autonomous 3-zone irrigation cycle with a UART setup terminal, PWM motor control, and interrupt-driven RPM measurement.

CSTM32PWMUARTProteus
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Dorm Defense Alarm System

Three-unit STM32 alarm fusing PIR sensors, accelerometers, and Bluetooth modules for ~90% motion detection across a 20m range with sub-100ms response.

C/C++STM32I2CKiCad
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Automotive CAN Bus Simulator

ESP32-based CAN simulator transmitting virtual ECU frames for speed, RPM, and faults, with a python-can tool for real-time monitoring and decoding.

C/C++PythonESP32CANArduino
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Skills

Languages

CC++PythonJavaC#JavaScriptTypeScriptHTMLCSSBashMATLABVHDLVerilogAssembly

Frameworks & Libraries

PyTorchTensorFlowReactReact NativeNode.jsFastAPIMongoDBPostgreSQLRedis

Hardware & Embedded

STM32ESP32ArduinoFreeRTOSKiCadSolidWorksFusion360Quartus Prime

Protocols & Test

CANI2CSPIUARTPWMOscilloscopeLogic AnalyzerMultimeterSoldering

Cloud & DevOps

AWS (ECS, S3, RDS)GCP (Cloud Run, Compute Engine)DockerKubernetesSendGrid

Developer Tools

GitLinuxJiraAgileSTM32 CubeIDEProteusPlatformIOVS Code
Contact

Reach out!

email s43rai@uwaterloo.ca github github.com/sachan-rai linkedin linkedin.com/in/sachanrai