1st YearUL Building low-level systems and learning how computers actually work.
Python."I'm a first-year Immersive Software Engineering student at the University of Limerick, started September 2025 with zero prior coding experience.
In less than a year I went from writing my first hello world to shipping a Linux kernel module with custom character device drivers, hrtimers, kthreads, spinlocks, and a full ncurses game frontend running on top of it.
I'm drawn to the low-level side of computing — understanding how things actually work under the hood. If it involves kernel space, memory management, or systems programming, I want to know how it works.
This summer, I'll be interning at Johnson & Johnson, diving into industry-scale software engineering. Currently grinding through C, C++, Java, and Python while building projects that push me well past the curriculum.
A WarioWare-style micro-game engine where all game logic lives inside a custom Linux kernel module. The kernel exposes /dev/kernelware as a character device — userspace reads events, writes inputs, and calls ioctls to drive 7 mini-games. Built with C using hrtimers, kthreads, spinlocks, waitqueues, and ncurses. Features real hostname manipulation (init_uts_ns), live kmalloc/kfree memory management, /proc/kernelware filesystem stats, and an in-kernel leaderboard. Co-authored with Aidan, Cathal & Tom for Dr. Mark Burkley's course.
A collaborative project built in Java. A practical exercise in version control workflows and collaborative development using Git. Features robust switch-case logic and proper project structure with Maven build management (pom.xml). Demonstrates clean code practices, team collaboration workflows, and practical software engineering fundamentals.
A JavaFX text-adventure game built for CS4431, following a full MVC architecture. Features a multi-room world, NPC dialogue system, puzzle mechanics with item-based unlocking, and a minimap rendered live in the GUI. Implements core Java concepts including Serialization for save/load, custom Annotations, Generics, Enums for command words, and a full Parser for typed input. Supports both GUI buttons and WASD keyboard controls, inventory management, sound effects, and pixel-art room assets.
A machine learning side project building a neural network model from scratch using NumPy. The model predicts student pass/fail outcomes based on study hours using a synthetic dataset. Implements core neural network concepts including forward propagation, loss calculation, backpropagation, and gradient descent. Built as a learning exercise to deepen understanding of Python and how neural networks function at a fundamental level. A work-in-progress project developed alongside university coursework.
A privacy-first, fully offline carbon footprint analyser built for the Snapdragon: AI Unplugged Hackathon at University of Limerick (Qualcomm × Lero, April 2026). Points your laptop camera at any everyday object and instantly displays its lifecycle CO₂ cost — sourced from a 40+ item database built on DEFRA 2023, EU JRC, and EPA Ireland data. MobileNetV3-Large handles real-time object recognition and TinyLlama-1.1B generates plain-English sustainability recommendations, both running on the Snapdragon X Elite NPU via ONNX QNN Execution Provider at ~12ms per frame. Zero network requests, zero cloud dependency — every byte of inference stays on-device.
View on GitHub ↗My toolkit spans systems programming, kernel development, and software engineering fundamentals. I focus on languages and tools that let me understand what's happening under the hood — from low-level memory management to building reliable software at scale.
I started university in September with zero coding experience. Now I'm chasing internships, digging into systems programming, and looking for open source projects worth contributing to.
If you're building something or just want to talk, reach out.