Jonathan Tao
Computer Engineering @ UIUC
I turn coffee into code, and sometimes that code even works.
Education
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
B.S. in Computer Engineering, Minor in Semiconductor Engineering
Expected May 2028; GPA: 4.0/4.0
Projects
Custom CoreXY 3D Printer
I designed and built a high-performance CoreXY 3D printer from scratch, taking inspiration from open-source projects like Voron and HevORT. It has a rigid frame composed of 3D-printed parts, all designed in Autodesk Inventor.
The printer uses klipper firmware and input shaping to reach printing speeds up to 1000 mm/s with 4000 mm/s^2 accelerations. The Video shown above is the printer printing a benchi.
W.A.N.D.E.R. Autonomous Robot
I engineered a maze-solving autonomous robot named W.A.N.D.E.R. It features a custom 3D-printed chassis and uses a gyroscope, wheel encoders, and distance sensors to navigate and map its environment.
The video above shows the robot following a preprogrammed path through boxes. When in maze solving mode, 2 by 4s are placed on the tape lines and ultrasonic distance sensors are used to see if a plank is ahead of the robot. This is combined with the wheel encoders and gyroscope to get a good idea of the robot's current position.
Experience
Illini Electric Motorsports
As an Embedded Engineer with Illini Electric Motorsports, I'm architecting the transition of our Battery Management System (BMS) firmware to FreeRTOS, boosting real-time performance and scalability.
AbbVie
During my internship at AbbVie, I engineered and deployed an internal RAG support agent using LangChain, OpenAI API, and Power Automate. This reduced information retrieval time for SOPs and equipment guides by over 50%.
AbbVie
In a previous role at AbbVie, I spearheaded the deployment of a wireless camera system in a primate enclosure. This enabled 24/7 autonomous data collection for preclinical research, a huge improvement over manual observation.
Freelance Computer Builder
As a freelance computer builder, I've engineered, sourced, and assembled over $11,000 worth of custom PCs, specializing in small form factor (SFF) and high-performance builds.
Daniel Wright Jr. High School
I've also enjoyed volunteering as a C++ and Python teacher at Daniel Wright Jr. High School, where I instructed over 100 students in core computer science concepts, including C++ and Python fundamentals, data structures, and algorithms.
Skills
Languages: C++, C, Python, MATLAB, Java, Verilog, R, JavaScript
Hardware & Design: Autodesk Inventor, Raspberry Pi, ESP32, AVR & ARM Cortex-M, Altium
Frameworks: PyTorch, LangChain, Pandas, NumPy, Matplotlib
Developer Tools: Git, Linux, Docker, Simulink, Bash, Power Automate