Ahnaf An Nafee

Anticipated graduation: June 2029. Research focus: human-computer interaction and interactive systems. DCXR Lab researcher.

Concentrations in Artificial Intelligence and Game Programming & Development. Four-year co-op program.

• Formulate hypotheses and design experiments for IRB-approved human-subjects research; integrate and pilot-test Unity/C# and Python study systems for fNIRS-informed classification, synchronized telemetry, preprocessing, and data-quality checks.

• Evolved a nine-repository iOS, Android, and web platform using Java/Spring, PostgreSQL/Redis, cloud infrastructure, release automation, and observability.
• Built feed, matchmaking, and discovery ranking with attributed feedback, Python/LightGBM training, and Java shadow scoring; learned-model ranking remains shadow-only.
• Benchmarked one million synthetic users; removed full-table and N+1 work to cut warm-feed time from 7.4 seconds to 0.70-1.69 seconds and raise modeled capacity from 39 to 330 requests/second.
• Added 15-locale and right-to-left support; reduced feed p99 frame time from 101 ms to 36 ms and jank from 9.6% to 4.1%.

• Evaluated temporal LambdaRank against validation-selected popularity on 961 held-out users (NDCG@10 0.108 vs. 0.190; paired difference -0.082, 95% interval [-0.093, -0.071]); kept the higher-scoring test-only item-kNN result descriptive.
• Compared PyTorch GRU and causal Transformer next-rating rankers (Transformer-minus-GRU +0.014 NDCG@10; 95% paired user-bootstrap interval [+0.008, +0.020]); built temporal-leakage, cold-history, artifact, and CPU/GPU cost checks. Outcomes reflect rating activity, not engagement.

• Standardized Kubernetes/OpenShift deployment patterns across 10+ service teams, establishing a consistent path for production releases.
• Designed and rolled out OpenShift role-based access controls with security and infrastructure partners to address privilege-escalation risk on a shared platform.
• Automated the TLS certificate lifecycle, eliminating manual renewals and reported certificate-expiration downtime.
• Built Gradle tooling for container-image certification, reducing CI/CD congestion and contributing to a reported 10% reduction in annual operating expense.

• Promoted to CTO within nine months; owned Player 2's technical roadmap and led a distributed team across React Native, Java/Spring, PostgreSQL, AWS, and product delivery.
• Advanced the award-winning prototype toward production readiness across matchmaking, chat, community, and marketplace features; reduced cloud costs by 80% through architecture and delivery changes.

• Built the React Native and Java/Spring foundation across authentication, STOMP/WebSocket chat, matchmaking, PostgreSQL services, and repeatable mobile/backend releases.

Contributed Unity/C# engineering and real-time technical work within a game-development team.

Contributed user-experience design work to an early-stage product team.

Prior appointment: Aug 2025 - May 2026

Support computer science coursework and labs through instruction, debugging, and student mentorship.

Supported programming assignments, course concepts, and technical problem-solving.