The projects, at a glance

Problem. Commercial assistants forget every conversation, can't touch your files, and lock you to one company's model.

Build. One laptop is the "body" (wake word, mic, speaker); the other is the "brain" (orchestration + memory), linked over an encrypted mesh. Grok answers directly when it can and calls other models in parallel when it can't.

Result. A real distributed system with memory that survives restarts and a fallback for every model, so it degrades instead of crashing.

Problem. A fixed panel only points straight at the sun for a small slice of the day and loses efficiency the rest.

Build. A Raspberry Pi drives servo and stepper motors in a hand-built wooden frame, with custom Python sweeping the panel along the sun's path.

Result. Second Place at the 43rd Annual IUSD Science Fair (Jan 2024), the project that hooked me on code controlling the physical world.

If I built it again I'd close the loop with light sensors so it seeks the brightest direction, and log energy gained versus a fixed control panel.

Problem. Good transcription usually means uploading your recordings to a paid cloud service.

Build. On startup it detects the hardware, loading the most accurate model on a GPU or a lighter one on CPU, and runs long jobs on background threads with live progress, so the browser never freezes.

Result. Whisper-quality results with no data ever leaving the computer, from a UI simple enough for anyone to use.

Problem. Architecture clients judge a firm by its taste before they read a word, so the site had to feel considered.

Build. A restrained black-and-gold identity with a full set of pages (home, about, services, projects, testimonials, contact) and real marketing content, structured for SEO.

Result. Practice building to someone else's brand, and leaving a clean handoff, instead of just my own taste.

Problem. A to do list only helps if you actually open it, and sorting tasks into categories by hand is friction that makes people quit.

Build. Typing "essay due Friday" auto-tags it Homework, "buy milk" tags Shopping, using keyword matching tuned so specific terms beat generic ones. Tasks sync through Firebase so the list matches on every device, and push notifications remind me before something is due.

Result. A to do list I actually keep using, because it does the sorting for me.

Design. I learned to model in Fusion 360, designing a domed base with a pattern of holes for light to shine through.

Make. Sliced and printed it on a Prusa Mini, laser-cut the supporting pieces, and learned the settings for both machines.

Finish. Learned to solder and organize wiring cleanly to bring the printed and cut parts together into a working object.

Problem. On a surface this large, the wrong grit, too much stain, or an uneven coat all show immediately.

Build. I learned to feel a surface and choose the right grit, then how stains react to the grain. When a coat came out uneven, we stripped the whole side and redid it.

Result. A smooth, richly stained body, and practice in patience and compromise.