MICHAEL OWEN
I work in machine learning, from optimizers written
from scratch to real-time computer vision.
I'm a computer science student at Virginia Tech focused on machine learning. Right now I'm training models on athlete movement data, and on the side I build projects like optimizers written from scratch.
years of programming, from C++ to TypeScript
validation accuracy on a gesture recognition model I built and trained
accuracy improvement in the Kaggle AI Math Olympiad
degrees in progress: BS ’26 & MS ’27, Computer Science
What I work with.
Machine Learning
Model design, training, and evaluation
Languages
The languages I use day to day
Web & Frameworks
Building and deploying web apps
Things I've built.
ML Playground
↗An interactive site for learning six core ML algorithms. I implemented OLS, gradient descent, SGD, and Adam from scratch, and each training run can be replayed step by step on a live loss chart.
- Next.js
- React
- TypeScript
- Tailwind
- SVG viz
MichaelsMusic
↗A custom Spotify web player built on the Web Playback SDK. An Express.js backend handles login and API requests, and the app is deployed on Netlify.
- JavaScript
- Express.js
- Spotify API
- OAuth
- Netlify
Gesture Recognition
●Recognizes hand gestures from a webcam in real time. I trained a neural network to 90%+ validation accuracy across 8 gesture classes, using data augmentation to expand a small training set.
- Python
- TensorFlow
- OpenCV
- MediaPipe
- CNN
Kaggle AI Math Olympiad
●A Kaggle competition on solving olympiad-level math problems with ML. I built three PyTorch models and improved accuracy by 35% with ensembling and hyperparameter tuning.
- PyTorch
- Ensembles
- Feature engineering
- Tuning
Where I've been.
Data Analyst · BodBx
I collect movement data from Virginia Tech athletes with the Strength & Conditioning program and train models to find connections between weight-room training and competition results.
Athletics Manager · Highlands Swim & Tennis
Organized 20+ competitions a year and coached 30+ youth athletes over five summers.
Virginia Tech · BS + MS Computer Science
Bachelor's expected May 2026, accelerated Master's expected May 2027. Focus on machine learning and data-driven systems.