Chen Zhao.Contact
Sheridan College CS • Cloud Computing Specialization

Software Developer &
AI Safety Researcher

Hi, I'm Chen. I research reasoning faithfulness and mechanistic interpretability in Large Language Models. Beyond AI theory, I build autonomous physical computing systems and declarative specification compilers.

Chen Zhao

Systems & Engineering Projects

🏆 Best Hardware (BearHacks 2026)Edge Robotics & Vision

EchoBin — Autonomous Edge Vision & Robotic Sorting

An embedded computing installation integrating a Raspberry Pi 4, ultrasonic proximity sensors, stepper motors, OpenCV, and Google Gemma vision AI to automate physical classification on edge hardware.

Pipeline Concurrency:Multi-threaded Python pipeline using asynchronous worker queues to eliminate I/O blocking between image inference, motor control, and text-to-speech synthesis.
Raspberry PiEdge AIOpenCV
Devpost →
Formal Specification & CompilerDeterministic UI Synthesis

Spec-Driven Declarative UI Synthesis vs. Multimodal LLMs

A 3-layer declarative specification pipeline (`layout.yaml`, `elements.yaml`, `states.yaml`) compiled into prompt constraints, proving that ~350 lines of structured YAML eliminates visual drift and hallucinatory CSS defaults in LLMs.

Compiler Architecture:Implements slot-mapping verification, multi-template state diffing (+/-), and an empirical benchmark comparing raw video prompting tokens against compiled YAML.
YAML SpecCompilerCanvas
Case Study & Demo →

Work Experience

C# Developer

EQ Consulting Inc • Toronto, ON

Feb 2022 – Dec 2023
  • Engineered comprehensive financial models in C# and C++ for Equity, FX, and Commodity products, delivering pricing and risk analytics.
  • Developed user interfaces for traders using Excel and VSTO, facilitating access to quantitative models and decision making.
  • Innovated Risk and Profit & Loss (P&L) visualization tools providing actionable data analysis for trading strategies.
  • Automated portfolio data aggregation processes through scripts, reducing manual data handling.

Information Services Technical Support Lead

North York General Hospital • Toronto, ON

2020 – 2021
  • Developed internal web tools using Angular, Node.js, and MySQL to track and manage shift slots for hospital staff.
  • Led technical support at vaccination centers, overseeing hardware/software configuration and proactively resolving issues.
  • Authored Python scripts to automate administrative processes, saving operational time and ensuring data accuracy.

Financial Engineer Analyst

Scotiabank • Toronto, ON

Apr 2019 – Sep 2019
  • Implemented financial modeling calculations into core C/C++ libraries and proprietary programs in consultation with market traders.
  • Developed interface layers between end-user products and core models connecting C++ with VBA in Excel.
  • Wrote data sanitation and repair scripts in Python and Bash to optimize batch jobs.

Technical Skills

Languages

JavaPythonC#C/C++VBABashSQL

AI / ML & Systems Frameworks

PyTorchUnsloth (QLoRA)vLLMRaspberry PiOpenCVGame Engines & CanvasElevenLabs API

Web & Databases

AstroHTML5 CanvasNode.jsAngularMySQLMongoDBSQL Server

Cloud & Platforms

AWS (Solutions Architect)Cloudflare PagesGitLinux EnvironmentVisual Studio

Education & Certifications

Education

Expected Graduation 2026

Honours Bachelor of Computer Science

Sheridan College • Oakville, ON

Specialization: Cloud Computing

Certifications & Honors

WIN

Best Hardware Project — BearHacks 2026

Awarded for EchoBin Robotic Waste Installation

AWS

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate

Issued 2025

MDB

MongoDB Certified Professional Developer Associate

Issued 2021