BENJAMIN CARLSON

My Skills & Experience

ABOUT ME

I am a junior at Colorado School of Mines studying Computer Science with a focus in Data Science and a double minor in Mathematics and Physics. I have been programming since 2013 and am proficient in Swift, C++, Python, Java, and SQL. I have developed applications for iOS, Linux, and macOS with ongoing development on all of these platforms.

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE

Professional Projects

SIEMENS GAMESA - SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INTERN

June 2020 - May 2021

Implemented a custom Python console for the BHawC Viz wind turbine simulator while improving the interface and refactoring the codebase to increase readability and reusability.

Technologies Used-

Python
Qt
VTK

LOCKHEED MARTIN SPACE - SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INTERN

May 2019 - April 2020

Created a program to allow SmartSat applications to communicate with the ground and the satellite's camera along with a program to act as the ground or camera for testing.

Technologies Used-

C style C++
Linux
Raw Sockets
Python Bindings
Low Level Memory Management

HACKCU HACKATHON - 2ND PLACE

February 2019

Developed a web application with two other Mines students that, by placing three devices in a room, could detect all the devices in that room using WiFi, triangulate their location, and save their identifying information. My primary responsibility was to create a program that gathered the device data and passed that data to the webserver.

Technologies Used-

Python
Linux
Network Interfaces

MHACKS 11 HACKATHON

October 2018

Created an iOS application that would allow the user to take a photo, use image recognition technologies to identify the item, then open a corresponding Amazon product page.

Technologies Used-

Swift
iOS
Clarifai API

FITTFINDER - SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INTERN

May 2018 - August 2018

Worked on an iOS application for locating fitness-related events nearby. My contributions resulted in a simpler code-base, much faster performance, and an 80% reduction in compile time.

Technologies Used-

Swift
iOS
Git Integration via Bitbucket

PROJECT EXPERIENCE

Personal Projects

HARMONIZE APP (IN DEVELOPMENT) - LEAD DEVELOPER

July 2018 - Present

Creating an iOS application that allows users to find people looking for band members in their area. Developed a backend server with multimedia uploading capabilities, messaging, and notifications using a MySQL connector with Swift. This has been delayed due to conflicts with work and school but the app is built, not released.

Technologies Used-

Swift
iOS
AWS
MySQL
REST API

MOCKSTOCK APP - LEAD DEVELOPER

June 2014 - Present

Developed my first iOS application as a stock market simulator that used real-time stock data with fake money to allow users to "trade" stocks without risking any money. This app includes custom graphs, a news feed, a watch list, and a portfolio with market open/close notifications. (This app is still on the iOS App Store; however, my previously used APIs are now removed. Because of this, the data is not very accurate, and the news data is scrambled. I have not been able to repair this since there are no longer any low-cost stock market APIs).
Technologies Used-

Swift
iOS
Web APIs
In-App Purchases
Google Ad Integration

POTHOLE REPAIR ROBOT - LEAD DEVELOPER

November 2019

Engineered and programmed the electronics behind an automated pothole repair robot which would, using an array of distance sensors, detect a pothole, use an infrared heater to increase the asphalt's temperature to a hot enough level (measured by an infrared temperature sensor), fill the pothole, and compress the asphalt again. With a camera on the robot, the user could connect the custom iOS app to view all the sensor data, the camera view, and manually shut down the process, if necessary. The iOS app also functioned as an automated pothole reporter (if enabled) or a manual reporter for average consumers.

Technologies Used-

Python
Raspberry Pi
Motor control
Sensor data collection
Live camera streaming
Custom circuit board
Swift
iOS
MySQL
Custom backend server
Wireless configuration for custom access points

FIRE-SPINNING APPLICATION

June 2017 - August 2017

Developed a computer vision application while at the Frontiers of Science Institute to calibrate to users' skin tone, detect their hands, and overlay a spinning fireball where their palms are located that would update in real-time. I later added an extensible voice control interface to update the settings in real-time, such as rotation speed or enabling/disabling debug mode.

Technologies Used-

OpenCV
Python
Google Speech Recognition

LINUX SECURITY SYSTEM

June 2017

Created an open-source program that used a motion sensor and a camera that, when the motion sensor is activated, the camera takes a photo and saves it. The program then texts the user that the motion sensor has been activated, so the user can open the custom iOS application, log in, and see the most recent photo as well as the time it was taken.

Technologies Used-

Python
Raspberry Pi
Camera
Motion sensor
Swift
iOS

MANCALA MACHINE LEARNING

June 2016

Developed a python program during the Colorado School of Mines SUMMET program which allows Mancala to be played in three different modes. The first mode is a console interface for playing Mancala with two players. The second mode uses an evolutionary algorithm to train a solution over a certain number of games, finding the optimal solution. Lastly, the third mode allows a user to play the optimal solution via the console.

Technologies Used-

Python
Evolutionary learning algorithm

EDUCATION HISTORY

August 2018 - May 2022

COMPUTER SCIENCE - COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES

Cumulative GPA: 3.25
Major GPA: 3.45
I am pursuing a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science with a focus in Data Science, minoring in Physics and Mathematics.