ProjectDescription
The AI Backpack Mobile App was my Software Engineering capstone and served as the first implementation of the AI Backpack concept. The goal was to tackle a common problem faced by students and early professionals: career resources are scattered across platforms, making it difficult to discover opportunities and build meaningful connections in one place.
Designed as a mobile-first experience, the app centralizes scholarships, internships, and career pathways into a single, searchable interface that users can access anytime.
The most significant technical challenge was implementing a real-time messaging system under a short three-to-four month development window. Building a production-ready chat solution—supporting both direct messaging and group conversations—typically requires several months of development, careful backend architecture, and extensive testing. Within this short timeframe, my team and I delivered a reliable live chat experience using the ChatKitty API, enabling real-time communication and peer-to-peer networking at scale.
MyRole
As Technical Lead, I drove the capstone project by leveraging my full-stack expertise to implement core features, strategically delegating tasks, and overseeing all project progress to ensure timely and successful delivery.
AppliedTechnologies
- React Native
- Expo
- Firebase
- ChatKitty API
MyContributions
- Engineered a scalable chat solution using the ChatKitty API, accelerating delivery by ∼70% while lowering costs by 2-5x compared to competing APIs.
- Analyzed user needs and product requirements to ensure technical feasibility, delivering the project 2 weeks ahead of schedule.
- Integrated Google Firebase and Firebase Auth to implement robust user authentication and real-time data synchronization, fulfilling a core product requirement.
- Managed the team's code review process, enforcing best practices and rigorous testing protocols that resulted in a 30% reduction in critical bugs reported during final testing.