Alafi Dumo
Computer engineering @ Northwestern. Software and ASIC/FPGA design. Writing code, breaking things and fixing them sometimes!
Experience
– Aug 2026
Software Engineer Intern — Developer Experience & Tooling
Flutterwave · Nairobi, Kenya
Built an object-oriented TypeScript SDK wrapping raw HTTP webhooks into client methods, cutting integration time to under 15 minutes. Implemented HMAC-SHA256 signature validation with constant-time comparison to block request spoofing and timing attacks, and containerized a local API sandbox with Docker Compose so developers could simulate webhook events offline without touching live payment networks.
TypeScript · HMAC-SHA256 · Webhooks · Docker Compose
– Mar 2026
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Northwestern University · Evanston, IL
Time-domain mixed-signal computing lab, exploring time as an information carrier to get past the energy limits of Boolean logic (lab work published at ISSCC, DAC, and VLSI). Developed a time-domain neural network simulation pipeline mapping floating-point inputs to picosecond-scale pulse delay carriers for mixed-signal accelerators, modeled a low-power neuromorphic motor controller using time-to-voltage conversion, and simulated bio-inspired inverse kinematics and ZMP gait schedulers in Python for stability control on humanoid and quadruped platforms.
Python · Mixed-Signal Computing · Neuromorphic Control · Simulation
– Aug 2025
Project Team Lead — The Recyclery Website Overhaul
Northwestern DISC × The Recyclery · Chicago, IL
Led a five-person team rebuilding a nonprofit's site from WordPress to Next.js and Tailwind, cutting Lighthouse load times by 30%. Wrote the functional specification defining user scenarios, failure states, and feature ownership across the team, then built the frontend scaffolding and integrated MailChimp newsletter signup and embedded Google Calendar events.
Next.js · TypeScript · React · Tailwind · MailChimp API
– Mar 2025
Luminate Fellow
The Garage at Northwestern · Evanston, IL
Adapted DeepMind's GenCast model to NOAA GFS climate data to improve forecast accuracy for localized weather anomalies, and built a continuous inference pipeline in Python and Scikit-learn on AWS EC2/S3 with an asynchronous SMS gateway delivering alerts across low-connectivity environments.
Python · Scikit-learn · AWS EC2/S3 · GenCast
– Mar 2026
Project Team Lead
NU Robotics Club · Evanston, IL
Directed embedded software architecture for an autonomous lacrosse robot on a CoreXY gantry. Engineered a real-time OpenCV detection pipeline tracking fast-moving targets, and implemented multithreaded USB/UART serial communication to synchronize camera tracking data with downstream motor controllers.
Python · OpenCV · Multithreading · USB/UART
– Present
Telecommunications Lead
NU IEEE · Evanston, IL
Manage website and Discord infrastructure serving 100+ chapter members, and built an internal analytics dashboard tracking engagement patterns that drove 15% growth in Discord membership.
TypeScript · Analytics
Projects
~/weblate-contribution
Merged fix to Weblate, an open-source localization platform: diagnosed a time-of-check/time-of-use race in the Django REST API where a unit deleted mid-request returned an unhandled 500 instead of a 404, and added a deterministic regression test with no threads or sleeps. Shipped in release 2026.8.1.
Python · Django REST Framework · Concurrency · Open Source
~/nupython-interpreter
A lightweight Python interpreter written in C, using Backus-Naur Form grammar parsing for tokenization and execution, with dynamic memory allocation and a custom garbage collector hardened against malformed input.
C · Python · Google Test (GTest) · Garbage Collection
~/travel-scheduler
A C++ navigation tool over OpenStreetMap data for the Northwestern campus area. Parses OSM XML into an indexed node store, models buildings, bus stops, and amenities through a shared entity hierarchy, and queries the CTA Bus Tracker API for live arrival times with fallback handling when requests fail.
C++ · OpenStreetMap · CTA Bus Tracker API · libcurl · tinyxml2
~/async-fifo-sva
A dual-clock asynchronous FIFO in SystemVerilog using Gray-code pointer synchronization to pass data safely across independent clock domains. SystemVerilog Assertions enforce protocol compliance, asserting zero read-underflow or write-overflow under maximum strain, and a self-checking testbench reaches 100% functional coverage across empty, full, and near-boundary conditions.
SystemVerilog · SVA · Verilator · GTKWave · CDC
~/axi4-lite-interconnect
An AXI4-Lite crossbar interconnect in SystemVerilog supporting one master and two memory-mapped slave peripherals (UART and Timer). Handles backpressure, address decoding, and decoupled read/write channel handshakes per the ARM AXI4-Lite specification. Synthesized in Vivado for a Xilinx Artix-7 target, closing timing at 100 MHz.
SystemVerilog · Vivado · Verilator · AXI4-Lite · Xilinx Artix-7
~/riscv-pipelined-core
A 5-stage RV32I pipeline in SystemVerilog with dedicated hazard-detection and register forwarding units, resolving load-use stalls and branch flushes. Verified against bare-metal test suites at 1.18 CPI on Dhrystone, and synthesized for a Xilinx Artix-7 (XC7A35T) closing timing at 80 MHz using roughly 2,400 LUTs and 4 Block RAMs.
SystemVerilog · RV32I · Vivado · Verilator · Pipelining