Welcome

About

Jack Dawson

Software EngineerML ResearcherFull-Stack Developer
Portrait of Jack Dawson

School

Vanderbilt University logo

Vanderbilt University

B.S. Computer Science & B.S. Mathematics

Minor in Data Science

Expected
May 2027
GPA
3.925 / 4.000
Honors
5x Dean's List

Involvements

  • Institute for Software Integrated Systems (ISIS)
  • Teaching Assistant for Computer Science
  • Kappa Theta Pi
  • Change++
  • Vanderbilt Hustler
  • Vandy Satellite Club
  • Vandy Astro Stargazers
  • Vanderbilt Swim Club

Base

Nashville

Tennessee

Current location

Home

Santa Monica

California

Hometown

I most recently spent the summer on the Ad Platforms team at The Walt Disney Company, where I owned an embedded AI documentation assistant for Mission Control end to end - from design spikes through a production rollout on Kubernetes.

At Vanderbilt I conduct research at the Institute for Software Integrated Systems and have worked with the UCLA Biomedical Artificial Intelligence Research lab, spanning machine learning, dataset integrity, and real-time systems engineering.

Outside of academia, I collaborate with teams developing applications for non-profits and spend my free time pursuing personal projects that explore new ideas in AI, design, and system development.

See my projects and skills below - or download my resume to learn more.

View My Resume

Experience

  1. The Walt Disney Company · Ad Platforms

    Software Engineering Intern · Santa Monica, CA

    May 2026 – August 2026

    Owned an embedded AI documentation assistant for Mission Control, Disney's ad campaign platform, from early design spikes through production rollout.

    • Owned an embedded AI documentation assistant for Mission Control (ad campaign platform) from spikes to production.
    • Authored design spikes on the agent framework, AWS Bedrock model selection, and the streaming wire contract.
    • Built a Python/FastAPI service running a Strands agent on Bedrock, answering questions via RAG over a docs knowledge base.
    • Integrated a React/TypeScript widget, a GraphQL/WebSocket gateway, and cross-account IAM; deployed to dev, QA, and prod on Kubernetes.
    PythonFastAPIAWS BedrockRAGReactTypeScriptGraphQLWebSocketsKubernetesDocker
  2. Vanderbilt ISIS · Dr. Kevin Leach's Lab

    Research Assistant · Nashville, TN

    January 2025 – Present

    Research on dataset integrity and real-time eye tracking for classroom learning experiments.

    • Quantified the impact of mislabeled training data on model performance, producing findings that resulted in a publication.
    • Developed eye-tracking software that streams and processes gaze data for live analysis, enabling new intervention experiments.
    • Architected asynchronous processing and multi-device concurrency to maintain reliability under simultaneous data streams.
    PythonasyncioNumPypandasTobii Pro Glasses 3Data Visualization
  3. UCLA Biomedical Artificial Intelligence Research Lab

    Research Intern · Nashville, TN

    May 2025 – November 2025

    Deep learning for forecasting heart failure events from wearable and clinical data, submitted as co-author to JAMIA OPEN.

    • Trained deep and ensemble learning models (LSTM, XGBoost) in PyTorch to forecast heart failure events from Fitbit and clinical data.
    • Conducted time-series analysis via statistical testing and visualization to support a co-authored submission to JAMIA OPEN.
    • Engineered Python data pipelines (pandas, NumPy) to clean and align irregular wearable and clinical records for ML training.
    • Reviewed transformer-based (BERT) and wearable data literature to guide model design and support manuscript writing.
    PythonPyTorchXGBoostscikit-learnpandasNumPyStatistical Analysis
  4. Vanderbilt School of Engineering

    Undergraduate Grader / TA · Nashville, TN

    August 2024 – Present

    Teaching assistant across core computer science courses, supporting 200+ students.

    • Leads weekly office hours (3–4 hrs) for multiple courses including Algorithms and Programming Languages, supporting 200+ students.
    • Partners with professors to grade hundreds of assignments and exams, providing feedback and clarifying challenging concepts.
    AlgorithmsProgramming LanguagesMentorshipTechnical Communication

Projects

Skills

Programming Languages

14 items

  • Python
  • C++
  • Java
  • JavaScript
  • TypeScript
  • SQL
  • C# (Unity)
  • Rust
  • R
  • HTML/CSS
  • Racket
  • Prolog
  • LaTeX
  • Bash

Frameworks & Libraries

11 items

  • React
  • Next.js
  • Node.js
  • Express
  • FastAPI
  • GraphQL
  • React Native
  • Expo
  • Unity
  • Vite
  • Tailwind CSS

Machine Learning & AI

12 items

  • PyTorch
  • scikit-learn
  • XGBoost
  • NumPy
  • pandas
  • Matplotlib
  • Jupyter Notebook
  • AWS Bedrock
  • Strands Agents
  • RAG Pipelines
  • spaCy
  • Segment Anything (SAM)

Infrastructure & Cloud

9 items

  • AWS
  • Docker
  • Kubernetes
  • Firebase
  • MongoDB
  • Supabase
  • SQLite
  • Vercel
  • ACCRE (Vanderbilt HPC)

Development Tools

7 items

  • Git
  • GitHub
  • GitHub Actions
  • Claude Code
  • Cursor
  • SSH
  • Postman

Other Technical Skills

8 items

  • Data Pipelines
  • Time-Series Modeling
  • Web Architecture
  • System Design
  • Distributed Services
  • Statistical Analysis
  • Asynchronous Programming
  • PC Building

Coursework

21 items

  • Data Structures & Algorithms
  • Software Design & Architecture
  • Web Architecture
  • Operating Systems
  • Database Management Systems
  • Programming Languages
  • Data Science
  • Machine Learning
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Linear Optimization
  • Modern Programming
  • Discrete Mathematics
  • Multivariable Calculus
  • Linear Algebra
  • Differential Equations
  • Mathematical Logic
  • Statistics + Probability
  • Error Correcting Codes + Cryptography
  • Computer Architecture
  • Game Development
  • Computer Graphics

Certifications

2 items

  • CPR Certified
  • AED Certified

Soft Skills

6 items

  • Team Collaboration
  • Agile Development
  • Mentorship / TA Experience
  • Technical Writing
  • UI/UX Design
  • Research Communication

Interests

9 items

  • Swimming
  • Skiing
  • Lifting
  • Pick-up Soccer
  • Running
  • Photography
  • Poker
  • Catan
  • Space