Aaron Barlev
Projects
Kivu
Built a web application to allow hikers in U.S. National Parks to connect with other hikers and gather up-to-date park information. Wrote frontend in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and backend in Python. Built out website hosting using Heroku. Designed a database using MySQL and AWS RDS. Developed a salting and hashing algorithm to encrypt user passwords. Implemented SQL injection protection logic. Built out automated group chat creation using the GroupMe API. Added user verification using text messaging and reCAPTCHA. Integrated payment processing with PayPal.
Biezunski.com
Established a website to immortalize the life story of Shlomo Biezunski. Shlomo was an incredible man who lived through the Holocaust and went on to lead an extraordinary life. The memorial website includes Shlomo's two-hour Holocaust testimony interview from 1988, a detailed historical account compiled by Shlomo's grandson, and numerous other impactful photos of Shlomo's experiences.
Computer Science Tutoring
Founded a successful computer science tutoring business. Worked with over 70 unique clients in first 6 months of operation. Designed and executed lesson plans for up to 12 months of instruction for students ranging from middle school to retirement age in various programming languages including Python, Ruby, and C++. Guided students in the completion of a wide range of interesting projects using countless languages, tools, and frameworks.
- Duck hunting game using MATLAB and Arduino with a focus on button feedback and nested while loops
- COVID-19 case tracking software using Java with a focus on binary nodes, trees, and decisions trees
- Bank account and credit card software using Java with a focus on classes, instance variables, constructors, and loops
- Film captioning software that detected mistakes by annotators using Python with a focus on JSON file parsing and processing, dictionary data structures, and nested lists
- Minimum spanning tree calculation software using C++ with a focus on Prim's Algorithm and data structures
Self-Driving Pacerbot
Created an autonomous vision-guided robot for pacing track athletes. Utilized a Raspberry Pi computer for image processing with Python and OpenCV. Employed Atmel microcontrollers for low-level control with C++ and Arduino. Fabricated necessary structures using Computer Aided Design with Autodesk Inventor.
Computer Vision-Based LIDAR Sensor
Designed and constructed a computer vision-powered LIDAR sensor and used it to create a 3-D point cloud of a structure on the University of Maryland campus. Utilized Python computer vision libraries to write software which uses a still image to compute the distance of an object relative to the camera. Processed the distance data using MATLAB to create a point cloud of the object.
Hyperlinked Network Link-Prediction
Conducted independent, novel research on hyperlink-prediction in the context of a search engine. Evaluated the feasibility and usefulness of a method to predict the likelihood of the creation of hyperlinks between existing web pages. Examined the application of ranking search engine results by quality for a given search query.
Android Application Development
Independently developed and published multiple mental math training applications for Android. The final iteration consisted of a timed level system, with unlockable achievements to motivate progress. Applied numerous Java concepts within the projects, including: storage of key-value pairs for later recall of user data, usage of lambda expressions, implementation of a Runnable interface for use within a thread, usage of a model-view-controller paradigm, and event-driven programming.
Career
Apple
I took the leap into consumer-facing technology with my work on the Apple Watch. I was responsible for the software that powers many of the health features used by millions of people around the world every day. Specifically, I was the owner of the wrist detection and digital crown software. Additionally, I made significant contributions to a wide range of other health features, including the ECG, blood oxygen, and heart rate sensing capabilities. Outside of my time working on the Apple Watch, I volunteered as a Project Manager for the Apple Jewish Association.
AeroVironment
In 2019, AeroVironment established the Innovation Center of New England just outside of Boston, MA. This was the company's first engineering facility outside of California. I had interned for AV in 2017 and was intrigued by the cutting-edge work being planned for the east coast office. I joined as one of the first 10 engineers. We were a team brought together to create the next generation of small surveillance VTOL aircraft for the world's militaries. Soon after joining, I was spearheading the development of the driver software for the vehicle's sensor suite. In the following years at the company, I led the design and implementation of the obstacle avoidance hardware and software and developed the EO camera software pipeline.
Intelligent Automation
I joined Intelligent Automation as a member of a team that pursued R&D grants from the DoD in the form of SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) programs. I was most involved in an effort to apply swarm robotics technology on the battlefield where I designed and wrote control software for a UAV-based autonomous swarm formation. As a proof of concept, I successfully demonstrated this software using a handful of six-wheeled ground-based robots. The vehicles were powered by the Linux-based NVIDIA Jetson TX2 and an ultra-wideband indoor positioning system.
Education & Skills
University of Maryland, A. James Clark School of Engineering
Coursework
- Algorithms (CMSC351H)
- Bio-Inspired Robotics (ENME489L)
- Electronics and Instrumentation I & II (ENME350/351)
- Medical Robotics (ENME489C)
- Object-Oriented Programming I & II (CMSC131/132)
- Organization of Programming Languages (CMSC330)
- Remote Sensing (ENME489Y)
- Technical Writing (ENGL393)
Programming Languages & Tools
Awards & Leadership
- All-Big Ten Academic Honors - Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019
- Mechanical Engineering Honor Society - elected Treasurer May 2017, elected President May 2018
- President's Cup Award, University of Maryland Department of Intercollegiate Athletics - Spring 2018, Spring 2019
- Student Spotlight, Engineering at Maryland Magazine - Spring 2018
- Dean's List, A. James Clark School of Engineering - Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019
- Student-Athlete Advisory Committee - appointed August 2017
- Big Ten Distinguished Scholar - Summer 2017
- Presidential Scholarship, University of Maryland - Spring 2015
- NJSIAA Scholar Athlete Award - Spring 2015
Interests
Apart from my technical interests, I'm also an avid traveler. There are only a handful of U.S. states I haven't visited and I travel abroad at every opportunity. I like to stay active and enjoy exploring nearby trails on the weekends. During my time at the University of Maryland, I was a distance runner on the Track & Field team, where I competed in the 1500 and 3000 Steeplechase. Since retiring from Track & Field, I've started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Music City Challenge - February 9th, 2019
I ran a personal best time of 4:12.81 for the mile in this race.
Yosemite National Park - November 14th, 2021
Photos from my trip to Yosemite (and most others) can be found on my Google Drive scrapbook.
Jiu Jitsu World League Golden State IV - April 30th, 2022
This was my first jiu-jitsu competition.