Youssef Khafagy
Software engineering student working across products, systems, and AI-driven tools.
I like building things that feel technically solid and useful in practice, from full-stack apps and low-level tooling to embedded prototypes and AI-assisted workflows.
Youssef Khafagy
Software Engineering Student
McMaster University
McMaster Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.)
McMaster Award of Excellence recipient
Web Dev Team, McMaster Advanced Space Systems CAN-SBX
About
Who I am and how I work.
A quick look at what I care about in software, how I like to learn, and the kind of work that keeps me motivated.
I'm a Software Engineering student at McMaster University who likes turning ideas into things people can actually use. The work I enjoy most starts with a real problem and ends with something clear, polished, and dependable.
That has led me into full-stack products, systems programming in C, embedded prototypes, and more recently AI-assisted applications and workflow automation. I like moving between product-facing experiences and deeper technical implementation because it keeps me learning from both sides.
I'm still early in my career, but I try to bring the same approach to every project: strong fundamentals, thoughtful execution, and a willingness to keep refining until the result feels right.
Interests
AI / Machine Learning
LLM tooling, AI-assisted products, and building things that think.
Full-stack products
Systems programming
Embedded prototypes
What I'm known for
Strong fundamentals, fast learning, and polished execution
What I enjoy building
Full-stack apps, systems tools, embedded prototypes, and AI or machine learning features that make products smarter
How I work
Curious, dependable, detail-oriented, and collaborative
Projects
Selected work I’m proud of.
Hands-on builds across AI, systems, embedded design, and interactive software that show how I think through problems.
ScreenSense
Visual attention prediction with a custom-trained CNN
Full-stack AI application that predicts where human eyes will look first in any image. Trained a custom 6.6M-parameter MobileNetV2 + U-Net saliency model on a research dataset, deployed it as a containerised FastAPI service on HuggingFace Spaces, and shipped a polished Next.js frontend with real-time heatmap analysis.
Impact
Trained entirely on personal hardware and surpasses the published SALICON baseline on all 5 standard saliency metrics (AUC-Judd 0.9613 vs. 0.87, CC 0.8756 vs. 0.74). Has direct applications in UX and product design, advertising and marketing, e-commerce conversion optimization, and accessibility testing.
Trained on SALICON, 10,000 training and 5,000 validation images annotated with crowd-sourced human fixation data collected via mouse-tracking as a proxy for eye-tracking, using a composite KL-divergence + Pearson CC + BCE loss, mixed-precision AMP, and a frozen encoder warmup strategy for the first 5 epochs.
Built a custom post-processing pipeline on top of raw model output: peak suppression for ranked hotspot coordinates, Shannon entropy for an attention spread score, and a 3x3 region grid that drives rule-based design recommendations.
Designed a results page with a three-mode segmented image viewer (original, heatmap, overlay), top-3 attention zone cards with gradient intensity bars, and contextual design tips tied directly to where attention lands on the uploaded image.
Low-level diagnostics in C on Linux
WireFish Network Analysis Tool
Built a unified command-line networking toolkit in C that combines host scanning, ICMP traceroute, and live bandwidth monitoring in one modular binary.
Rule-driven simulation from UML to code
Catan Simulator
Helped build a Java-based discrete-event simulator for Settlers of Catan by translating a conceptual UML domain model into a working game system.
Navigation cane for visually impaired users
Future Sight
Designed and built an assistive cane that uses ultrasonic sensing and tactile pin-based feedback to help users detect nearby obstacles in real time.
Java utility for UML-to-code generation
CodeGenerator
Built a Java tool that parses `.drawio` pseudo-UML exports and generates Java class files with inheritance and composition relationships already mapped into code.
Arcade browser racing game with a custom-built game engine
Apex Racer
Built a top-down arcade racing game in the browser using a three-layer architecture: a pure TypeScript game engine with zero React dependencies, a custom useGameLoop hook that bridges the engine to React using refs to bypass reconciliation overhead, and a React UI layer for menus and HUD.
Python and Java gameplay engineering
Interactive Game Development Suite
Built multiple interactive games, including a two-player soccer game, Space Invaders, Breakout, and Pong, with a focus on gameplay feel, responsiveness, and clean loops.
Single-page planner with local persistence
Calendar To-Do List App
Built a browser-based calendar planner that lets users navigate months, select dates, create prioritized tasks, and manage daily work from a focused single-page interface.
Engineering design project
International Airport
Built an airport-focused engineering project that combined CAD modeling, Python-supported work, and 3D printing into a more physical design-and-build workflow.
Experience
Working in teams, shipping together.
Experiences that shaped how I collaborate, communicate clearly, and contribute inside a team while delivering under real constraints.
2025 - Present
Web Dev Team Member
McMaster Advanced Space Systems CAN-SBX / Hamilton, Ontario
Contribute to the MASS CAN-SBX website by planning and updating pages and reusable frontend components.
Co-authored the software requirements specification for the 2026-2027 website, helping define scope, browser access, content needs, and long-term maintainability expectations.
Work within Agile Scrum sprints, helping with task breakdown, weekly stand-ups, and review cycles as the site evolves.
Support a modern web stack direction centered on React and Next.js while shaping frontend structure that is easier for the team to extend and maintain.
Help improve clarity, responsiveness, and content organization so the team’s work is easier to understand for both technical and non-technical audiences.
2024
Server
Industria Pizzeria / Burlington, Ontario
Managed service in a fast-paced restaurant environment while staying organized across shifting priorities and customer requests.
Strengthened time management and communication by coordinating closely with teammates during busy service periods.
Built the composure and consistency that now carry over into collaborative engineering work.
2021 - 2023
Crew Member
Tim Hortons / Burlington, Ontario
Handled high-volume customer service work with consistency and attention to detail in a fast-moving environment.
Built strong teamwork habits while operating in high-pressure rush periods where speed and accuracy both mattered.
Developed reliability, pace, and practical problem solving that still shape how I work on technical projects.
Technical Skills
The stack I’m comfortable shipping with.
Core languages, frameworks, and tooling I reach for when I’m building production-quality software and AI-driven features.
Languages
Frameworks & Web
Systems & Engineering
AI & ML
Recognition
Awards & Certifications
McMaster Award of Excellence
Awarded a $3,000 entrance scholarship.
WHMIS Certified
Certified through the McMaster Faculty of Engineering.
DELF B1
Proficient French speaker with DELF B1 certification.
OSSD Graduate
Graduated from M.M. Robinson High School with a 97% average.
Contact
Interested in building thoughtful software with strong technical foundations.
If you'd like to connect, collaborate, or talk about opportunities, I'd be glad to hear from you.