Jawad Alsahlani

Jawad Alsahlani

Computer Science Engineering at The University of Michigan (2026)
I like figuring out how things work and making them make sense. I learn by building, breaking, fixing, and chasing that small “it finally runs” moment.

I’m drawn to problems that mix logic with creativity — where systems feel intuitive and powerful at the same time. I try to ship things that look simple on the outside and are thoughtfully engineered inside.

linkedin.com/in/jawad-alsahlani github.com/Javv4d

💼 Professional Experience
📄 View Resume

The Mainstay Foundation – Innovation & Leadership Center

Software / Web Developer Intern | May 2025 – Aug 2025 | Dearborn, MI

Tech: JavaScript, Node.js, Express, PHP, C++, GoHighLevel, Render, HTML/CSS, API Integration, Automation

  • Stabilized donation/checkout flows in GoHighLevel, resolving duplicate cart and quantity-sync bugs; reduced donor support tickets by 40%.
  • Automated multi-step form logic and backend synchronization to streamline processing and improve data accuracy.
  • Built a secure Node.js/Express proxy bridging embedded front-end scripts with the LeadConnectorHQ API (auth headers, route rewriting, env-vars), deployed on Render with request logging.
  • Developed two lightweight internal tools:
    • Moon Phase Visibility Tracker — PHP frontend + compiled C++ astronomy model; generated date/method-specific visibility maps with ImageMagick overlays and caching.
    • Day Phase Time Tracker — IP-based geo-detection, public time API integration, interactive daily/monthly views with caching and graceful error recovery.
  • Created internal dashboards surfacing volunteer and donor engagement metrics for faster decision-making.

Bayn Financial LLC

Co-Founder / Lead Software Engineer | June 2025 – Sep 2025 | Ann Arbor, MI

Tech: Python, QuantConnect Lean, Pandas, NumPy, Backtesting Pipelines, Data Logging, Git

  • Co-founded a FinTech startup and led a 10-person cross-functional team spanning engineering, data, and strategy.
  • Architected a Python-based algorithmic trading platform with a 4-engineer subteam using QuantConnect Lean and CI workflows.
  • Developed data ingestion and backtesting pipelines to evaluate trading strategies with reproducible logging and metrics dashboards.
  • Optimized risk and capital allocation logic achieving a 25% annualized return (Sharpe 1.5) and up to 500% annualized with options-based variants.
  • Implemented modular strategy templates supporting live testing, parameter sweeps, and result visualization.

Al Khoei Benevolent Foundation

Data Systems & Finance Operations | Jan 2019 – Sep 2025 | New York, NY

Tech: Python, SQL, Access, Excel/VBA, CSV ETL, Reporting Automation

  • Managed $500K+ in annual charitable operations while leading a 4-person tech and finance team.
  • Built ETL pipelines to clean, merge, and validate donor data, reducing duplicates by 90% and improving consistency across systems.
  • Automated monthly closes and reconciliation workflows with Python and VBA, cutting processing time by 50%.
  • Designed compliance scripts and dashboards ensuring transparent tracking for all donor and fund transfers.
  • Modernized reporting through unified data exports and visual summaries used by executive leadership.

Tysons Institute

Software Intern | Jun 2024 – Aug 2024 | Vienna, VA

Tech: Python, JavaScript, Excel/VBA, Data Automation, Education Software

  • Led hands-on Python and web development labs for 40+ students, combining theory with project-based learning.
  • Developed automated grading and reporting tools in Python + Excel VBA, reducing instructor workload by 40%.
  • Created interactive JavaScript demos to visualize loops, recursion, and algorithms for ESL learners.
  • Supported teachers in deploying course templates and improving engagement through gamified assignments.

🧠 Technical Projects

This Portfolio Website

Tech: HTML, CSS, JavaScript (jQuery), SEO, GitHub Pages, Google Analytics

  • Designed and developed this website to showcase my software, game, and course projects in a responsive, single-page format with full mobile support.
  • Implemented smooth in-page navigation, custom icons, and media embeds for videos, PDFs, and interactive demos.
  • Optimized for search visibility with structured data, Open Graph metadata, and analytics tracking through Google Tag Manager (Try googling Jawad Alsahlani!).
  • Deployed via GitHub Pages and configured a custom domain (javvad.dev) with SSL and DNS routing.

AI Docs & Chat Assistant

Tech: React, Node.js, Express, OpenAI API (v2), Flask, Vector Embeddings, WebSockets, File Uploads

  • Built a full-stack system enabling users to chat with uploaded PDFs using persistent embeddings and streaming responses.
  • Architected backend for assistant management, file storage, and conversation threading using the OpenAI v2 API.
  • Integrated upload persistence, progress polling, and live response streaming with robust error handling.
  • Deployed frontend on Vercel and backend on Render, ensuring smooth file syncing between sessions.

Moon Phase Visibility Tracker

Tech: PHP, C++, ImageMagick, Shell Automation, HTML/CSS, JavaScript

  • Built a web app that generates global crescent-moon visibility maps for any date and observation method (Yallop, Odeh).
  • Integrated a compiled C++ visibility engine with PHP form handlers to dynamically render and cache results.
  • Used ImageMagick scripts to composite map overlays and auto-label outputs for clarity and accessibility.

Day Phase Time Tracker

Tech: PHP, JavaScript, GeoIP, Public APIs, HTML/CSS

  • Built a location-aware dashboard that detects the user’s city via IP and fetches daily and monthly daylight phase data from public time APIs.
  • Implemented real-time synchronization, caching, and graceful fallback handling for unavailable data sources.
  • Designed a clean, responsive interface with interactive daily/monthly views for embeddable use across client sites.

Omega Beta Eta Website

Tech: Flask, React, SQLite, REST APIs, Authentication, Web Performance

  • Developed a responsive member portal supporting event registration, donations, and admin dashboards.
  • Built secure login and role-based access with session validation.
  • Designed clean UI for non-technical users and reusable React component structure.

Ross Datathon 2025

Tech: Python, Pandas, Matplotlib, Excel, Data Visualization, Dimensionality Reduction

  • Worked with a team of 6 in a week-long Ross School of Business datathon analyzing U.S. immigration status data.
  • Explored national and regional skill trends using dimensionality reduction to identify high-demand job categories.
  • Proposed a web tool concept that uses immigration and labor data to match users with local in-demand skills.
  • Presented findings and prototype concept to faculty judges with visual summaries built in Matplotlib and Excel.

Disease Classification

Tech: Python, NumPy, Pandas, Scikit-learn, Matplotlib, Data Cleaning

  • Compared machine learning models (logistic regression, random forest, kNN, and neural networks) for disease prediction.
  • Cleaned and preprocessed medical datasets, removing outliers and normalizing features.
  • Achieved 93.9% accuracy with kNN and visualized correlations and performance metrics.

Text Classifier (Piazza Posts)

Tech: C++, STL, Maps, Trees, File I/O, Performance Optimization

  • Implemented a frequency-based classifier labeling forum posts by topic using map and tree structures.
  • Optimized for large input sizes by managing in-memory frequency data with minimal heap overhead.
  • Achieved 95% precision across test cases and sustained performance under real course data volumes.

🎮 Game Portfolio

Planeteer

▶ Play on itch.io

Tech: Unity (C#), 2D Physics, Tilemaps, ScriptableObjects, Event Systems, Particle Effects

  • Solo-developed a 2D planetary mining game with destructible circular worlds and layered terrain hardness.
  • Built a complete resource collection and upgrade system tied to event-driven interactions.
  • Designed tile-based drilling and layered parallax depth to enhance immersion.
  • Implemented custom collision and mining logic with pixel-precise thresholds and particle visuals.

Mining and terrain destruction

Upgrades and economy loop

Combat encounters

Portaltroid

▶ Play on itch.io

Tech: Unity (C#), 2D Physics, Raycasting, GitHub

  • Rebuilt Metroid core movement and combat feel from scratch, then extended it with a custom 2D portal mechanic.
  • Engineered seamless teleportation between surfaces preserving player velocity, direction, and orientation.
  • Designed and polished camera transitions, particle effects, and sprite animation blending.

Enemy behavior and combat

Portal traversal and momentum

Asteroids

Click Play Game!

Tech: HTML, CSS, JavaScript (jQuery), DOM Animation, Event Handling, Game Loop Logic

  • Developed a web-based arcade game playable on desktop and mobile using pure front-end technologies.
  • Handled ship physics, collisions, and projectile tracking through a custom JavaScript game loop.
  • Implemented clean UI, keyboard controls, and responsive scaling across devices.

💻 School Projects
EECS 494 – Game Development

Tech: Unity (C#), Tilemaps, 2D Physics, Event Systems, Raycasting, ScriptableObjects, GitHub

P1 – Metroid Recreation (Portaltroid)

  • Faithfully recreated Metroid’s movement, shooting, and collision physics using Unity’s 2D engine.
  • Implemented a custom portal mechanic that maintains player momentum and direction across teleport surfaces.
  • Built room transitions, checkpoints, and enemy AI tuned for authentic responsiveness.

P2 – Planeteer

  • Solo project featuring circular, destructible planets with tile-based resource layers of increasing hardness.
  • Implemented modular event-driven systems for mining, upgrades, and in-game economy.
  • Designed particle and lighting effects to convey depth, destruction, and progression.
EECS 493 – Human–Computer Interaction

Tech: Figma, Vue.js (MVC), JavaScript (jQuery), iTunes API, Bootstrap, HTML/CSS, Interactive Components, Auto Layout, User Testing

DozeOff – Gamified Sleep Tracker Prototype

  • Designed a mobile app prototype that encourages healthy sleep habits through gamification.
  • Conducted user interviews, affinity diagramming, and storyboard-based “speed dating” sessions.
  • Built high-fidelity interactive Figma prototypes with animations and transitions simulating core flows.

P3 – Asteroids Browser Game

  • Developed a fully interactive 2D browser game using HTML, CSS, and jQuery.
  • Implemented responsive ship movement, collisions, and on-screen score/life displays.

P4 – Figma Prototype Development

  • Designed a mobile quest app prototype with Auto Layout, Components, Variants, and interactive flows.
  • Added micro-interactions and evaluated with Nielsen heuristics in a brief report.

P5 – Artist Search (Vue)

  • Built a client-side artist search app with Vue.js and the iTunes API.
  • Implemented results grid, genre filters, sort, search history, favorites, and inline preview/play.
EECS 491 – Distributed Systems

Tech: Go (Golang), gRPC, Paxos, Sharding, Concurrency, Logging, RPC Frameworks

P1 – MapReduce Simulator

  • Simulated distributed computation via master/worker coordination and fault detection.
  • Handled worker crashes with retry logic and consistent task reallocation.

P3 – Distributed Key-Value Store

  • Implemented a replicated key-value store using Paxos consensus for linearizable updates.
  • Supported sharding and dynamic node joining for scalable, fault-tolerant storage.
EECS 489 – Computer Networks

Tech: C++, TCP/UDP, ARP/ICMP, Mininet, Sockets, Static Routing, Proxy Routing, Load Balancing, Reliable Transport

P1 – TCP Client/Server Simulation

  • Developed a socket-based TCP client/server architecture tested through virtual Mininet networks.
  • Analyzed latency, retransmission rates, and throughput under constrained conditions.

P2 – Load-Balanced Video CDN

  • Implemented a multi-proxy system forwarding requests to optimal edge servers based on load and geography.
  • Added caching logic and adaptive segment prefetching to optimize streaming performance.

P3 – Reliable Transport Protocol (WTP)

  • Built a custom reliable transport protocol over UDP supporting sliding windows and in-order delivery.
  • Added selective ACKs and per-packet timers to improve efficiency and reduce retransmissions.

P4 – Static Router

  • Implemented a static router that forwards real Ethernet/IP traffic across Mininet hosts.
  • Built ARP cache and routing table logic; handled ICMP echo/reply and errors.
  • Validated with ping/traceroute and HTTP fetches through the router.
EECS 485 – Web Systems

Tech: Flask, React, REST APIs, SQL, MapReduce, JSON, Authentication, Distributed Systems

P3 – Client-Side Insta485

  • Built a React + Flask photo-sharing web app using client-side rendering and RESTful APIs.
  • Implemented AJAX-based post loading, likes, comments, and infinite scroll for dynamic interactivity.

P4 – MapReduce Framework

  • Implemented a Python MapReduce framework inspired by Google’s paper using manager/worker architecture.
  • Handled distributed task scheduling and inter-process communication via threads and sockets.

P5 – Distributed Search Engine

  • Developed a scalable search engine with segmented inverted indexing and MapReduce pipelines.
  • Built a REST API backend and web interface supporting TF-IDF ranking and PageRank weighting.
EECS 484 – Database Management Systems

Tech: C++, SQL, B+ Trees, Query Planning, Parsing, Index Optimization

P2 – SQL Parser

  • Wrote a recursive descent parser translating SQL-like syntax into logical plan trees.
  • Handled nested subqueries and expressions with AST structures.

P4 – Query Optimizer

  • Developed a cost-based optimizer with join enumeration and predicate pushdown strategies.
  • Used dynamic programming to select efficient join orders minimizing total I/O cost.
EECS 482 – Operating Systems

Tech: C++, Threads, Synchronization, Virtual Memory, Paging, Process Management

P2 – Thread Library

  • Implemented a cooperative multithreading library supporting semaphores and condition variables.
  • Built a scheduler with queue-based dispatching and starvation prevention.

P3 – Pager

  • Developed a virtual memory manager simulating page faults, swapping, and process forking.
  • Benchmarked performance across FIFO and LRU replacement strategies.
EECS 481 – Software Engineering

Tech: Python, Git, Unit Testing, CI/CD, Refactoring, Documentation

P3 – Refactoring and Testing

  • Refactored a large legacy Python codebase for maintainability while maintaining 100% test coverage.
  • Configured automated testing pipelines using GitHub Actions for continuous integration.
EECS 388 – Computer Security

Tech: Python, C, SQL, HTML, Wireshark, Web Exploitation, Cryptography

P1 – Cryptography

  • Executed RSA forgery, hash collision, and length extension attacks on controlled targets.

P2 – Web Security

  • Exploited SQL injection, XSS, and CSRF vulnerabilities in simulated university web apps and implemented mitigations.

P3 – Networking & Forensics

  • Analyzed packet captures using Wireshark to trace multi-stage attacks and reconstruct intrusion sequences.
EECS 376 – Foundations of Computer Science

Tech: Proofs, Automata, Reductions, Complexity Theory

  • Constructed formal proofs of decidability and NP-completeness using reductions and automata logic.
  • Applied theoretical analysis to justify efficiency limits in algorithmic solutions.
EECS 370 – Computer Organization

Tech: C, Assembly, CPU Simulation, Pipelining, Hazard Detection

P1/P2 – Assembler + Simulator

  • Built an assembler that converts custom assembly code into binary and simulates CPU execution.

P3 – Pipelining

  • Modeled pipeline execution with data forwarding, stalls, and branch prediction optimizations.
EECS 281 – Data Structures and Algorithms

Tech: C++, STL, Hash Tables, Trees, Graphs, Heuristics, Optimization

P3 – SillyQL

  • Implemented an in-memory command-line database with SELECT, JOIN, and PRINT operations.
  • Ranked top 10 in runtime among 1000+ submissions for optimized hashing and lookup efficiency.

P4 – Zookeeper

  • Designed heuristic-based graph search algorithms for pathfinding and optimization problems.
EECS 280 – Programming and Data Structures

Tech: C++, Classes, Pointers, Dynamic Memory, Object-Oriented Programming

P2 – Seam Carving

  • Developed a dynamic programming algorithm to resize images by removing low-energy pixel seams.

P3 – Euchre

  • Built a playable Euchre card game featuring AI players and object-oriented architecture.

P5 – Web Classifier

  • Implemented a frequency-based classifier predicting post categories using token analysis.
EECS 203 – Discrete Math

Tech: Logic, Sets, Proof Writing, Graph Theory

  • Developed strong formal reasoning and proof-writing skills essential for algorithm design.
  • Applied combinatorics and induction techniques to analyze computational problems.
EECS 201 – Tools for Engineering Computing

Tech: Bash, Git, Make, Regex, Shell Scripting

  • Gained mastery of command-line tools for building, debugging, and automating software projects.
  • Automated repetitive compilation and testing workflows using Makefiles and Bash scripts.