Computer Engineering @ UWaterloo

Ali
Shahzad

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

Reach

GitHub ↗ LinkedIn ↗ Email ↗

2026 – 2031

University of Waterloo

BASc, Computer Engineering

IB Diploma · SAT 1600/1600 · 100% Merit Scholarship

Project 01

Fraise

Browser workspace for training & testing language models

  • Launch training runs, compare checkpoints, and try models through streaming as-you-type autocomplete.
  • Validated forms, live loss charts and logs, and a graceful stop that saves a resumable checkpoint.
  • 127-test suite, zero skips: exact checkpoint replay, compiled-model correctness, evaluation behaviour.

Python · FastAPI · JavaScript · SSE

Project 02

Shale

Local-first personal knowledge base

  • Captures notes, email, and browsing into searchable local storage with a plug-in system for new sources.
  • Chrome extension with an offline IndexedDB outbox and backoff retries that survive network loss and restarts.
  • Safe AI-agent edits: scoped views, transactional writes, idempotency keys, dry-run preview, audit log.

TypeScript · React · Bun · SQLite

Project 03

Deal or No Deal

Tested simulation & analysis CLI

  • Found, documented, and fixed three bugs in the original simulator.
  • Added 8 Rust and 26 Python tests, linting, an end-to-end demo, and Windows checks to CI.
  • Packaged an installable Python CLI for reproducible runs, plots, and model verification.

Rust · Python · GitHub Actions

May – Aug 2025

Beem Solutions

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.

Jun – Aug 2024

Punjab IT Board (PITB)

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.

Side fires

watworks-mcpMCP server that lets an agent find the WaterlooWorks jobs that suit you bestlobot-langA toy language built on Brainfuck with real conveniences, running on a stack-based VMuwhpc-onboardingUW High Performance Computing onboarding challenge

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