Isaac Rudnick

Software Engineer, Web Developer, Data Scientist, and more

Vassar Dining Plus

An Android app meant to improve upon Vassar's existing dining services website. This app has several features that the official website does not, such as the ability to favorite dishes and check which favorites are being served on a day, a more persistent allergen profile, and offline browsing via cached menus. Developed in partnership with Sasha Poor.
The app features MVC architecture, unit and system/integration testing, Javadoc for all functions, use cases, activity diagrams, functional and nonfunctional specifications, test reports, class diagrams for all major features, and more. Made in Java using Android Studio.

SPARCC Robotics Platform

The Serial Perception-Action Robotic Control and Communication Platform (SPARCC) is a versatile robotics platform developed for Vassar College's HARPER project. It's designed to bridge Python applications with Arduino hardware, allowing for seamless control of PWM servos, stepper motors, and querying of various sensors. SPARCC excels at allowing computationally-complex code (like machine learning or vision processing) to integrate seamlessly with an Arduino's robust hardware support and extensive libraries. Through the ArduinoInterface class, users can send and receive commands without needing to handle low-level serial details, making it easy to add new components with minimal configuration changes. Ideal for a variety of robotics projects, SPARCC is fully documented with setup instructions, example code, and troubleshooting tips to facilitate integration into other applications. To demonstrate its capabilities, SPARCC was used to create a whiteboard plotter that can draw images on a whiteboard. The whiteboard-drawing robot features full documentation, including a bill of materials, assembly instructions, and code.
Written in C++ and Python, with robots running C++ on their Arduino and Python on the connected computer.

Blood Alert

A full-stack application developed to enable individuals with diabetes to have an emergency contact notified when their blood sugar deviates from the normal range. The design minimizes the occurrence of unnecessary alerts (false-positives) by initially checking with the diabetic. In cases where the diabetic is aware and in good condition, thereby making an alert unnecessary, the emergency contact does not need to be alerted. If the diabetic doesn't respond to the notification checking on them, the emergency contact is then notified.
Made with NodeJS, Express, MongoDB, and Nightscout in conjunction with research on alarm fatigue in medical settings.

Experience

Over the years, I've had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects, both in and out of school. Here are some of the highlights, along with some of the skills I've picked up along the way.

Robotics Research Position

In the Vassar College Robotics Lab, I work for Professor Ken Livingston with a group of others on HARPER (Humanoid Autonomous Robotic Platform for Experimental Research). My work includes 3D visual perception, object recognition, scenic mapping, and systems integration. This work occurs over the summer as well as during the academic year.

Computer Science Teaching Assistant

At Vassar College, I worked as a teaching assistant for the Computer Science department across multiple semesters. I explained complicated concepts to students in a digestible way, held office hours, hosted exam reviews, and managed labs. Most of my work was in Python and Pyret, with a focus on functional programming and data analysis tools.

DataFest

My team, Team 87, won Best Overall Analysis at Vassar DataFest '24, a data-analysis hackathon. Our data was from an online, interactive textbook service. We found and examined the predictors of student success (using a linear regression model). We further performed a dependency analysis to determine the areas where the textbook needed refreshers for students. In 2023, my team won Best Visualization.

Work Program Logistics Manager

At Westtown School, I managed logistics for the school's all-student work-study program. I tracked student sign ups, attendance, and hours. I held update meetings with relevant faculty and students biweekly, created custom software, and did volunteer work in the school kitchen and for many of the school-supported causes, such as Meals on Wheels.

FIRST Robotics Team

For the FIRST Robotics Competition, I was one of three programmers for team 1391 (Go Metal Moose!). I worked on the robot's autonomous software, teleoperated controls and dashboard, and vision systems. I also worked on the robot's electrical systems, was in charge of scouting other teams, and taught the other programmers Java. Our team won an award for our robot's autonomous behavior and went to the world championships!

Committees and Panels

At Vassar, I serve on the Title IX Student Advisory Committee and the policy subcommittee. This work includes reviewing and providing feedback on the college's policies around sexual assault and discrimination. I also serve on the Academic Panel and the Community Expectations Panel, which review student misconduct cases—academic and non-academic, respectively—to determine appropriate outcomes.

Get in touch

If you're hiring, interested in collaborating, want to ask about my projects, or just want to say hi, reach out!

  • Address

    124 Raymond Avenue
    Box 1762
    Poughkeepsie, NY 12604
    USA