Experience

Palantir — Forward-Deployed Engineer Intern

Worked with PySpark, TypeScript, and Foundry to develop various supply chain applications, such as an entity resolution workflow that uses vector embeddings to increase demand forecast accuracy and enable bulk ordering.

Amazon — Software Engineer Intern

Built a simulation platform for catalog profitability analysis, automating supply chain optimization workflows with AWS (Java/Python CDK, Step Functions, Batch, Lambda) and large-scale data processing jobs configured with Spark SQL.

Hackathons

Active hackathon participant, winning prizes at TreeHacks, IrvineHacks, and most recently CalHacks, where my team won a Vespa and a cow! I also am a HackOps Organizer for LA Hacks.

Clubs

I am a Mentorship Chair for UPE, UCLA's Computing Honors Society. I am also Bass Flutist for UCLA's Flute Choir and perform with the Game Music Ensemble and Bruin Chamber.

Project Highlights

CalHacks Victory

Dial (CalHacks 2025) — Automated Phone Call Agent Swarm

Deployed phone agents to find my team the cheapest hotel to stay at during CalHacks. Built out infrastructure to automatically web scrape phone numbers, send batch calls using Twilio and ElevenLabs, and write agent findings to a database for use by other agents. Our project was awarded prizes by 3 startups (Rox, Conversion, and Crater).

HackMIT Project

ShotTrace — Gunshot Triangulation and Response Automation

Built out hardware and software to triangulate gunshot sources, automatically notifying emergency services and nearby buildings with agents. We also developed a camera footage analysis tool using YOLO and Claude 3 Haiku, processing videos in parallel to maximize usefulness for police.

John Connell

The Duck Method (TreeHacks 2025) — Prove Mastery to a Duck

Too often, AI is used to give answers, but true learning happens when we explain concepts ourselves. Instead of providing answers, the duck (Quackston) learns from you, challenges your explanations, and asks follow-up questions to deepen your understanding. Won a prize for "Best Use of ElevenLabs API" at TreeHacks 2025.

DocuDoc

DocuDoc (IrvineHacks 2025) — Helping Patients Post-Visit

DocuDoc generates visit summaries, clear next steps, and full transcripts so patients don't leave care confused. Our team won the Healthcare Track at IrvineHacks 2025. We developed DocuDoc in under 24 hours with React Native, Firebase, Python/Flask. We used Accessibility AI for speech-to-text and a Hugging Face model fine-tuned on patient–doctor interactions to extract insights.

John Connell

Infrastructure Investment Optimization — LA City Council Award

Awarded a Certificate of Recognition by the City of Los Angeles for contributions to the Hillside Prioritization Street Application. The HSPA is being used by city planners to determine where to invest millions for urban planning. My main contributions were related to street repair prioritization and road accessibility analysis tools.

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