portfolio / vol. 01
ahnaf
zareef
computer engineering student at mcmaster university, based in toronto, ontario.
experience
background.
Firmware/ML Developer Intern
Carobot Learning & Research Organization
Built an offline robotics dev-kit that trains and deploys ML models on the ESP32-S3, with UVC + CDC firmware (TinyUSB/ESP-IDF) and a Blockly NN builder in TensorFlow.js.
- ESP32-S3
- ESP-IDF
- TinyUSB
- UVC + CDC
- TensorFlow.js
- Python
- MicroPython
- Blockly
Toronto, ON
Power & Data Acquisition Member
Designed an IV Curve Tracer PCB in Altium (Darlington pair, Hall-effect sensing, MOSFET/Zener protection) and wrote ESP32 C firmware for DAC-driven IV sweeps.
- Altium Designer
- ESP32
- C
- Hall effect
- MOSFET
- Zener
- DAC/ADC
- oscilloscope
- soldering
Hamilton, ON
AI & ML Teaching Assistant
Taught supervised learning, CNNs, and MLPs to 40+ students, and guided them building LLM chatbots with the OpenAI API, LangChain, and RAG.
- scikit-learn
- TensorFlow
- OpenCV
- Python
- OpenAI API
- LangChain
- RAG
Toronto, ON
Software Developer/IT Intern
Platinum Medical
Rebuilt the patient website and e-referral system, lifting bookings 30% and cutting per-patient admin time.
- HTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- Node.js
- MySQL
- Fetch API
Toronto, ON
selected work
projects.
XNOR-9
Binarized Neural Network accelerator on a Tang Nano 9K FPGA.
- FPGA
- Verilog
- Python
- ESP32
- RTL
- UART
- Yosys/nextpnr
- Larq
- TensorFlow
I2C Master Controller
Verilog I2C master with a 4-phase bit-timing scheme, deployed on a MicroBlaze SoC.
- FPGA
- Verilog
- Vivado
- MicroBlaze
- C
- Arty S7-25
IV Curve Tracer
Custom Altium PCB for per-cell solar IV characterization.
- Altium
- PCB
- ESP32
- C
- Hall effect
- MOSFET
- Zener
- DAC/ADC
Delvie
360° ToF lidar scanner with MATLAB point-cloud reconstruction.
- C
- MSP432
- Keil
- VL53L1X ToF
- I2C
- UART
- MATLAB
- Logic Analyzer
piBlocker
Network-level DNS ad blocker running on a Raspberry Pi 3B.
- Python
- Raspberry Pi
- DNS
- Networking
- Linux
International Airport Challenge
Automated baggage transfer mechanism with Python verification.
- Autodesk Inventor
- Python
- 3D Printing
- Linear Actuator
- CAD
Microplastic Filtration
Material-selection study for a 10–20µm microplastic filter.
- Granta EduPack
- Ashby Charts
- Eco-Audit
- Materials
- Excel
XY Slice and Dice
Accessible guided-blade cutting tool for safe food prep.
- Autodesk Inventor
- 3D Printing
- CAD
- Accessibility
- Engineering Drawings