Ali Unwala
Senior Software Engineer
I enjoy understanding how complex systems work and making unique user interfaces that delight people.
About
I've always been a tinkerer at heart. One of my earliest memories is taking apart a VCR that had broken to understand how it worked. I was fascinated by the black tape inside the cassette and how it made pictures on a TV screen.
Wanting to know how things work, I was inspired to explore electrical and computer engineering and eventually the broader world of software. Nowadays I enjoy building some of those projects I used to take apart as a kid.
My passions are understanding how things really work and playing with systems to make things better.
When I'm not coding, I'm collecting mineral specimens, playing table tennis and badminton, hiking and camping, and getting lost listening to fantasy audiobooks and D&D podcasts.
Experience
Conducted user studies to architect and implement a website with authentication and user management for customers to book and schedule appointments.
In this role, I collaborated with design and accessibility experts to contribute to a suite of web tools which helped nearly 300k IBM employees make products accessible to people with disabilities.
See the projects section for some of the work I did during this role: ibm.com/able and IBM Equal Access Accessibility Checker.
Our team focused on accessibility research at IBM. With the team's accessibility expertise, I implemented code to scan websites for accessibility bugs.
In this role, I tackled the challenge to find value for IBM at the crossroads of cognitive computing and robotics. I led a technical team to create several influential projects using Watson AI services.
See the projects section for some of the work I did during this role: Robotic Concierge - IBM Watson x Hilton, IBM Project Intu, and IBM Chef Watson."
I taught CS 378 Autonomous Intelligent Robotics, introducing students to a real robotics system, the Segbot platform. The Segbot is a homegrown autonomous robot built on a segway base.
See the Building Wide Intelligence section to learn more about the Segbot platform"
"Working in pre-silicon validation, I verified Intel’s mobile processors (Atom, Celeron and Pentium) before they were sent for fabrication."
Projects
This site acts as a reference for IBMers building accessible products within IBM.
I implemented over 90% of the front end (in 2022) with React and Node and deployed the site using docker containers to IBM Cloud.
This work was featured in Forbes, InfoQ, betanews, linux.com, and ZDNET.
This web extension allows users to automatically check for accessibility issues on any website.
I contributed a dynamically drawn visualization that highlights accessibility bugs on a webpage.
This work was featured in VentureBeat and CSUN.
This robotic concierge, called Connie, was designed to help customers navigate the hotel and the surrounding area using natural language.
I consulted and built Connie using Watson APIs, natural language processing, computer vision and speech to text.
This work was featured in Fox News, The Verge, Ars Technica, Fortune, USA Today, Time and several others.
Project Intu is an API for accessing IBM Watson services from devices that had proprietary interfaces (such as robotics platforms).
I developed a reverse proxy, API, and security framework to pass connections to IBM Watson’s cloud services. This allowed any device with a CPU, microphone, or speakers to talk to Watson.
This work was featured in ZDNET, The Stack, Silicon Angle, and PR News Wire.
This application allows the robot to act as an active kitchen assistant that will explore ingredients with you and then create a dynamically generated recipe for you to cook.
I collaborated with the Chef Watson team to bring Chef Watson to the NAO robotics platform.
This work was featured by The Guardian, Washington Post, The New Yorker, bon appetit, and several others.
An autonomous wheeled robotics platform built on the segway, which was used to test and further robotics research at UT Austin.
I augmented the segbot to autonomously traverse multiple floors in a building. While also implementing complex plans to dynamically perform goals as it moved around the building.
Education
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Graduate: Master of Science
GPA: 3.8
Graduated: 2014
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Undergraduate: Bachelor of Science
GPA: 3.67
Graduated: 2012
Awards
Eagle Scout
Boy Scouts of America
1st Place, Senior Design Competition
The University of Texas at Austin
1st place, ECE 445L Design Competition
The University of Texas at Austin
University Honors
The University of Texas at Austin