Work Experiences

Through the Applied Computing Foundation Startup Program, I had the opportunity to collaborate with two college students and one high school student to develop IntelliOre, an AI-powered mining safety platform. Inspired by a workplace accident involving a family member of one of my teammates, our team sought to address critical safety challenges in the mining industry.

To better understand the industry's needs, I conducted both primary and secondary research. I interviewed an industrial engineer in Arizona, surveyed workers at mining sites about workplace safety, and analyzed industry reports and research articles on mining operations. Through this research, I identified two major challenges: unexpected equipment failures and insufficient monitoring of workers' safety gear. These findings became the foundation for our solution.

After evaluating multiple approaches, our team designed IntelliOre. IntelliOre features a predictive maintenance system powered by Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to forecast equipment failures, and a safety gear detection system powered by Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) using the YOLO model to monitor whether workers were wearing the required protective equipment.

To contribute to the technical development of the project, I dedicated more than 30 hours to learning the fundamentals of Artificial Neural Networks and Convolutional Neural Networks. Using this knowledge, our team built a minimum viable product (MVP) featuring a login system, an interactive dashboard, and separate interfaces for machine failure prediction and safety gear detection.

Throughout the project, we met regularly with an industrial engineer and used the continuous feedback to refine both the technical features and IntelliOre’s human-centered design. Beyond product development, I built the IntelliOre website using Wix to introduce the platform's mission and vision and prepared digital marketing strategies.

Through this startup experience, I learned the entire product development process, from brainstorming ideas and conducting market research to receiving feedback from industry professionals, continuously refining our solution, and developing my technical skills to bring the product to life. I also challenged myself by embracing unfamiliar technologies and taking risks to learn new skills.