Lecture 01 · Fall 2026

Ali Shahzad

Computer Engineering @ UWaterloo

Thm. I build software that holds up under pressure, and the tests that prove it.

Proof. See below. ∎

§1 Experience

Software Engineering Intern (Forward-Deployed)

Adapted a B2B AI voice-agent platform to each client's workflow with Python integrations into their databases, CRMs, and scheduling tools.
Worked directly with client engineers and stakeholders to review codebases, gather requirements, and plan integrations.
Merged email, phone, and social interactions into unified customer profiles for the voice agents.

Mobile Development Intern

Halved app startup time by moving blocking initialization work to asynchronous operations.
Built and documented React Native screens with designers, wired to APIs, databases, and server components.
Wrote Laravel MVC backend code for apps handling national ID (CNIC) data; senior review found no security issues or bugs.

University of Waterloo — BASc, Computer Engineering (2026 – 2031)

Given: IB Diploma, SAT 1600/1600, 100% Merit Scholarship

Browser workspace for training & testing language models

Launch training runs, compare checkpoints, and try models through streaming as-you-type autocomplete.

∈ { Python, FastAPI, JavaScript, SSE }

Local-first personal knowledge base

Captures notes, email, and browsing into searchable local storage with a plug-in system for new sources.

∈ { TypeScript, React, Bun, SQLite }

Tested simulation & analysis CLI

Found, documented, and fixed three bugs in the original simulator.

∈ { Rust, Python, GitHub Actions }

MCP server that lets an agent find the WaterlooWorks jobs that suit you best

∈ { TypeScript, MCP }

A toy language built on Brainfuck with real conveniences, running on a stack-based VM

∈ { Rust }

UW High Performance Computing onboarding challenge

∈ { C++ }

Def. Toolkit :=

Languages = {TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, SQL, Rust}

Applications = {React, React Native, Laravel, FastAPI, Bun, SQLite, AWS, IndexedDB, Chrome extensions}

Quality & Tools = {Git, GitHub Actions, pytest, Cargo, Regression testing, CI, Root-cause analysis}

Office hours