Marc Alwan

MS in Computer Science & Engineering

• Combined 5-Year BS/MS Program at the Paul G. Allen School

BS in Computer Engineering (In Progress)

• GPA: 3.99 / 4.00 — Dean's List Standing
• Relevant Courses: Operating Systems, Systems Programming, Machine Learning, Databases, Advanced HDL

Sensor Embedded Software Co-Op

• Spearheaded investigation into Nvidia memory optimization for C++ image capture service, resolving Yocto dependency issues and achieving up to 4× improvement in inter-process and container latency.
• Designed and presented a streamlined C++ interface for integrating custom Nvidia memory allocator into the ISP pipeline, simplifying adoption and reducing integration overhead for developers.
• Rewrote backend of legacy camera streaming GUI (C++ application) to adopt improved camera SDK, delivering performant, maintainable code on schedule while meeting client requirements.
• Triaged and resolved regression test failures in collaboration with QA, deploying fixes into nightly CI/CD builds. Reduced time-to-fix and ensured critical issues were addressed in time for upcoming release.

Undergraduate Research Assistant

▹ Autonomous Social Navigation With Egocentric Visual Feedback

• Led team developing a novel, semi-autonomous steering algorithm for assisting wheelchair users.
• Integrated gaze-tracking glasses with statistical learning to estimate personalized safety settings, modeled using control barrier functions.
• Accelerated non-linear optimization in Python + JAX, improving algorithm runtime for real-time deployment.
• Built a Python-based ROS2 computation pipeline, enabling integration with real-world assistive robotics systems.

▹ UAVs with Radar-Based Vitals Detection for Search and Rescue

• Developed an LSTM deep learning model in PyTorch to classify patient vitals from time-series radar data.
• Tuned hyperparameters with Weights & Biases across multiple GPUs, achieving 91%+ classification accuracy.
• Conducted real-world UAV experiments; published results via GitHub and poster symposiums.

Student-Led CubeSat Organization · RSO Officer

• Coordinating a student organization developing HuskySat-2, a 3U CubeSat.
• Producing and documenting C and C++ magnetorquers and reaction wheels code to drive the motors/coils; helped with construction, design, and testing/verifying space worthiness.
• Managing club expenses, leading fundraising efforts, and recruiting and mentoring new members as an RSO officer.

Embedded Wireless Communication System

• Built secure P2P LoRa-based wireless messaging system on STM32 (SX126X) device.
• Implemented multi-threaded C protocol with end-to-end encryption (libsodium) and custom terminal UI using POSIX/termios.

FPGA Hardware Design Project

• Architected block diagrams and corresponding finite state machines required to implement Snake on Cyclone V DE1-SoC FPGA with LED matrix and physical buttons.
• Developed entirely in SystemVerilog, verified in ModelSim, synthesized in Quartus.