About Me
Who I Am?
I'm Hetu Patel, a third-year Computer Science student minoring in Business Management at Toronto Metropolitan University.
My Passion
I'm passionate about AI/ML and startups, using technical expertise to drive innovation and build scalable solutions.
Technical Skills
Proficient in Python, Java, C, React, with hands-on experience in YOLOv8, Roboflow, TensorFlow, and computer vision.
Leadership & Advocacy
Dedicated to student initiatives, combining technical acumen with a drive for impactful real-world problem-solving.
Experience
Senate Member of Toronto Metropolitan University
Will advocate for student interests by reviewing and voting on key academic policies, ensuring alignment with undergraduate needs, and contributing to discussions on curriculum, grading, and university governance.
Will strengthen student representation by engaging with peers, gathering feedback, and presenting concerns to the Senate, leading to informed decision-making on academic and institutional matters.
Start-up Certified Program
Completed the exclusive Startup Certified program, gaining hands-on entrepreneurial skills through workshops led by Experts-In-Residence. Covered key areas like marketing, product-market fit, sales, raising capital, and team collaboration, preparing me to launch my own startup or excel in a startup environment.
Hindu Students' Association
Position: Founding President
As the founding President of the Hindu Students' Association, I established the organization to foster a sense of community among Hindu students at Toronto Metropolitan University. My vision was to create a safe, inclusive space where individuals could share their beliefs, celebrate traditions, and practice our religion together, promoting cultural and spiritual growth on campus.
Academic Integrity Ambassadors
Position: President
As President of the Academic Integrity Ambassadors at Toronto Metropolitan University, I lead a dedicated team focused on promoting a culture of academic honesty across campus. Through peer-to-peer education, outreach initiatives, and collaboration with the Academic Integrity Office, we raise awareness and engage students in meaningful discussions around academic integrity. I oversee event planning, outreach campaigns, and policy discussions, while fostering a community that upholds the university’s academic values.
SEAPAX
Position: Web Developer Intern
Increased SEAPAX's online engagement by 20% (session duration) and 15% (reduced bounce rate) through development of a user-friendly product website. Built a Venture Capital CRM system that streamlined lead nurturing by 30%, improving communication and conversion for potential investors.
Engineered 100% improvement in website functionality through responsive software solutions using Agile methodologies. Utilized a tech stack to handle high volumes of concurrent B2B user sessions, ensuring seamless B2B operations.
Toronto Metropolitan Students' Union
Position: Vice President Education
As Vice-President, Education at TMSU, I advocate for the academic needs of 40,000+ full-time undergraduates at Toronto Metropolitan University. Through regular engagement with course unions, student groups, and town halls, I prioritize open dialogue. Conducting surveys and research, I'm dedicated to ensuring every student's voice is integral to decisions that shape our academic community.
Scotiabank
Position: Mentee, Women in Tech Program
Secured a coveted mentorship in Scotiabank's Women in Technology Mentorship Program (Unlock Your Future 2024). This program provided invaluable career exploration through rotations across data analyst, software developer, and project manager teams. These rotations helped me solidify my path in technology.
The Zero Experience at UWaterloo
Selected for this competitive program, I honed design thinking and Agile skills for real-world problem-solving in Smart Cities. Analyzed Ontario transit data through Open Data platforms, API integrations (e.g., GTFS), Python & Pandas to identify low bus frequency areas and potential missed connections.
Focused on improving real-time information for commuters, potentially reducing missed connections by 2-3 minutes. Explored mobile app development using React Native for real-time updates and envisioned two-way communication via SMS and optional real-time location sharing leveraging geolocation APIs for improved passenger-driver interaction and transparency.
Senate Member of Toronto Metropolitan University
Represented the Faculty of Science (Jul 2023 – Dec 2023) and the Toronto Metropolitan Students' Union (Jan 2024 – Jun 2024) at the Senate, advocating for student interests in academic policies, curriculum changes, and institutional priorities.
Collaborated with faculty, administration, and student groups to foster inclusivity, improve governance, and address key academic concerns.
Member of the Senate Priorities Committee (Oct 2023 – Jun 2024) (Chaired by the President of the University): Shaped meeting agendas, advised on financial priorities, and represented the Senate in Board of Governors engagements, driving university-wide academic and operational initiatives.
DataWorks Program at Metropolitan Data Science Association
Statistical Analysis & Visualization: Proficient in R for statistical analysis and Python (pandas, NumPy) for data manipulation and visualization.
Data Visualization: Adept at creating visualizations with R's ggplot2, Python's matplotlib, and Seaborn to represent data distribution and relationships.
Database Management Skills: Knowledgeable in SQL fundamentals, including data extraction, filtering, aggregation, and table joins for effective database management.
Invision Software Solution
Position: Software Engineering Intern
Utilized Agile methods (e.g., Scrum) to gather client technical needs and employed API integration techniques to deliver 3 impactful projects.
Showcased full-stack development skills across diverse projects using technologies like Python, ReactJS, LAMP stack, Django, Unity, and ARCore. Delivered innovative solutions like AR/VR construction visualization software, enhancing communication and project efficiency.
Projects
Name | Key Skills | Description | Link | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
Automated Basketball Object Detection and Tracking Software | Deep learning (YOLOv8, Roboflow), GPU optimization (CUDA, ONNX), ML techniques (UMAP, K-means), and real-time sports analytics (9.6ms/frame). | Developed a basketball analytics system using AI-driven YOLOv8 and Roboflow models, achieving 73.7% mAP50-95 for real-time player, ball and rim detection after fine-tuning over 15 epochs. Utilized advanced machine learnign techniques like UMAP, K-means clustering, ONNX runtime and CUDA for GPU-accelerated training, enaling accurate team classification and reducing runtime to 9.6ms per frame for live sports applications. |
View Project | Sep 2024 - Dec 2024 |
OurMeal App | GUI design (.NET, Visual Studio), event-driven programming, and HCI techniques for supply management. | Designed a prototype app in Visual Studio 2022 using Visual Studio and .NET framework, employing event-driven programming and graphical user interface (GUI) design principles to enhance usability and streamline household supply management. Developed two distinct interfaces- one for fridge door interaction and another for mobile devices, focusing on human-computer interaction (HCI) techniques such as contextual navigation, intuitive screen layouts and workflow optimization to ensure a seamless and user-friendly experience. |
View Project | Sep 2024 - Dec 2024 |
Clustering Analysis of Diabetes Risk and Progression (Research Paper) | Preprocessing, clustering (K-Means, Hierarchical), and visual analytics for health insights. | Preprocessed the Pima Indian Diabetes dataset by handling missing values, scaling features with MinMaxScalar, and conducting exploratory analysis using correlation heatmaps and pair-plots. Applied K-Means and Hierarchical Clustering to classify individuals into Low, Medium and High-Risk categories based on health like glucose, BMI and insulin levels. Visualized clustering results with scatter plots, radar chartstoo and dendograms, providing actionable insights for early detection and tailored diabetes interventions, while comparing algorithm efficiency and structure insights. |
View Project | Sep 2024 - Dec 2024 | Stroke Prediction Using Data Mining | Machine learning models (Logistic Regression, Decision Tree, Random Forest, KNN, SVM), data preprocessing (SMOTE, StandardScaler, RFE), ensemble techniques (Stacked Learning). |
Developed a predictive model to classify stroke risk using healthcare demographic features by applying advanced data mining techniques and rigorous model evaluation (Accuracy, F1-Score, ROC AUC). Utilized SMOTE for class imbalance correction, Recursive Feature Elimination (RFE) for feature selection, and built a Stacked Ensemble model that achieved a superior accuracy of 96.66% and ROC AUC of 98.37%. |
View Project | Jan 2025 - Apr 2025 |
Comprehensive Security Analysis and Cryptographic Implementation | Encryption (AES, RSA), vulnerability analysis (Spectre, buffer overflow), and secure communications. | Implemented AES and RSA encryption, analyzed speculative execution vulnerabilies (Spectre), and demonstrated secure communication methods through secret-key and public-key encryption. Identified buffer overflow vulnerabilies, conducted packet sniffing and spoofing, configured VPN tunnels and bypassed firewalls to understand and mitigate real-world security threats. |
View Project | Sep 2024 - Dec 2024 |
Car Rental DBMS Design and Implementation | Database normalization (3NF, BCNF), SQL queries, and Unix-shell interface for operational efficiency. | Designed and normalized a comprehensive relational database for a car rental service, adhering to 3NF and BCNF principles to ensure data integrity. Implemented schema for managing customers, vehicles, rentals, payments and maintenance records, ensuring scalalibity and security. Developed simple and advanced SQL queries for operational insights, such as rental patterns and maintenance costs. Integrated a Unix shell-based interface for seamless database interactions, enhancing user accessibility and functionality. |
View Project | Sep 2024 - Dec 2024 |
Club Management System Software | Python, Flask, Flask-SQLAlchemy, SQLite, SQL Queries, Web Development, User Authentication, Financial Management. | Developed a web application using Python 3.8, Flask, and Flask-SQLAlchemy to manage club attendance, payments, and financial records, enabling automated notifications and financial tracking for members and coaches. Applied database management, SQL queries, and web development techniques to create a user-friendly interface, ensuring efficient session registration and payment tracking while enhancing financial accountability. |
View Project | Sep 2024 - Dec 2024 |
StudyHere Application | React Native (JavaScript) for cross-platform development, AI-powered productivity with spaCy and Machine Learning | Mobile app (Android/iOS) being built with React Native (JavaScript) on the Lean Startup Methodology (mentored by Sean Wise, Lean Startup pioneer). User research identified a 82% pain point of feeling overwhelmed. We're building a collaborative platform with AI-powered productivity using NLP libraries (spaCy) for assignment analysis and Machine Learning for scheduling based on user data (mood, motivation). Cross-platform development with Git/GitHub version control ensures collaborative development. Targeting ~270K outreach among university students in Ontario to reduce procrastination by 30% and improve student performance. |
View Project | Sep 2024 - Dec 2024 |
Research on ChatGPT in Academia | Python (Pandas) for data cleaning, statistical analysis, visualization with Excel, and survey design to assess AI tool perceptions in academia. | Conducted a global survey with 105 participants. Python libraries like Pandas facilitated data cleaning, manipulation, and statistical analysis(Excel), generating graphical and dynamic visualizations (figures, charts, taAbles) to represent key findings on student perceptions of plagiarism risks and potential educational benefits. |
View Project | Sep 2024 - Dec 2024 |
AI and Big Data in Renewable Energy (Research Paper) |
Database normalization (3NF, BCNF), SQL queries, and Unix-shell interface for operational efficiency. | Conducted a research paper on the integration of AI and Big Data in optimizing renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydrogen power, focusing on improving production efficiency and economic sustainability. Analyzed AI algorithms for solar panel positioning, predictive models for wind conditions, and AI-informed resource management for hydrogen power, highlighting their role in advancing clean energy technologies and supporting global energy transitions. |
View Project | Sep 2024 - Dec 2024 |
Boggle Game | Utilized functional programming, algorithm optimization, depth-first search, backtracking, concurrency with Elixir’s actor model, and real-time interaction handling to develop an efficient Boggle game. | Developed a Boggle game in Elixir using functional programming principles, implementing efficient depth-first search and backtracking algorithms to explore all word combinations, ensuring optimized performance and minimal memory usage. Utilized Elixir’s actor model and process-based architecture to handle concurrent word searches across the board, enabling real-time gameplay with seamless player interaction and dynamic updates. |
View Project | Sep 2024 - Dec 2024 |
What I learned at University...
Data Mining
Learned data mining techniques, algorithms, and applications for practical web-based solutions.
Semester: Winter 2025
Machine Learning
Implemented supervised and unsupervised learning models (e.g., SVMs, K-means) and optimized neural networks using frameworks like TensorFlow/PyTorch.
Semester: Fall 2024
Computer Vision
Worked on image classification, object detection, and feature extraction using OpenCV and CNNs.
Semester: Fall 2024
Human-Computer Interaction
Designed and evaluated user interfaces using UX research methods and prototyping tools (e.g., Visual Studio 2022).
Semester: Fall 2024
Computer Security
Learned secure coding practices, cryptographic algorithms (e.g., AES, RSA), and penetration testing tools (e.g., Wireshark, Metasploit).
Semester: Fall 2024
Database Systems
Gained knowledge of relational databases, SQL queries, normalization, indexing, and database design principles.
Semester: Fall 2024
Software Engineering
Gained expertise in design patterns, version control (Git), and agile methodologies like Scrum.
Semester: Winter 2024
The Growing Business: Breaking Even
Explored governance, leadership, human capital management, financial decision-making tools, operations management, strategy formulation, and execution in scaling businesses.
Semester: Winter 2024
New Venture Startup
Gained hands-on experience in entrepreneurial processes, including opportunity assessment, market evaluation, business promotion, financing strategies, and business plan development.
Semester: Winter 2024
Data Structures and Algorithms
Implemented and analyzed complexity of data structures (e.g., trees, heaps, graphs) and algorithms (e.g., Dijkstra, divide-and-conquer).
Semester: Fall 2023
C and Unix/Linux
Developed skills in memory management, pointers, process management, and scripting in Unix-based systems.
Semester: Fall 2023
The New Business: From Idea to Reality
Learned the fundamentals of business ideation, market analysis, competitor evaluation, business structuring, and financial planning within external constraints.
Semester: Fall 2023
Linear Algebra
Worked on eigenvalues, eigenvectors, matrix factorization, and applications in ML (e.g., PCA).
Semester: Fall 2023
Probability and Statistics
Studied probability distributions, hypothesis testing, and statistical inference for data analysis.
Semester: Fall 2023
Calculus
Applied derivatives and integrals in optimization problems and numerical methods.
Semester: Summer 2023
Fundamentals of Computer Science
Learned programming fundamentals, recursion, and object-oriented principles using Python/Java.
Semester: Winter 2023
Computer Organization
Explored CPU architecture, instruction sets, memory hierarchy, and assembly language programming.
Semester: Winter 2023
Discrete Mathematics
Covered logic, set theory, combinatorics, graph theory, and applications in algorithm design.
Semester: Winter 2023