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Tianran Zhang

About Me

Hello, I'm Tianran Zhang (I also go by Ran). I grew up in Beijing, China and currently live in Providence, Rhode Island. I am a junior at Brown University, studying computer science. I love technology and its interdisciplinary applications. I am passionate about human-centered design, full stack development, and machine learning and AI.

Projects

Ink Simulation

C++, Blender

Physics-based simulation of ink particle diffusion in water. Achieved by solving incompressible Navier-Stokes equations and computing ink movement using the RK2 method at each timestamp.

Repo

Secure Group Chat

C++, CryptoPP, Boost

A multi-user chat system with encrypted messaging and protected group structure from adversaries. Incorporated robust cryptographic operations including Diffie-Hellman key exchange, digital signature, and two-factor authorization.

Repo

Interactive Escape Room

C++, OpenGL

An interactive dungeon escape room rendered using trimesh, phong lighting, camera movements. Featuring shadow mapping, depth of field, anti-aliasing, and collision detection.

Repo Demo

“Swift Switch” Chrome Extension

HTML/CSS, JavaScript, Python, TensorFlow, Manifest

Hack@Brown 2022
“Best Overall Hack” prize
A computer-vision-backed Chrome extension that provides sustainable clothes alternatives to eliminate fast-fashion industry consumption.

Repo Demo

Brown Marketplace Website

React, JavaScript, Java, Firebase

A Brown University exclusive transaction website that enables users to search, bookmark, sell, and purchase products, and receive personalized recommendations.

Repo Website

Gesture-controlled Special Effects

Python, MediaPipe, OpenCV, TensorFlow

An augmented reality program based on a pre-trained CNN gesture recognition model. It allows the user to interact with the program using hand gestures and observe real-time special-effect rendering.

Repo

Sketch to Image Generation using contextual GAN

Python, TensorFlow

A GAN model that converts sketches into photo-like images using Deep Contextual Completion. Trained with a combination of preprocessed COCO dataset and hand-drew images.

Repo

“Critical Review” Website Integration

HTML/CSS, JavaScript, Express

Integration of Brown’s course review website by automating staff control’s survey review pipeline and implementing new functionalities such as FAQ.

Website

"Blueno Eats" website

HTML/CSS, JavaScript, MySQL, PHP

An online Brown dining hall food review platform where users can search, comment, and rate on-campus food choices.

Repo Demo

Screen Reader

HTML/CSS, TypeScript

An accessibility tool for people with different levels of visual impairment to navigate websites. It supports keyboard-controlled audio progress and verbal instructions for interacting with HTML input fields.

Repo

Experience

  • May 2023 - Jul 2023

    Software Development Intern

    Expedia Group

    Established a hotel calendar API query comparison service using Kotlin and Spring Boot to validate the migration of Vrbo and Expedia conventional lodging databases and deployed it on AWS EC2 instance. Customized Splunk logs and DataDog dashboards to monitor booking traffic and troubleshoot double booking errors.

  • May 2022 - Aug 2022

    Data Engineering Intern

    Eli Lilly and Company

    Built the clinical data visualization and classification tools within the Digital Health team. Conducted research on monitoring early phase drug effects using clustering algorithms and parallel coordinate plots for Chronic Pain Master Protocol (CPMP).

  • Jan 2023 - Present

    Research Assistant (UTRA Award)

    Brown Interactive 3D Vision & Learning Lab

    Built the “Text2Action” conditional motion generation model that produces hand motion sequences from text descriptions. Developed Blender render scripts for visualizing hand skeleton and animated hand movements.

  • Aug 2022 - May 2023

    Head TA & Undergrad TA

    CSCI 1430: Computer Vision

    Recruited and led a team of 20 TAs to support 150+ students by developing course materials, answering conceptual questions, debugging projects, and grading assignments.