RÉSUMÉ · REV 2026.07 · SHEET 1/1 ← portfolio  ·  download PDF ↓
Nirav Surabhi

Software + mechanical engineering, from Civic aerodynamics to bias-reducing news apps.

Education

Purdue UniversityFALL 2026 · INCOMING
First-Year Engineering · Intended Mechanical Engineering
Independence High SchoolGRAD. JUN 2026
Loudoun County, VA · Class of 2026
Coursework: AP Computer Science A, AP Physics C, Multivariable Calculus.
Central Virginia Governor's SchoolJUN–JUL 2024
Science & Technology · Mathematics scholar

Research & Publication

Passive Vortex Propulsion2024–2025 · 1ST AUTHOR
Designed and built a wind-tunnel test rig, soldered and calibrated an Arduino load-cell system, ran CFD, and analyzed 20 trials. Measured 3.1 N mean net thrust (p < 0.001), providing the first experimental evidence of passive vortex propulsion in air.
Arduino · C++ · load cells · Fusion 360 · CFD · Python · statistical analysis

Engineering Projects

Motor-Based Resistance System2025 · RSEF · 1ST AUTHOR
Designed and built a portable, battery-powered strength trainer through three prototypes. A 188:1 geared motor produced a repeatable, PWM-controlled force curve (R² = 0.993) at a $214.95 prototype cost.
Fusion 360 · FEA · Arduino · PWM · motor control · prototyping
FTC Robotics — Absolute Zero (12096)2022–2026 · CAPTAIN
Four years as captain & lead programmer; CADded and built every part in Fusion 360. Wrote autonomous & tele-op in Java — PID loops, sensor fusion, odometry. Reached the Chesapeake championship.

Skills

Programming
Python, Java, C++, JavaScript, TypeScript, Git
Engineering
Fusion 360, CFD, FEA, Arduino, load cells, soldering
Controls
PID, sensor fusion, odometry, motor control, data analysis
AI / ML
PyTorch, computer vision, LLMs, agent architecture

Honors & Music

  • AIAA Aerospace Award (RSEF special honor → NASA Goddard invitation)
  • Captain, Science Olympiad
  • Presidential Volunteer Service Award (Silver)
  • Central Virginia Governor's School for Science & Technology — Mathematics, 2024
  • 1st place, Aguado guitar competition · All-Virginia Guitar Ensemble

Software / ML — Selected

Khali2025–NOW · CO-FOUNDER/LEAD ENGINEER
khali.info
TikTok-style swipe-through news startup built to make short-form scrolling useful: stories combine opposing sources, present one claim at a time, and include an OpenAI "ask this story" assistant. Native SwiftUI iOS + Expo/RN app on a Node + Python backend.
Swift/SwiftUI · React Native · Expo · Node.js · Python · OpenAI · Supabase
Articulator2026–NOW · CREATOR · INDYHAX
articulator-3000.vercel.app
Turns a rough idea — spoken, typed, air-drawn over webcam (MediaPipe, client-side), or uploaded — into a structured model, interviews you until it understands, runs a web-research reality check, and emits briefs and a concept image. Hackathon project taken to production.
Next.js · TypeScript · OpenAI Responses API · MediaPipe · Supabase · Zod
Oh2026–NOW · CREATOR
github.com/21J3phy/Oh
Built shared memory for AI coding agents: hook-driven session capture, local secret scrubbing, vector retrieval, and an MCP interface that preserves the reasoning behind code changes.
TypeScript · Node.js · MCP · OpenAI · Supabase · pgvector
Chad vs. Chud2026 · CO-FOUNDER/LEAD ENGINEER
chadvschud.com · sunset
Built a real-time webcam client, Socket.IO/WebRTC matchmaking, and a FastAPI inference service using a fine-tuned ResNet-18 + ArcFace ensemble. 10,000+ users; 100+ concurrent.
Next.js · TypeScript · FastAPI · WebRTC · PyTorch · Fly.io

Experience

CAD InternJUN 2025–MAY 2026
I3 Simulations
3D models and haptic-feedback prototypes for medical-training simulators.
Bike MechanicJUN 2021–AUG 2025
The Bike Lane · intern → part-time
Built bikes from the frame up; ran final safety checks.
AI Engineer & SWE InternFEB 2021–2022
Ember Learning (formerly DeAP Learning Labs)
Wrote the LLM prompts behind AP-tutor chatbots; built automated AI grading for AP DBQs/FRQs against the official rubric; indexed lecture transcripts in a vector DB for timestamp search; led the company website. Team landed a Microsoft & OpenAI grant; $1M+ valuation.