Engineering Journey
From making things move to designing databases and APIs
I did not begin with backend alone. Physical computing, data and AI, user-facing products, and team delivery gradually led me to domain rules, database integrity, API boundaries, and validation.
High school - 2020
Code Became Motion
Arduino and MATLAB line-tracer work made me interested in how code changes physical behavior.
Moment
- Prototyped an Arduino dispenser after seeing waste in school
- Implemented line-tracer behavior in a MATLAB simulator
Learned
- Tuning input, control, and response loops is where engineering becomes interesting
Led to
Even as my interest moved toward data and AI, I kept following the path of building systems that actually run.
2022 - 2025
From Data Interest To Program Structure
After ChatGPT sparked my interest in data and AI during military service, C# OOP, visual programming, and Python confirmed my interest in program structure.
Moment
- Transferred from mechanical engineering to industrial engineering
- Earned A+ grades in C# OOP, visual programming, and Python
Learned
- Programming is not typing code; it is splitting problems into responsibility and state
Led to
That pushed me toward Java/Spring and API development to understand web systems.
2025
The Backend Red Pill
LinkUp is a web platform that connects high-school students exploring careers with working professionals, covering mentor discovery through coffee-chat booking and approval. Owning my first Spring backend showed me that endpoints alone were not enough: useful responses and errors depended on the screen and action consuming them.
Moment
- Studied Java/Spring
- Built LinkUp-Backend as my first backend project
- Felt the lack of user-flow understanding and collaboration standards
Learned
- API responses should let the screen distinguish success, empty states, and failures
Led to
I learned Flutter to understand UI, state, and API responses from the product side.
2025 - Present
Product, Team, Backend
Across PolyLog, PokeTree, Umaso, and LSware, I worked from screen state through Go APIs, PostgreSQL data design, and admin tools, which clarified my focus on backend engineering.
Moment
- Shipped an AI feedback product with PolyLog
- Joined a real-user team service through PokeTree
- Expanded into API, database, and operation ownership through Umaso and LSware
Learned
- Reviewing the screen action, API response, persisted data, and admin workflow together exposes missing behavior earlier
Led to
Next, Lingding extends this from CRUD, API, and admin-tool work into real-time state, P2P voice, and matchmaking.
Current Direction
Before implementation, I now clarify the data each user flow needs, the integrity that storage and retrieval must preserve, API responses and error cases, and what operators need to edit. I want to apply what I learned from Umaso, NL2SQL Quality, and Figma MCP Bridge to backends that return correct search results and persist state changes safely.
