Alex Xu.

Hi, I'm

Alex Xu

I build apps, make robots, and fly drones.

See my workRésumé
Based in
Markham, OntarioMarkham, ON
Co-op terms
3 completed3 co-op terms
University
University of WaterlooUWaterloo
Term
3A, Computer Engineering3A, Comp Eng

Where I’ve worked.

3 roles

Good Start Labs

Jan 2026 – Apr 2026New York, NY (Remote)

Backend Engineering

Backend for an internal platform that benchmarks frontier models. I built the queued eval pipeline, with worker logs streaming live out of jobs that run for hours.

  • 4benchmarks wired
  • 5model providers
  • Python
  • FastAPI
  • Celery
  • RabbitMQ
  • Docker

BitGo

May 2025 – Aug 2025Palo Alto, CA (Remote)

Software Engineering

Migrated core parts of BitGo's institutional crypto wallet platform to TypeScript. Upgraded Mongoose v6 to v8, and cut endpoint latency by tracing slow queries in Grafana.

  • 200+build errors resolved
  • 50+CI/CD failures fixed
  • 0production incidents
  • TypeScript
  • Node.js
  • Mongoose
  • Grafana

Apollo Intelligence

Sep 2024 – Dec 2024Toronto, ON (Remote)

Fullstack Developer & Designer

Co-founded Apollo Agent and took it from an idea to an interview room. Before that, Apollo Learn: auto-grading that went to work in a real university course.

  • ~70%less grading time
  • YCinterview stage
  • Next.js
  • React
  • Flask
  • Supabase
  • Claude

Things I’ve built.

The Lobbify site: “Host a lobby in seconds”, above the desktop client.Visit the site

FlagshipFounderSep 2024 to present

Lobbify

Host and join private Minecraft lobbies in one click.

  • Electron
  • React
  • Bun
  • Hono
  • PostgreSQL
  • WebRTC
The Agent Swarm dashboard showing per-agent token, cost, CPU and memory charts.source
Agent SwarmA control plane for a fleet of autonomous Claude Code agents.
  • Next.js
  • TypeScript
  • Docker
  • noVNC
WaterlooWorks Explorer listing 2,568 curated co-op positions.
WaterlooWorks ExplorerAn AI-assisted job platform that reads between the lines of a posting.
  • FastAPI
  • React
  • TypeScript
  • Ollama
The self-balancing robot holding itself upright and driving across a floor.
Self-Balancing RobotTwo wheels, two nested control loops, a Kalman filter holding it upright.
  • ESP32
  • C++
  • PID
  • Kalman
The robotic arm moving under joystick control.source
Robotic ArmA five-iteration STM32 arm with its own gear train and cooling.
  • C
  • STM32
  • Fusion 360
Flying over voxel terrain generated by the custom Java engine.source
Minecraft, from scratchA voxel engine written over a Christmas break, entirely self-taught.
  • Java
  • OpenGL
  • GLSL
  • LWJGL
Ragdoll fighters brawling across a floating platform.source
Party PhysicsA multiplayer physics brawler on hand-rolled netcode.
  • Java
  • Dyn4J
  • TCP
The Soul Knight clone in play, clearing a dungeon room.
Soul Knight cloneA top-down shooter built in two weeks, in grade 9.
  • Python
  • Pygame
Blinky Face, a small two-wheeled robot with two blue LCD eyes, balanced on a concrete floor.
Blinky FaceA robot pet with an LCD face and a local LLM for a brain.
  • Raspberry Pi
  • ESP32
  • Python
  • LLM

All 13 projectsEverything else I’ve finished, back to the first game I wrote.

The sky isn’t my limit.

Cinematic lines and freestyle, on an iFlight Nazgul F5 and a DJI Avata 2.

Cinematic

Blue Mountains, ONiFlight Nazgul F5 V2 · DJI Action 4
FPV footage from Berczy Park, Markham ON
Berczy Park, Markham ONiFlight Nazgul F5 V2 · DJI Action 4
FPV footage from Bluffer's Park, Scarborough ON
Bluffer's Park, Scarborough ONiFlight Nazgul F5 V2 · GoPro Hero 9
FPV footage from Waterloo, ON
Waterloo, ONDJI Avata 2

Freestyle

James Thomas Park, Markham ONDJI Avata 2

Education.

University of Waterloo

BASc Computer Engineering, Honours, Co-operative

2023 to present · Waterloo, Ontario

Study terms and work terms in alternating four-month blocks, all the way through. Hardware and software in one degree, which is what I came for.

Middlefield Collegiate Institute

Ontario Secondary School Diploma

2019 to 2023 · Markham, Ontario

Four years, most of them spent running the Programming Club and its weekly events.

What I usually work with.

Languages

  • TypeScript
  • Python
  • C++
  • C
  • Java

Backend & web

  • Bun
  • Hono
  • Next.js
  • FastAPI
  • PostgreSQL
  • Docker

AI & agents

  • Claude Code
  • OpenAI
  • Ollama

Hardware & graphics

  • ESP32
  • STM32
  • OpenGL
  • GLSL
  • Fusion 360

Contact

Get in touch.

I'm looking for co-op and new-grad software roles across backend, full-stack, and AI. Email is the fastest way to reach me.

[email protected]

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