Ali Mohammed-Ali

Electrical Engineering student · Western University · London, Ontario

I build hardware and software that works on its own: a camera payload flown to 33 km, AI computer vision on a phone, a Mars rover’s pan-tilt camera in SolidWorks, and a Wi-Fi smart-home device.

Looking for a 12- or 16-month co-op from May 2027

Resume (PDF) LinkedIn GitHub

Projects

Stratospheric balloons being inflated on the runway at sunset — Balloon launch operations at the CSA/CNES base in Timmins, Ontario, 2025.

POET-STRATOS: infrared camera payload for a stratospheric balloon

Western University, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy · Summer 2025 · flown with the Canadian Space Agency and CNES from Timmins, Ontario

A technology demonstration for POET, a proposed Canadian exoplanet space telescope: can a commercial infrared camera take images for astronomy research in near-space? I built the camera control and the link that sent commands up and images down. Nobody could touch the payload once it launched, so everything had to run unattended.

~33 kmflight altitude

3 hoursunattended flight

100+images returned

Wrote C++ control of a 12-bit infrared camera's exposure, gain and cooling over a serial link, reading back every setting after writing it so failed updates were caught.
Built a Python command and downlink system over a slow, lossy radio link, with packet retransmission and image compression, tested under simulated packet loss.
Found a camera firmware defect that cut off images at certain exposure times, worked with the manufacturer's engineers, and flew only settings I had verified.
Verified the payload's interface cable against the space agencies' requirements and wrote the payload operations manual.

C++PythonRS-232Camera LinkUDPOpenCV

Project write-up → CBC News coverage →

Diminished reality on iPhone: making real objects disappear

Personal project · 2026 – present

Tap an object in the live camera view and the app removes it, fills in what was behind it, and keeps it gone as you walk around. It runs fully offline on an iPhone 13, which has 4 GB of RAM and no LiDAR depth sensor.

Compared fill methods on real photos in a desktop test tool, and shipped only methods that are legal to use commercially, checked on Google Patents and against each AI model's licence.
Kept the phone cool: switching the tracking model to 16-bit let it run on the iPhone's AI chip, and capping how often it runs delayed thermal throttling from about 3.5 to 6 minutes.
When an object sits in a corner, the fill is split across both the wall and the floor.

Built with AI coding agents. I led the design, on-device testing, model selection and licensing decisions.

SwiftARKitCore MLApple VisionOpenCV

Project write-up →

Removing an object from a wall–floor corner, 3× speed.

Criminisi inpainting test removing two TV remotes from a table — Criminisi fill test: remotes removed from a table.

OpenCV xphoto inpainting test removing a jar in front of floral wallpaper — OpenCV xphoto fill test: a jar removed from patterned wallpaper.

Smart Walking Aid

ECE 2242 design project · team of three · Winter 2026

A wearable obstacle-detection aid with an ultrasonic sensor on a servo, RFID, an LCD and fall detection.

Ultrasonic distance sensor clipped to a hoodie — Ultrasonic sensor worn on the chest.

Altium layout of the Arduino-shield circuit board — The Arduino-shield board layout in Altium.

Designed its Arduino-shield circuit board in Altium, with wider power traces for the servo's current spikes.
Debugged shorts during bring-up with a diagnostic schematic and continuity testing.
Measured performance and curve-fitted the results in MATLAB.

Rework damaged the board, so we demoed on a breadboard. My write-up covered what I'd change: a solder mask and a separate ground layer.

AltiumArduinoMATLAB

HERO: emergency response app

Western engineering design competition · team of five · 2025

A mobile app coordinating rides, first aid and hazard reports during floods and forest fires.

HERO app screens: a ride request on the map, safe route options for a first-aid request, and a flood-risk map with rainfall and elevation

1stTransportation category

2ndoverall

React NativeNode.jsWebSockets

Code →

Smart Home Greeter

Personal project · 2022

Two microcontrollers that notice when a known phone joins the home Wi-Fi, greet the person by name on a screen at the door, and email the owner. It works by listening to ordinary network traffic, with no app on the phone.

Smart Home Greeter prototype on a breadboard with LCD and keypad

C++ESP8266ArduinoDHCPmDNSApple Bonjour

Write-up →

Fruit Ninja 3D

Personal project

A webcam game that tracks your hands in live video so you can slice fruit in the air. Packaged as a standalone Windows app.

Fruit Ninja 3D gameplay: slicing fruit with hand movements tracked by webcam

PythonMediaPipeOpenCV

Code →

Experience & design teams

Sep 2026 – present

Sunstang Solar Car · Solar Array Team

Assigned to the solar power team: maximum power point tracking (power electronics that keep the solar array at peak output), then CAN bus for high-voltage motor control.

May – Aug 2025

POET-STRATOS · Engineering Student

Western University, Dept. of Physics & Astronomy (Undergraduate Summer Research Internship award). Camera control and data link for the balloon payload above. Also set up a clean room for the flight optics and travelled on site to repair power systems and upgrade domes on the Colibri Observatory's robotic telescopes.

Oct 2024 – Apr 2025

Western Engineering Mars Rover · Mechanical Team

Designed a pan-tilt camera system in SolidWorks and drove it from an ESP32 over Wi-Fi, giving drivers a remote view at the Canadian International Rover Competition.

The pan-tilt camera assembly in SolidWorks.

Sep 2023 – Apr 2025

Western Engineering Robotics · Electrical & Controls Team

Connected a Raspberry Pi to the robot's motor controllers over CAN bus, soldered and assembled circuit boards, and wrote a technical report on the motor-control network for newer members.

Writing

Connecting the last 2 billion through high-altitude platforms

Research poster and essay · Writing 2130 · 2026

About 2 billion people, mostly in rural areas, still aren't online. I argued that high-altitude platform stations, solar aircraft that circle about 20 km up, are a better fit for rural coverage than satellites or cell towers, using ITU data and radio propagation sources.

Poster (PDF) → Essay (PDF) →

Research poster: Connecting the Last 2 Billion to the Internet through High-Altitude Platform Stations

Skills & education

Programming: C, C++, Python, Swift, Java, MATLAB
Hardware & lab: Altium PCB design, soldering and rework, board bring-up, oscilloscope, multimeter, advanced electrical and machine shop training
Interfaces: RS-232, CAN bus, SPI, I2C, Camera Link, TCP/UDP; Arduino, ESP32, Raspberry Pi
CAD & tools: SolidWorks, Intel Quartus, Git, Wireshark, OpenCV, Core ML
Languages: English, French (DELF B2)
Education: Bachelor of Engineering Science, Electrical Engineering, Western University, expected 2029. Undergraduate Summer Research Internship Award (2025), Dean's Honours Award (2024).