~ $ git log --deploys
Commit	Deployment	Date
3f9a1c2	bonbon/front-end-intern	2024-05
a71e0d4	medicine/ml-research-eng	2026-01
c4b28e9	adaptron/ai-research-eng	2026-05

~ $ kubectl describe node a.gaffen

Nodea.gaffen

RoleAI Researcher

SchoolMcMaster

Year4th · CS

RegionHamilton, ON

StatusHealthy

Shellzsh

AlexGaffen.

Computer Science Student at McMaster UniversityAI Research Engineer at Adaptron Inc

2026-05● runningadaptronAI Research Engineer

2026-01✓ shippedmcmaster-medicineBiomedical ML Research Engineer

2024-05✓ shippedbonbonFront End Developer Intern

2022-09● runningmcmasterHonours Computer Science Co-op

2026-05● runningadaptronAI Research Engineer

2026-01✓ shippedmcmaster-medicineBiomedical ML Research Engineer

2024-05✓ shippedbonbonFront End Developer Intern

2022-09● runningmcmasterHonours Computer Science Co-op

Experience

Work & Education

Adaptron Inc

Ottawa, ON

AI Research Engineer · 8-month co-op

Researching and developing an interpretable cognitive architecture in Python for autonomous robot control, world models, and combining supervised and unsupervised learning.
Building modular, tested components in a Git-based, multi-contributor codebase through code reviews and planning.
Now building the attention and proprioception systems, weighting signals by where on the body they originate to avoid combinatorial overload as sensor inputs grow.

May 2026 – PresentCurrent

McMaster Department of Medicine

Hamilton, ON

Biomedical ML Research Engineer

First author on a manuscript in preparation for an AI clinical tool: a patch-based medical imaging pipeline with VGG16 feature extraction and FCM clustering that quantifies and stages liver fibrosis.
Engineered a rate-of-change descent thresholding algorithm with automated brightness normalization, halving the margin of error on fibrosis quantification, plus a human-in-the-loop editor for pathologists.
Met the pathologists who use the tool in their lab, gathered feedback and shipped their changes.

Jan 2026 – May 2026

Bonbon Technologies

Los Angeles, CA · Remote

Front End Developer Intern

Collaborated with a cross-functional team to build and deploy web components in Svelte, reporting to the CTO.

May 2024 – Jul 2024

McMaster Symphony Orchestra

Hamilton, ON

Violinist

Four-year member with Level 10 RCM Violin; mentor to students at OrKidstra.

Sept 2022 – Apr 2026

McMaster University

Hamilton, ON

Honours Computer Science Co-op (B.A.Sc.)

4th year. Dean’s Honour List (2023).

2022 – PresentEducation

Projects

Selected Work

React · Node · C++ · Docker

Mock Market

Full-stack investing practice site: Google auth, live stock data, and a C++ analysis service for trading signals.

Read the build →

Mobile app · In development

Rally

Pickup games, study sessions and jam nights near you, on one map. Show up for something, leave with a crew.

rallynow.ca ↗

Python · VGG16 · FCM · React

Liver Fibrosis Staging

Patch-based imaging pipeline that quantifies and stages liver fibrosis, with a human-in-the-loop editor for pathologists. Manuscript in preparation.

Hey! I’m a 4th year CS student at McMaster, obsessed with engineering problems that don’t have clean answers, in the overlap of medical AI, robotics and systems security.

I like understanding how things work deeply, optimizing them with creative solutions, and figuring out how they break. Right now that means interpretable cognitive architectures for robots at Adaptron, after building biomedical ML for liver fibrosis staging.

Away from the keyboard: soccer, novels, violin in the McMaster Symphony Orchestra, and hunting for new music genres.

Honours & Awards

$13,800

Polytechnique Montréal · 2026