Isaac Ng

Systems Design Engineering @ UWaterloo | Prev at Gale (YC W25)

Greater Toronto Area, Canada

About

I think in systems before I think in code, modeling data flows and architecture on paper before writing a single line, because structural problems caught early are cheaper than implementation problems caught late. That instinct is what I bring to every team I work with, and what's driven every project I've built from scratch. It's what I brought to Gale (YC W25), and what I'm looking to bring to my next co-op.

Experience

  • Software Engineering Intern at Gale (YC W25)
    Jan 2026 - Apr 2026 · 4 mos

    • Engineered an end-to-end "Exhibit Mapping" feature enabling lawyers to organize case files across 13+ case types hierarchically via recursive algorithms and tRPC, replacing flat zip archive navigation with structured, queryable file trees. • Architected a Standard Operating Procedures system with a phase editor and typed task templates (verification, email, data entry) that auto-wire to live case data on instantiation, designing the data flow and interface architecture independently before implementation. • Deployed an autonomous coding agent orchestrating isolated cloud environments via LLM, enabling self-directed task execution with live preview and SSH access, independently scoped and shipped end-to-end. • Contributed to a schema migration across a 3,000+ commit monorepo from Zod to Effect, improving type expressiveness and long-term maintainability of a shared TypeScript codebase.

  • Software Developer at HEALLY
    Dec 2025 - Jan 2026 · 2 mos

    • Raised site performance score from 65 to 92 through technical SEO improvements including semantic HTML, sitemaps, and structured metadata, contributing to a full conversion-focused website overhaul. • Built a Markdown processing pipeline using remark and rehype enabling non-technical team members to publish blog content without touching code. • Reverse-engineered a complex interactive demo to decouple it from its module dependencies and migrate it from dynamic to static state for standalone deployment.

  • Software Developer at Waterloo Reality Labs
    Sep 2025 - Dec 2025 · 4 mos

    • Onboarded into the Universal Gestures team with training across Unity XR, C#/OOP, Meta All-in-One SDK, and PyTorch to prepare for building gesture-driven interaction prototypes. • Developing foundational ML skills (PyTorch) to support gesture-recognition model training and evaluation. • Working closely with team mentors to understand the design requirements and technical constraints of building universal, cross-app gesture systems.

  • Technology Instructor at OneHub. Growth Organization
    Sep 2024 - May 2025 · 9 mos

    • Developed clear communication and instructional design skills by teaching 20+ seniors in 1-on-1 sessions. • Improved digital literacy and confidence for 20+ seniors through instruction on smartphone and app usage.