The following projects are those I have been involved in during the past 4 years. In each, I tried to experiment with new libraries and frameworks

Big Byte Challenge - iDiscover (Audience Choice Award Winner)

Summary: iDiscover, a 45-second 'music speed-dating app' aimed at discovering new artists. Throughout the 45-seconds, listeners can like/dislike as many songs as they want and at the end, the app provides the user with a recommended playlist based on their preferences. The application was awarded the Audience Choice Award in October, 2013.

Details: The application was created during the Apple & AT&T Big Byte Challenge. The challenge was to use Apple's iTunes data and redesign a way that the information could be displayed to the listener. iDiscover initially generates random songs, but as the listener starts to like/dislike songs, the app starts to prioritize songs that it showcases. The end result displays the top three artists that the user may enjoy listening to, each artist's top songs, a preview of the song, and a link to buy in the iTune's store.

HackDuke Hackathon - ArtGenius (2nd Place Overall Finish)

Summary: ArtGenius -- an Art History lesson whenever you want! Participated at HackDuke '13 creating a web application geared towards crowdsourcing the annotations of historical images. Our application finished 2nd overall, out of 102 submissions in November, 2013.

Details: Often with historical images, the painting is so old that the meaning has been lost or the artwork has extensive symbolism. ArtGenius aims to solve this dilemma by creating an educational-focused platform that brings people together who are interested in Art History. Anyone can create an account. The app distinguishes itself by allowing users to highlight specific portions of the painting using the Javascript Graphics Library (JSGL) and provide an annotation describing the area. This description is left for others to view when they hover over that particular part of the image. (The website is currently under construction, because we have partnered with the Duke Art Department and will be piloting the platform in the Fall 2014).

Photovoltaic Energy System Independent Study

Summary: 1.6Kw Photovoltaic Energy System designed to reduce power consumption and raise awareness about alternative energy.

Details: I chose to install a photovoltaic energy system at my high school (Lahser High School Bloomfield Hills, MI), while I was a junior there. This was an independent study class and I developed the concept and designed it on CAD software. Permits were obtained from the State of Michigan, and the contruction was completed in August, 2010. The project was featured in multiple newspapers and magazines, as well as, a Duke University article profiling the incoming Class of 2015.

Schedule.me (In Progress)

Summary: Currently working on a backbone.js scheduling app for Duke students. The app will take advantage of Duke's course catalog API to aggregate basic information (course name, department, location, instructor, time offered, etc.) and integrate with social networks. The goal of this project is to make students more efficient with developing schedules, and sharing them with their friends faster and seamlessly.

Maxwell House Website

Summary: Redesigned and implemented a new website for Maxwell, a social living group (SLG) house at Duke University. The site features a streamlined design and profiles for its members.

Details: Over the 2013 Summer & Fall, the website was redesigned to incorporate house colors, updated content and new images. The website is built around Zurb's Foundation framework. Emphasis was placed on highlighting the members of Maxwell, established traditions, and the culture that emcompasses all of it. The project was completed in December, 2013

Chronline NCAA March Madness Bracket

Summary: An NCAA March Madness Bracket developed to keep track of games, scores, and the progression of the tournament.

Details: The project was completed by Ryan Toussaint, Tyler Nisonoff, and Jim Posen while working for the Duke University Newspaper's online team. The goal of the project was to create a bracket that was convenient for Duke students to check during March Madness. The braket used HTML Canvas, and displayed the team's name, logo, and seed. Each team was also accompanied by a modal showing its regular season record and a summary of the team's season. The project was completed in February, 2013.

Microelectronics SmartCane Final Project

Summary: Constructed a 'SmartCane' out of discrete electronics in order to navigate a visually impaired person through an unknown course. Our group finished 3rd among 15 teams.

Details: The project took place over a six week period. This specific SmartCane went through several design changes, but the end result was a PVC enclosure with the electronics stored internally. There are two inductors on each side of the cane that detects the magnetic field given off from the wire in the flooring. This signal is then amplified and filtered through a custom circuit built and then sent to the user's headphones. By swinging the SmartCane, the user can find the wire below the flooring and correctly navigate the course. The whole project is powered by AA batteries on board. The project was completed in April, 2013.

BOE-Robot Final Engineering Project

Summary: A robot constructed to complete two tasks with unknown locations and values -- all while other robots were on the course as well. The challenge concludes with all robots completing their tasks and parking in the correct location. (Fastest time and most tasks completed wins).

Details: The BOE-robot was constructed by Ryan and his lab partner, Helio Liu. The tasks were to navigate to a location, complete the initial task (deciding which mysterious shape was placed in the middle of the room), and then drive to the second location and complete that task (identifying the mathematical difference between the number of black and silver tiles on a grid). This value is the correct parking spot for this particular robot. Throughout the challenge, all robots from the same lab section are running -- thus the BOE-Robot has object avoidance built in. The robot was completed in April, 2012.

Duke University Microfluidics Lab Website

Summary: Freelance website project geared towards redesigning Professor Richard Fair's Microfluidics lab website. Website completed in June, 2014.

Eagle Scout Project

Summary: Collected 1,500+ articles of clothing and 210 appliances for needy families in the Metro-Detroit area.

Details: The Eagle Scout Project is the final objective in order for a person to obtain the rank of Eagle Scout. The goal of this specific project was to collect 200 gently used articles of clothing and 50+ small appliances. The project received a strong response from the community, which enabled 1,500+ articles of clothing to be collected and 210 appliances -- shattering the original goal! The project was divided among separate collection sites located at schools and community buildings -- completed in August, 2008.

FiSoC Website Development

Summary: FiSoC, the Future of the Information Society, is a new organization at Duke aimed at exploring how information technology is changing the fabric of society. For this project, I consulted and coded the basic framework of the website, that can be expanded as the organization grows. FiSoC's objective is to have content, publications, and infographics available online in the 2014 Fall.