Eric Grun

Software Engineering Intern

Rice University

About Me

Eric - The Summit at 1 Vanderbilt

Me

New York, NY

I'm a passionate software engineer and Computer Science student at Rice University with a 4.0 GPA, pursuing dual BS degrees in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence with a minor in Entrepreneurship. I'm driven by the intersection of technology, AI, and innovation.

Currently, I'm gaining hands-on experience as a Software Engineering Intern at Art of Problem Solving and an Intern at Persona AI, where I work on cutting-edge robotics and AI applications. I also lead the Rover ML Subteam for the Machine Learning Club x Rice Robotics Club, developing autonomous lunar rover navigation systems.

My journey spans from competitive robotics (leading FRC Team 3647 to World Championships) to medical AI research (achieving 91% accuracy in melanoma classification), demonstrating my passion for applying technology to solve real-world problems. When I'm not coding, you can find me mountain biking, surfing, or playing soccer and volleyball.

Skills & Technologies

PythonJavaC++JavaScriptTypeScriptSQLHTML/CSSRReactNode.jsDjangoNext.jsTailwindCSSPyTorchTensorFlowscikit-learnOpenCVpandasNumPyAWSDockerKubernetesCloudflareGitROS2Gazebo

Work Experience

Software Engineering Intern

Qualcomm

May 2026 - Present

Architected DesignPlanner, a 15k+ LOC PySide6 application to configure and launch the first phase of test-chip design. Built on a clean Model-View-Presenter architecture across UI, service, and repository layers with 95% test coverage. Built a configurable framework to run jobs locally or on a distributed cluster, with multithreaded live status updates to UI. Designing an agentic layer that reads STA results and auto-recommends constraints to improve chip performance.

PythonPySide6Model-View-PresenterMultithreadingDistributed Systems

Software Engineering Intern

Art of Problem Solving (AoPS)

June 2025 - Aug. 2025

Proposed and led creation of an internal MCP Server with 15 tools to automate lesson insertion into the AoPS platform. Secured the server with JWT auth for both internal (Claude Desktop, whitelisted IPs) and external (OpenAI API) access. Cut lesson input time from a 20 hr tedious manual process down to 2 hrs; deployed via Docker on Kubernetes.

Node.jsTypeScriptNext.jsDockerAWSKubernetes
Art of Problem Solving (AoPS) - Software Engineering Intern

Machine Learning Intern

Persona AI

March 2025 - May 2025

Created longform data collection script for the ALOHA robot, increasing efficiency 4x (from 0.25 → 1 data pt/min). Streamlined filtering process for remotely stored (AWS S3 storage) behavior cloning data using a Streamlit webapp.

PythonMachine LearningRoboticsStreamlitAWS S3
Persona AI - Machine Learning Intern

Machine Learning Research Intern

Compass Dermatopathology

June 2023 - Aug. 2024

Created CNN in Python identifying 9 skin cancer lesions using TensorFlow, achieving 79% accuracy from scratch. Pivoted to lead ML research on distinguishing high/low risk melanomas (in hopes of replacing a competing $7,000 test). Adapted Harvard CLAM repo for WSI patching, segmentation, and feature extraction; 91% accuracy / 97% AUC.

PythonPyTorchTensorFlowComputer VisionMedical AICNNs
Compass Dermatopathology - Machine Learning Research Intern

Leadership & Club Experience

Technical Team Lead

Rice Apps

Sep. 2025 - Present

Co-led a 7-person team developing OwlMart, a Rice-exclusive secondhand marketplace, deployed on Coolify. Built realtime messaging and a notification system; handled infra and drove marketing to 500+ signups.

Next.jsReactTypeScriptRealtime MessagingCoolify

Rover Arm Manipulation Subteam Lead

Machine Learning Club x Rice Robotics Club

Sep. 2024 - May 2026

Built full 4-DOF arm simulation in Genesis, designing ROS2 node architecture in Python for realtime arm control. Prototyped autonomous arm control with Moveit2 on a demo CAD model; migrated to Genesis for closed-loop kinematics.

PythonROS2GenesisMoveit2Robotics
Machine Learning Club x Rice Robotics Club - Rover Arm Manipulation Subteam Lead

Developer | Tech Lead (2025-2026)

Sep. 2024 - May. 2025

Built fullstack Bunkmate app with Next.js, Supabase, React, TypeScript, TailwindCSS. Implemented search, navigation, listing editing, map integration. Launched with 500+ active users in 2 weeks; planning cross-campus expansion.

Next.jsReactTypeScriptSupabaseTailwindCSS
Rice Apps - Developer | Tech Lead (2025-2026)

President

TPHS Millennium Falcons Robotics Club - FRC Team 3647

May 2023 - May 2024

Led 55+ member team to FRC World Championships (top 1% globally). Programmed robot in Java. Won Autonomous Programming Award (2023 & 2024). Managed $100,000 budget, planned events + travel, wrote grants, maintained sponsor relations.

JavaPythonComputer VisionRoboticsLeadership
TPHS Millennium Falcons Robotics Club - FRC Team 3647 - President

Projects

Robostats MCP

Built MCP server to stream real-time FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) data into LLMs. Enabled natural language queries for 23 years of team/match/event data, making robotics statistics accessible through conversational AI.

Node.jsTypeScriptCloudflareMCP ProtocolFRC API

Millennium Market

Featured

Built a marketplace for US robotics teams to exchange parts, drawing 1,500+ first-week visitors with encrypted websocket chat. Full-stack app deployed on AWS EC2 with 5 Docker containers: Vite, Django, Redis, Celery, PostgreSQL.

ReactViteDjangoPostgreSQLAWSDockerWebSockets

MedChain

Featured

Winner: Best App Built on Ethereum/L2 at Berkeley Hackathon. A decentralized prescription system with QR-based, on-chain verification for doctors and pharmacists. Next.js frontend with on-chain flows on Base L2, using SBT-based credentialing with encrypted IPFS storage.

Next.jsBase L2SolidityIPFSBlockchain

PromptLens

Built at HackMIT. A full-stack tool combining Next.js, Supabase, Langchain, and FastAPI.

Next.jsSupabaseLangchainFastAPI

Latest Blog Posts

Photo Library

A glimpse into my life

NYC Brooklyn Bridge

NYC Brooklyn Bridge

Exploring new places

📍 New York, NY📅 2025
Mini kangaroo

Mini kangaroo

Petting zoo event at Rice

📍 Houston, TX📅 2025
Surfing

Surfing

Snapped my board in 7 foot waves

📍 San Diego, CA📅 2024
Custom Nutella Sign

Custom Nutella Sign

mmmm nutella 🤤

📍 Houston, TX📅 2025
Snow Day

Snow Day

I didn't think it snowed in Houston

📍 Houston, TX📅 2025
Robot Manufacturing

Robot Manufacturing

These parts took 8 hours straight of CNC machining

📍 San Diego, CA📅 2024