James Gan

SWE II @ PayPal
M.S. Computer Science, Georgia Tech '20
B.A. Economics, Cornell University '18

profile
  
Resume
   
LinkedIn
   
Github
   
Medium
   
Devpost
   
Instagram

Projects

TravelScout | Qloo, Buzz Angle Music Prizes

  
3/2019
TravelScout is a mobile app which uses cultural AI to help users discover new places, venues, artists and events based on the music they like.
Python, Flask, Rest API.
⠀
website, devpost, backend repo, iOS repo

Homeless In Seattle | Google Cloud Platform Prize

  
10/2018
Homeless in Seattle is a social project creating data visualizations to
promote social change. Javascript, d3.js, Google Maps API.
⠀
live version, devpost, repo

STRAT | BlackRock Prize

  
10/2017
RoboAdvisor chat bot for risk-based investment suggestions using
BlackRock data. Python, Azure, Aladdin API, Microsoft Bot Framework.
devpost, repo

Wakawhitti | Bloomberg Prize

  
9/2014
Web app recommendation engine for vacation destinations, based on
relative changes in foreign exchange rates. Python, Django.
devpost, repo

DubCredit

DubHacks  
10/2017
Mobile app that allows users to create real contracts for verbal agreements and manages a credit history and score for them. Java, firebase, LUIS, Microsoft Cognitive Services, android.
devpost, repo

Frlrm

YHack  
11/2017
Web app that allows travellers to book whole travel experiences relevant to their interests at the best price available. Google APIs, JetBlue data, Python.
devpost, repo

Anomalies

Hilton Hackathon  
9/2017
ML System Design to manage big data to determine customer preferences and optimize hospitality personalization. Python, HTML, CSS.
devpost, pitch deck

Chain.courses

7/2020
Chain.courses is an open-source Blockchain course which closes the gap between the innovation in the Blockchain industry and the existing educational resources about Blockchain
Gatsby, Gitbook, Blockchain.
website, repo, Product Hunt

The Whale Protocol

2019-2020
The Whale Protocol is a study around how to enact fees on cryptocurrencies to prevent users from using a given cryptocurrency for value or speculation investment, instead using it only for day-to-day transactions.
website

Tech Lead & Mentor: Deflationary Currency Project

CodeLabs  
7/2020
Mentored a team of early career Software Engineers to teach them about Blockchain and Software Engineering. The project I came up with for the mentees was to create a deflationary Cryptocurrency on the Tezos Blockchain. In a month, the team deployed a deflationary Cryptocurrency, wrote a whitepaper, and gave a tech talk on their project.
repo, tech talk, whitepaper, on the news

Bancor Research Paper

CS6466, Cornell Blockchain Course  
5/2018
Shortened Abstract. We detail how the foundational equations with which Bancor determines reserves and prices is fundamentally flawed. We confirm the existence of price inaccuracies - specifically, price inaccuracies from distributed lag, and missing terms for price volatility and price shocks. Second, we derive an improved pricing formula which will more accurately represent the price of a given token with fewer arbitrage opportunities.
R, Batch Scheduling, REST API

This paper highlighted a vulnerability two months before it was exploited to hack $25m USD from the Bancor exchange.
research paper, slides

Bloccelerate Report on Stablecoins

2019
Acknowledged by the authors for contributions to research and discovery for the report on Stablecoins.
report

ImpactToken

MIT Bitcoin Expo Hackathon  
3/2018
E-commerce platform operated by a smart contract to foster an engaged community of consumers, donors, and entrepreneurs, with the benefit of facilitating non-financial assets donations to non-profit organizations without payment fees.
Solidity, Javascript.
repo, devpost

Smart Ping Pong Paddle | Global Innovation Exchange Project

  
3/2019
The Smart Ping Pong Paddle is an IoT device with on-board machine learning to help beginners learn professional table tennis skills without paying expensive rates for tutoring.
Raspberry Pi, Autodesk Fusion 360, Python, C, Javascript, Tensorflow, TF-lite, charts.js, d3.js.
devpost

NYCDOE SCHOOL BUDGET SCRAPER

internship  
7/2017
Web scraping application to analyze data from the New York City Department of Education.
Python, BS4, Selenium Webdriver.
repo

Easy Composites

personal  
2016-2017
Automated generation of photography composites.
Python, svgwrite.
company website

Does A Risk Premium Exist?

CS3300: Data-Driven Web Apps (Data Visualization)  
3/2018
Web visualization which shows the mortality rates of various occupations to analyze whether or not dangerous occupations are well compensated, with annotations regarding the OSHA's relevant work.
Javascript, d3.
repo, live version

Camel Chat

CS3110: Functional Programming  
12/2017
Asynchronous chat messenger application.
OCaml.
repo

LinkedIn View Bot

personal  
7/2017
Software to automate viewing LinkedIn profiles and help boost user's own profile rank.
Python, BS4, Selenium Webdriver.
repo

AgnosticTalk

personal  
2009-2013
Online community to discuss religious philosophy - 25,000 active users on website at peak. Now defunct.
Facebook Page

Education

Georgia Tech: Graduating soon with a M.S. in Computer Science

December 2020
  
Specialization in AI :)
Wrapping up the program while working full-time at PayPal
I strongly recommend this program to anyone who is considering it: it is challenging, but worth it!

University of Washington: Left Graduate School

Summer 2019
  
Still in the GT OMSCS :)
I decided to leave this program after two terms in order to take an internship at PayPal, where I later took a full time offer

Georgia Institute of Technology: Began Graduate School

Spring 2019
  
Master's of Science in Computer Science
I decided to start the Georgia Tech program concurrently with the UW MSTI program, to help me learn more about Computer Science theory and improve my skills in the knitty-gritty underlying technology skills

University of Washington: Began Graduate School

Fall 2018
  
UW Master's of Science in Technology Innovation, learning to create IoT devices
The UW MSTI program is essentially a product innovation program offered by University of Washington's Paul Allen School of Computer Science Engineering, Foster School of Business, and HCDE School, all of which are top-ranked in their fields

Cornell University: Graduated with a B.A. in Economics

2018
  
Major: Economics
3 minors: Computer Science, Information Science, and Asian American Studies
Worked half-time throughout, first organizing events in Florida for a CS education nonprofit, later as a consultant to Microsoft organizing nationwide CS Fairs
Participated in tech clubs, mentoring, campus tours, cultural groups, a fraternity, and Model United Nations

Cornell University: Began Undergrad

2014
  
Major: Economics
Started to get interested in tech through volunteering, organizing CS education events mostly reaching Title I students

High School Study Abroad: Germany, 1 year

2013-2014
  
Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange Scholarship Recipient
Learned German
Lived with host families near Aachen/Köln

High School Study Abroad: France, 1 year

2012-2013
  
ASSE Scholarship Recipient
Learned French
Lived with a host families near Lille & Geneva

Dual-Enrollment at Bellevue College

2010-2012
  
Completed ~90 college credits in political science and typical high school topics
Ran Model United Nations club for college
Participated in numerous international collegiate Model United Nations conferences

Work

PayPal

01/2020-Current
  
Software Engineer II
Java Frameworks
Skills: Spring, Reactor, Kafka, Docker, GCP, Splunk

Georgia Tech

Fall 2019
  
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Course: CS7637 Knowledge Based Artificial Intelligence
Graduate teaching assistant answering questions on Piazza,
and helping a group of 50 students with Artificial Intelligence projects
Automated part of the grading process for student code

PayPal

Summer 2019
  
Software Engineer Intern
Java Frameworks
Skills: Spring, Reactor, Kafka, Docker, GCP, Splunk

University of Washington, CSE

2018-2019
  
Graduate Research Assistant
Academic Research with the Department of Computer Science & Engineering expanding an Autodesk Fusion 360 extension API for CAD of advanced tactile maps for the visually impaired.
Automating conversion of OpenStreetMap data into SVGs and 3D geospatial models using Python.

CodeDay

2015-Current
  
Program Manager, CodeDay
Mentor, CodeLabs
Program Manager, Consultant to Microsoft Philanthropies
Reached 4000+ students with Computer Science education
Got 3000+ students to pursue further Computer Science Studies
>70% of students from URM groups. 50% women, >60% Latinx/Black. >60% Title I students.

Tezos Commons Foundation

2018-2019
  
Seattle Lead Organizer
Organized multiple tech talk and networking events for the Tezos Commons Foundation in downtown Seattle to network and learn about Blockchain and Tezos.

Practice Makes Perfect

Summer 2017
  
Technology Innovation Intern
Awarded grants from Entrepreneurship at Cornell and the Breitenbach Innovation Fund to work at an education startup regularly recognized by Forbes.
Designed and implemented automation tool for client acquisition based off company wide design lifecycles.

Winigent

Summer 2015
  
Strategy Analyst Intern
Performed market research on competitor firms
Created a comprehensive digital marketing plan and corresponding digital assets