I'm Richard Sicoli. I am currently a graduate student at Stony Brook University, where I am majoring in computer science. I’ve been developing apps since freshman year of high school. Since embarking on my journey of software development, I have produced numerous apps and even founded my own company.
I am also immensely passionate about machine learning and deep learning. Specifically, my current areas of research are in computer vision and natural language processing. I am currently a research assistant at Stony Brook University, under the guidance of Prof. Niranjan Balasubramanian.
Education
Stony Brook University Master of Science (M.S.), Computer Science 2017 – Dec. 2018 (In Progress)
Stony Brook University Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Computer Science 2013 – 2017
Experience
GameFuse, LLC
2011 - 2014
I have developed 3 iOS games through my indie game development company, GameFuse, LLC, which I founded back in high school. These apps were Star Runner, Amazing Paddle and 6 Colors. I also developed a custom physics engine in Objective-C for these games, Frost2D.
This experience marked the start of my journey into software development. Most importantly, it allowed me to develop very strong skills in algorithms, physics, networking (IP/TCP/UDP), code optimization/memory management, human-computer interaction, and design strategies.
From left to right, Frost2D Physics Demo, Star Runner, Amazing Paddle, 6 Colors
Charmtech Labs, LLC
2013 - 2015
I was hired during my first semester at college as a software engineer for a startup at the Center of Excellence in Wireless & Information Technology (CEWIT). I worked with Yevgen Borodin and a team of researchers and engineers on the app, Capti. Capti allows people to listen to content on the web by extracting webpage content and adding it to a playlist. The app features a heavy focus on accessibility for people with vision impairments. I worked on the iOS app, including the interfaces, Core Data, landscape and iPad support, text to speech system, and the custom browser.
My experience at Charmtech allowed me to develop skills in source control management, teamwork, browsers, web technologies, databases, speech synthesis and software accessibility. I found the experience working with accessibility to be the most interesting due to the real-world impact it can have on people. In fact, Capti won the 2014 FCC Chairman's Award for Advancing Accessibility in the category of Mobile Web Browsers
The Capti application.
Applied Application Technologies, LLC
2015 - 2016
I was co-founder and software engineer for the app, ClothesOn, which received funding through the Stony Brook entrepreneurs challenge. ClothesOn allows a user to manage their wardrobe and get recommendations on what to wear. I developed the entire iOS application from the interface and backend to the recommendation system.
The ClothesOn iOS app.
Stony Brook University Research Assistant
2017 - Present
Currently working as a research assistant with Prof. Niranjan Balasubramanian, on a privacy system. The system uses machine learning for entity-level sentiment analysis to find a user's view towards the people or places they read about online.
The ultimate goal is to develop a local application that can inform a user of what can be learned from their personal information. The application could then recommend steps to preserve neutrality/anonymity.
Accomplishments
2014 FCC Chairman's Award for Advancing Accessibility in the category of Mobile Web Browsers
This reward was earned for developing our iOS app Capti, which features a major emphasis on accessibility for people with vision impairments.
Apple WWDC Scholarship Winner 2014, 2015 and 2016
One of the 200 student developer scholarship winners selected by Apple for the Worldwide Developers Conference.
Stony Brook Entrepreneurs Challenge 2015
Won $5000 in funding for ClothesOn, an app that manages a users’s wardrobe.
Stony Brook Game Programming Competition Finalist 2014
I was a finalist in University’s game programming competition.
Projects
Below is a list of interesting projects that I have worked on either in my spare time or for a course.
DeepBoard: A Smart Touch Keyboard with Private Prediction of User Photos using Deep Neural Networks
This was the project for my graduate human-computer interaction (HCI) course. View Paper
Real-Time Human Activity Recognition using Convolutional Neural Network on Time Series from Mobile Sensors
This was the project for my graduate mobile networks course. View Paper
Linux Kernel Development
Implemented new system calls (encryption and deduplication), ioctl commands, modified kernel source code, and built a stackable filesystem for my graduate operating systems course.
Sicoli Home
A personal home automation system which I use to control my home. Uses a light TCP server running in Swift/Objective-C for backend with a frontend iOS app. The system controls IP devices such as cameras, lights and media devices from a variety of manufacturers. Also supports Apple HomeKit devices. I continue to maintain the system in my spare time.
The home automation app running on an iPad.
Tiny Brawlers
A multiplayer realtime strategy game which I have been working on periodically for years. Developed using Swift and Apple's SpriteKit for iOS/macOS. The game features multiple subsystems (combat, inventory, skeletal rigging, etc.) and complex networking code for multiplayer gameplay. Some day I will finally finish it.
Preview of my multiplayer realtime strategy game.
Below is a non-exhaustive list of other miscellaneous coursework I have worked on.
Java Web application for managing courses using JSP/Servlets
MIPS Disassembler
Basic Shell in C
Implemented parts of the NACHOS Operating System
Image classifier using convolutional neural networks in Tensorflow
