// Cornell University — Statistics · CS · Product Strategy · Dec 2026

Jay
Zheng.

I like to build fast and iterate faster. SwiftUI apps, neural networks, autonomous robots — if it ships, I'm in. Currently exploring how to orchestrate agentic AI workflows that balance autonomous reasoning with token efficiency.

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01 — About

Jay Zheng

Builder.
Student.
Marine.

I'm a Statistics + CS student at Cornell University, graduating Dec 2026. My work spans iOS development, machine learning research, and teaching — built on a foundation of discipline from serving in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves.

At Cornell App Development, I build iOS apps used by the Cornell community using SwiftUI and TCA. I also instruct CS 1998, Cornell's student-run iOS course, where I redesigned the curriculum and manage a team of 11 TAs.

I've done ML research at Cornell's Architecture Robotics Lab and as a STARS Fellow at Cal Poly Pomona, working on transformer attention mechanisms and autonomous robot control.

Interests: Archery, Entrepreneurship, Robotics, Sci-fi, Psychology.

4+
Years in the Reserves

Important Times

2000
Born in Fujian, China.

Started somewhere far from here.

2009
Moved to New York City.

Nine years old. New country, new language, figured it out.

2016
First job. McDonald's, age 16.

Early mornings, minimum wage. Learned what it means to work.

2017
Dropped out of high school.

Went to 3 different ones. It wasn't the right path. Took time to find one that was.

2018
Worked as a waiter.

Tables, tips, and a lot of time to think about what comes next.

2020
Moved to California.

COVID hit. Moved anyway. Sometimes a reset is the move.

2021
Enrolled at Mt. San Antonio College.

Started from scratch academically. Ended with a 4.0.

2022
Marine Corps Boot Camp.

MCRD, SD. Thirteen weeks. A different kind of education.

2024
Transferred to Cornell University.

Accepted my dream school UCLA and UC Berkeley as a Regents scholar. Chose Cornell! Dropout to Ivy. The long way around is still a way.

Now
Learning. Developing. Teaching.

Agentic AI, Cornell App Dev, instructing students.

02 — Education

Cornell University
Studying Statistics · CS · Product Strategy
  • GPA: 3.77 · Dean's List — Fall 2023, Spring 2024
  • Relevant coursework: Algorithms, Machine Learning, Systems Programming, Statistical Inference, iOS Development
  • Instructor — CS 1998: iOS Development (student-run course, 100+ students, 11 TAs)
Aug 2024 — Dec 2026
Mt. San Antonio College
Transfer · Mathematics & Computer Science
  • GPA: 4.0 — transferred to Cornell University
  • Student of Distinction Award · Edison STEM Scholarship
  • President — Alpha Gamma Sigma Honor Society
2022 — May 2024

03 — Experience

iOS Software Developer
Cornell App Development
  • Leading end-to-end development of Clocktower — an iOS app to digitize the Cornell Chimes experience.
  • Leveraged The Composable Architecture (TCA) in the Hustle marketplace app for modularity and scalability.
  • Integrated APIs and translated Figma designs into polished SwiftUI interfaces with cross-functional teams.
Jan 2025 — Present
iOS Course Instructor
Cornell University — CS 1998
  • Instructing 100+ students on iOS architecture, SwiftUI, algorithms, and software development lifecycle.
  • Manage 11 TAs; redesigned course structure to improve conceptual clarity and learning efficiency.
  • Mentored students on Git, version control workflows, and shipping production-quality apps.
Feb 2025 — Present
Research Assistant
Architecture Robotics Lab — Cornell University
  • Developed control algorithms using Arduino and OpenCV to maintain mutual visibility between agents.
  • Designed a finite-state system coordinating perception and actuation for autonomous behavior.
  • Debugged hardware–software pipelines, reducing communication failures to near-zero error rate.
Sep 2023 — Sep 2025
STARS Research Fellow
Cal Poly Pomona
  • Reconstructed transformer attention mechanisms in Python to study token prediction dynamics.
  • Trained text-generation models to analyze context window effects and sequence coherence.
2023 — 2024
Mathematics Tutor
Mt. San Antonio College — EOPS
  • Tutored underrepresented students through the Equal Opportunity Programs & Services program.
  • Covered Algebra, Calculus I, II, and III — supporting students from foundational math through multivariable concepts.
2023 — 2024
Corporal
U.S. Marine Corps Reserves
  • Coordinate training and operational readiness while concurrently pursuing full-time academic and technical work.
  • Troubleshoot critical light armored vehicle systems under high-pressure, time-sensitive conditions.
Jan 2022 — Present

04 — Selected Projects

01
Fall 2025
Swift SwiftUI iOS

ReadLay

Book trading app built with SwiftUI featuring modular architecture and explicit state management. Collaborated cross-functionally to ship a production-ready app under hackathon time constraints.

Most Creative — Hack Challenge
↗GitHub
02
Spring 2026
Python Keras NumPy

Rock-Paper-Scissor Predictor

Designed a Siamese Neural Network with ResNet backbone achieving 88% accuracy — outperforming logistic regression and random forest baselines. Implemented full data preprocessing, cross-validation, and error analysis pipeline.

03
Fall 2026
Python pandas scikit-learn

Marketplace Pricing Analysis

Analyzed Depop transaction data as project lead to study pricing dynamics and seller behavior. Engineered features for brand popularity and time-to-sale; applied regression models to identify drivers of sell-through and price dispersion.

04
Summer 2026
HTML CSS JavaScript

Study Spot

Productivity platform integrating Pomodoro timers and task tracking. Designed session-level analytics to measure user behavior patterns and surface engagement bottlenecks.

↗Live Site

05 — Toolkit

iOS / Mobile
  • UIKit & SwiftUI
  • MVVM & TCA
  • Firebase
  • Figma → Code
Languages
  • Python
  • Java & C/C++
  • JavaScript
  • SQL & R
  • HTML & CSS
ML / Data
  • PyTorch & Keras
  • NumPy & pandas
  • scikit-learn
  • OpenCV
  • Matplotlib
Tools
  • Git & GitHub
  • Arduino
  • Jupyter
  • VS Code & IntelliJ
  • R Studio

Now

Exploring How to orchestrate agentic AI workflows that balance autonomous reasoning with token efficiency.

// Open to opportunities — internships & full-time

Let's build
something.

jidong.1272@gmail.com
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