Nickolas Tran - Software Engineer
Open to Opportunities
About me.
A recent graduate in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at University of California, Santa Cruz with research experience in ML/AI and interests in full-stack software engineering using 
Python, 
TypeScript, and 
React, plus sports data analytics using 
SQL and Python.
San Bruno, CA
--:-- (America/Los_Angeles)
Tech Stack
—
visits since Aug 2026
Experience
Where I've worked and what I built there.
Undergraduate Researcher @ University of California, Santa Cruz
Jan. 2026 - Jun. 2026
Artificial Intelligence Explainability Accountability (AIEA) Lab
Engineered an Explainable AI (xAI) autograder system to evaluate student source code, replacing binary output testing with structured feedback that identified 100% of core logic and syntax misconceptions in student submissions.
Developed automated semantic analysis pipelines that reduced grading turn-around time for instructors by 35%, optimizing curriculum evaluation through automated aggregation of performance trends in undergraduate courses.
Integrated formative feedback mechanisms based on educational research frameworks, improving student learning efficiency and boosting subsequent assignment scores by an average of 15% due to clearer outcomes.
Undergraduate Researcher @ University of California, Santa Cruz
Mar. 2025 - Dec. 2025
Artificial Intelligence Explainability Accountability (AIEA) Lab
Boosted autonomous vehicle (AV) simulation efficiency by 35% by architecting scalable testing environments using Docker containers and Kubernetes orchestration for parallelized adversarial sensor attack simulations.
Improved adversarial sensor attack detection accuracy by 20% by leveraging CARLA simulator integrated with a Kubernetes-based distributed testing pipeline.
Engineered a high-availability, fault-tolerant testing framework for AV simulations, utilizing container orchestration to increase system uptime by 25% and ensure rigorous, reproducible performance evaluation during stress testing.
Featured Projects
A few of the things I've built.
GitHub Activity
My contribution graph over the past year.