Blog
Essays, notes, and takes. New posts land here first, RSS second.
- Open Source AI is Canada's Competitive Advantage1 min · Jun 15, 2026
After chatting with Mark Surman (Mozilla President) at Upper Bound, my perspective on open source AI shifted completely.
- Databricks AI Agents Hackathon - Commodities Trading1 min · Mar 22, 2026
Won 2nd prize at the Databricks AI Agents Hackathon with a lightweight ontology system linking geopolitical events to commodities markets.
- Cursor Hackathon - Hand Gesture Tower Defense1 min · Mar 15, 2026
Tied for 1st place at the Cursor Hackathon with hand-gesture controls for a tower defense game built in 1 hour.
- AB2050 Sustainable Data Center Competition1 min · Dec 8, 2025
A 36-hour business case competition on sustainable data center strategy for Alberta's 2050 net-zero goals.
- Calgary Youth Innovation Showcase1 min · Sep 6, 2025
Sharing my journey with foodsavr at Ascend Calgary's showcase. 11 inspiring Calgary youth voices, free entry, free food.
- First Pitch Competition - foodsavr1 min · May 15, 2025
Pitched foodsavr at the Startup Canada Pitch Competition in Calgary. Didn't make the top 5 but walked away with a brain full of lessons.
- Startup Weekend - FindBite1 min · May 11, 2025
54 hours of refusing to hear NO. Built FindBite and placed 2nd at Platform Calgary's Startup Weekend.
- The DeepSeek Saga2 min · Jan 28, 2025
DeepSeek's breakthrough sent shockwaves through the tech industry. Here's my take on the technological leaps, the trust and security red flags, and what it means for the future of AI.
- Visualizing Transformer Health with Duval's Triangle Plotter3 min · Jan 6, 2025
I built an open-source Python tool for plotting and interpreting Duval's Triangle, the classic DGA method for diagnosing faults in power transformers.
- Benchmarking the latest LLM models: A New Era of Efficiency2 min · Jan 5, 2025
DeepSeek V3 and Mistral NeMo trained with a fraction of the GPUs and power of the industry giants. Here's what that means for the future of AI.
- Benchmarking Resource Consumption to Train Leading AI Models4 min · Jan 1, 2025
Training a leading-edge AI model draws on power, water, carbon, and land. I benchmarked the resource consumption of top LLMs using public data and estimates.
- Problem Validation Guide12 min · Dec 31, 2024
A step-by-step guide to identifying, researching, and validating a problem before you ever start building a solution.
- Lessons learned from 50 days of problem hunting !5 min · Dec 22, 2024
More than 50 days of exploring and validating problems. Here are my key takeaways from the challenge.
- 50 days of problem hunting ! Problem 55 min · Dec 16, 2024
Perishable grocery is wasted at home by working individuals due to unawareness or apathy. I explore and validate the problem before deciding to solve it.
- 50 days of problem hunting ! Problem 44 min · Dec 12, 2024
Banking apps fail to proactively guide users with poor financial literacy toward better spending and credit habits. I explore and validate the problem.
- 50 days of problem hunting ! Problem 34 min · Dec 1, 2024
Delayed and unreliable power supplies in disaster-affected regions disrupt disaster management and healthcare. I explore and validate the problem.
- 50 days of problem hunting ! Problem 26 min · Nov 11, 2024
People counting systems in public spaces rely on manual, repetitive tasks that hurt productivity and fatigue workers. I explore and validate the problem.
- 50 days of problem hunting ! Problem 13 min · Nov 3, 2024
Competitive OTB chess players lose valuable time adjusting pieces during time scrambles. I explore and validate whether this is a real problem.
- Why Understanding the Problem is the Key and Einstein's Wisdom2 min · Oct 23, 2024
Einstein said if he had an hour to solve a problem he'd spend 55 minutes thinking about it. Here's how that wisdom reshaped my approach to problem-solving.
- Takeaways from my First Startup Weekend2 min · Oct 22, 2024
A 56-hour Techstars Startup Weekend with 140+ brilliant minds. Here are the lessons I took away about starting with why, validating early, and pivoting.
- Startup Weekend - Building for ADHD1 min · Oct 22, 2024
A 56-hour Techstars Startup Weekend where we built an app to support individuals with ADHD in reducing cognitive overload at work.
- Why you should participate in a hackathon?4 min · Jun 24, 2024
Hackathons are a unique and exhilarating experience. Here are the insights and reflections from my journey to convince you to dive into one.
- Jerry Liu on Advanced RAG at the Data + AI Summit1 min · Jun 15, 2024
Fanboying over Jerry Liu's incredible talk on advanced RAG with LlamaIndex at the Databricks Data + AI Summit in San Francisco.
- Asset Nav Assistant - Databricks GenAI World Cup1 min · Apr 25, 2024
Built an end-to-end RAG solution for asset document navigation in the Databricks Generative AI World Cup.
- Exploring Smartphone Choices: A simple analysis for your next upgrade6 min · Sep 30, 2023
A simple, honest analysis of the Android vs Apple decision -- cost, resale value, upgrade timing, and features -- to reduce decision fatigue before your next upgrade.
- Calgary Hacks 2022 - MyChef1 min · May 1, 2022
Built a web platform for students to order healthy meals from local cooks. Won Most Innovative Idea out of 500+ participants.
- UCalgary Design Fair - EV Conversion Capstone1 min · Apr 15, 2022
Placed 2nd with a practical and affordable solution for converting gasoline vehicles to electric at the UCalgary Design Fair.
- My First Hackathon - Water YYC Helper1 min · Mar 27, 2021
Placed 1st at Hack Your Learning Hackathon with a platform connecting Indigenous water operators to subject matter experts.