Hamza Vaid hamzavaid

Hi, I'm Hamza Vaid

Computer Engineering @ UC Irvine | Software Engineer | Systems • RTL/Verification • Robotics • Simulation • DSP

I build engineering systems across systems programming, digital hardware verification, robotics/autonomy, scientific simulation, signal processing, distributed infrastructure, and embedded software.

About Me

I'm a Computer Engineering student at the University of California, Irvine, graduating in 2027, with a 3.818 GPA and Dean's Honor List recognition.

My work spans:

Systems & performance engineering — C/C++, Linux, POSIX sockets, concurrency, observability, benchmarking, sanitizers, and reliability testing
Digital hardware & verification — Verilog/SystemVerilog, RISC-V/RV32I, cocotb, architectural reference models, scoreboards, Icarus Verilog, Verilator, and waveform debugging
Robotics & autonomous systems — UAVs, robotic manipulators, embedded control, human-machine interfaces, autonomous navigation, sensing, and hardware/software integration
Scientific simulation & numerical computing — deterministic simulation, numerical integration, N-body mechanics, electromagnetics, scientific visualization, NumPy/SciPy, and OpenGL
Signal processing & estimation — Radar/Sonar simulation, array processing, matched filtering, CA-CFAR, Range-Doppler/Range-Angle processing, Kalman filtering, and multi-target tracking
Backend & distributed infrastructure — Go, Python, PostgreSQL, Redis Streams, Docker, Kubernetes, asynchronous workers, transactional outbox patterns, retries/DLQs, and autoscaling
Applied AI/ML & data engineering — clinical NLP, PHI de-identification, healthcare data pipelines, and explainable prediction systems

I am especially interested in systems software, computer architecture, RTL/verification, robotics, embedded/firmware, simulation, autonomous systems, networking, signal processing, and high-performance engineering software.

Current Academic & Robotics Projects

MIMIC — Motion-Interpreted Manipulation and Intelligent Control

Senior Design • Wearable Sensing • Computer Vision • Robotics • Control

Platform-agnostic human-motion interpretation and safe-control system for mapping multimodal human state into commands for cyber-physical systems.

Wearable finger sensing, IMU orientation, and vision/depth-based motion estimation
MediaPipe/OpenCV-based tracking with multimodal sensor-fusion architecture
Safe abstract command layer separated from device-specific control
Robotic-arm MVP with teleoperation, IK, trajectory limits, and safety supervision; drone/rover adapters as extensions

EECS 195 — Autonomous UAV Project

ArduPilot • ESP32/ExpressLRS • GPS • Telemetry • Embedded Systems

Hands-on team project building and flying a complete UAV from avionics and power systems through autonomous missions.

Flight-controller configuration, radio control, failsafes, batteries, ESCs, and brushless motors
GPS and positioning systems with telemetry to a ground-control station
Autonomous takeoff → waypoint → autoland mission development
Advanced project path includes LLM-in-the-loop agentic control and vision-based navigation

IEEE at UCI Micromouse

Embedded C/C++ • PCB Design • Sensors • Autonomous Navigation

Year-long autonomous maze-solving robot project covering the full embedded hardware/software development cycle.

PCB and embedded-electronics development
Microcontroller programming, sensing, soldering, and physical integration
Autonomous navigation and maze-solving behavior
Iterative testing and preparation for Micromouse competition

Robotics at UCI — ZotBotics Level 2

6-Axis Robot Arm • Embedded Systems • 3D Printing • Automation

Six-person team project designing and building a six-axis 3D-printed robotic arm from scratch.

Mechanical and embedded-system integration
Multi-axis robot programming and control
Custom manufactured/3D-printed manipulator components
Technical sorting and industrial-style automation competition tasks

Featured Software & Engineering Projects

Aetherion

C++20 • OpenGL • CMake/CTest • Numerical Methods • Physics Simulation

Interactive deterministic 3D mechanics and electromagnetic-field simulator.

Newtonian N-body gravity, Coulomb electrostatics, and Lorentz-force dynamics
Runtime-selectable Semi-Implicit Euler, Velocity Verlet, RK4, and Boris integration
Electric, magnetic, and gravity field sampling/tracing with scientific probes and magnitude heatmaps
Camera-relative rendering, configurable reference frames, diagnostics, plotting, checkpoints, and interactive body/probe manipulation

RISC-V SoC Verification Lab

SystemVerilog • cocotb • Python • RV32I • Icarus • Verilator

Incremental verification environment for a scoped RV32I teaching processor.

Independent Python architectural model and instruction-retirement scoreboard
Directed arithmetic, logic, memory, branch, and jump verification
Checks PC, instruction, register writeback, memory transactions, and trap status at every retirement
Optional VCD/FST waveforms, JSON failure traces, GTKWave debugging, and dual-simulator workflows

Online Coding Judge

Go • PostgreSQL • Redis Streams • Docker • Kubernetes • Next.js

Full-stack programming judge with authenticated workflows and sandboxed Python/C++ execution.

Hardened container execution with cgroup-aware CPU/memory/process controls
Transactional outbox, worker leases, stale-worker fencing, retries, and dead-letter handling
Horizontally concurrent workers with Kubernetes HPA scaling from 3–30 replicas
Backend, Redis, execution, sandbox/security, race-detector, frontend, and deployment testing

Echorin v1.3

Python • NumPy • SciPy • PySide6 • Radar/Sonar DSP • Tracking

Real-time Radar and Sonar simulator with array sensing, detection, tracking, and engineering visualization.

FFT matched filtering, CA-CFAR, coherent Doppler processing, and Kalman multi-target tracking
Eight-element receiver array with Bartlett range-angle processing and signal-derived bearings
Full Range-Doppler and Range-Angle engineering views with track/covariance inspection
Moving sensor platforms with rigid-body receiver mounts, multiple motion models, moving-receiver Doppler, and PPI path/heading overlays

Multithreaded C++ HTTP Server

C++20 • Linux • TCP/IP • POSIX Sockets • Concurrency • CMake/CTest

HTTP/1.1 subset server comparing sequential, thread-per-client, and bounded worker-pool architectures.

Bounded producer-consumer queue with mutexes and condition variables
Deadlines, graceful shutdown, RAII ownership, structured logging, metrics, and fault injection
Debug, Release, ASan/UBSan, and TSan verification automation
72 passing final regression-suite executions and a 15-minute soak test with 69,140 requests and zero reported errors

Zim 2.5.3

TypeScript • ASTs • Symbolic Algebra • Calculus • Scientific Computing

Computer algebra system with exact symbolic manipulation, certified analysis, numerical calculus, and graphical/CLI interfaces.

Exact arithmetic, deterministic simplification, equations, inequalities, nonlinear systems, and certified polynomial analysis
Symbolic differentiation, conservative limits, verified symbolic integration, and arbitrary-precision numerical quadrature
Versioned API, derivation graphs, CLI/REPL, MathML/LaTeX rendering, browser tests, and benchmarks
Integrated scientific calculator with exact/decimal modes, degrees/radians, Ans, persistent history, factorial/logarithms, constants, and native MathML output

Additional Projects

Kairo — TypeScript Discord music platform with a reusable @kairo/music-engine, YouTube/Spotify/MusicBrainz metadata adapters, cross-provider matching, per-guild queues, Discord voice playback, yt-dlp/FFmpeg streaming, MongoDB-backed playlists/liked songs, collection import, and interactive Discord library controls
RISC-V Single-Cycle Processor — 32-bit Verilog processor with ALU, register file, memories, datapath/control logic, testbenches, and waveform-based verification
Anteater Poker — Five-person C networking project implementing a synchronized client/server Texas Hold'em game with custom mechanics
Iceman — Multi-file C++ simulation/game project using inheritance, polymorphism, world-state management, collision logic, and modular class design
Vote Bot — Node.js/Discord.js voting bot with dynamic command loading, permissions, cooldowns, and event-driven state management

Engineering Experience

Software Engineer — Sihha

May 2026 – Present | Remote

Develop clinical NLP middleware that converts unstructured hospital discharge summaries into structured, coded healthcare data and supports explainable readmission-risk prediction.

Build Python/FastAPI backend services and integrate outputs with React
Develop PHI de-identification using Presidio, spaCy/scispaCy, custom recognizers, and structural NLP
Achieved approximately 0.994 synthetic PHI recall in de-identification evaluation
Work with OMOP, SNOMED CT, ICD-10-CM, and RxNorm
Contribute to explainable 30-day hospital readmission-risk prediction
Optimize pipeline performance, including approximately 72 ms/document de-identification processing in reported testing

Computer Programmer — SEDS at UC Irvine Rover Project

Oct 2025 – Jun 2026 | Irvine, CA

Contributed software and integration work to a student-built rover as part of an interdisciplinary engineering team.

Worked with C/C++, Python, Raspberry Pi, Arduino, motor control, and serial communications
Supported software development and hardware/software integration
Used instrumentation, iterative testing, Git-based workflows, and root-cause debugging
Collaborated across computer, electrical, and mechanical engineering disciplines

Independent Software Developer

Jan 2021 – May 2023 | Remote

Built and deployed event-driven Discord applications for online communities with 100,000+ active members.

Node.js, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, Discord.js, and REST APIs
Moderation, permissions, event scheduling, logging, analytics, and automation
Asynchronous/event-driven architectures designed for high-traffic environments
Direct requirements gathering, deployment, and maintenance with community administrators

Technical Stack

Languages

Systems, Networking & Reliability

Linux/UNIX · POSIX Sockets · TCP/IP · HTTP/1.1 · Multithreading · Thread Pools · Synchronization · Atomics · RAII · CMake · CTest · GDB · ASan · UBSan · TSan · Go Race Detector · Benchmarking · Stress/Soak Testing · Fault Injection · Structured Logging · Metrics

Digital Hardware & Verification

Verilog · SystemVerilog · RISC-V/RV32I · RTL Design · cocotb · Architectural Reference Models · Scoreboards · Retirement Traces · Directed Testing · Icarus Verilog · Verilator · GTKWave · VCD/FST · Testbenches · Waveform Debugging

Backend & Distributed Systems

Go/Gin · Python/FastAPI · Node.js · React · Next.js · REST APIs · PostgreSQL/pgx · Redis Streams · MongoDB/Mongoose · Docker · Kubernetes · Kustomize · HPA · Authentication · RBAC · Transactional Outbox · Retry/DLQ Workflows · Distributed Workers

Simulation, DSP & Scientific Computing

OpenGL · Numerical Integration · N-Body Simulation · Coulomb Electrostatics · Lorentz Dynamics · Boris Integration · Scientific Probes · Field-Line Tracing · NumPy · SciPy · Radar/Sonar Simulation · Receiver Arrays · Bartlett Processing · Matched Filtering · CA-CFAR · Range-Doppler · Range-Angle · Kalman Filtering · Multi-Target Tracking · PySide6 · PyQtGraph

Embedded, Robotics & Autonomous Systems

Embedded Systems · Raspberry Pi · Arduino · ESP32 · Serial Communications · UART · PWM · Motor Control · ArduPilot · Flight Controllers · ExpressLRS · GPS · UAV Telemetry · Ground-Control Stations · PCB/Embedded Integration · Autonomous Navigation · Hardware/Software Integration

Media, APIs & Event-Driven Applications

Discord.js · @discordjs/voice · YouTube Data API · Spotify API · MusicBrainz API · yt-dlp · FFmpeg · Metadata Normalization · Voice Playback · Slash Commands · Interactive Components · Persistent Playlists

AI, NLP & Healthcare Data

Machine Learning · NLP · Presidio · spaCy · scispaCy · Clinical NLP · PHI De-identification · OMOP · SNOMED CT · ICD-10-CM · RxNorm · Data Engineering

Education

University of California, Irvine

B.S. Computer Engineering | Expected 2027 | GPA: 3.818

Dean's Honor List: Fall 2025 · Winter 2026 · Spring 2026

Selected completed coursework:

Computer Systems & C · Digital Systems · Digital Logic Lab · Data Structures & Algorithms · Computer Networks · Organization of Digital Computers · Discrete-Time Signals & Systems · Continuous-Time Signals & Systems · Electronics I–III · Circuit/Network Analysis

Current Fall 2026 coursework (22 units):

Organization of Digital Computers Lab · Data & Knowledge Science · VLSI · Electrical Engineering Analysis · Senior Design I · Drones/UAV Systems

Current hands-on work includes MIMIC senior design, an ArduPilot UAV build/autonomy project, IEEE Micromouse, and a six-axis ZotBotics robotic arm.

El Camino College

A.S. Mathematics for Transfer
A.S. Physics for Transfer
Degrees conferred with honors

Physics Academic Excellence Award · MESA · Honors Program · Dean's List

Current Focus

I'm currently deepening my work in:

Multimodal human-motion interpretation and robotic teleoperation through MIMIC
Autonomous UAV systems with ArduPilot, sensing, telemetry, and navigation
Embedded autonomous robotics through Micromouse
Six-axis manipulator design and industrial-style automation through ZotBotics
RTL design and verification with RISC-V, SystemVerilog, cocotb, and architectural scoreboarding
Performance-oriented C++ and Go systems
Deterministic mechanics/electromagnetics simulation and engineering visualization
Radar/Sonar array processing, estimation, and tracking
Distributed/asynchronous backend infrastructure and secure sandboxing
Symbolic/numerical mathematics software

Let's Connect

I'm interested in opportunities involving computer engineering, systems software, RTL/verification, robotics, autonomous systems, simulation, embedded systems, backend infrastructure, networking, hardware/software integration, signal processing, and high-performance software.

LinkedIn · GitHub · Email