AI Engineer & Researcher

Building intelligent systems.

From embedded electronics to intelligent agents — engineering systems that think, adapt, and make a real difference.

About

Darshan Nayak

Growing up across Cambodia, Singapore, and India taught me to adapt fast and think differently. That global upbringing — combined with an obsession for technology — pushed me toward building things that actually matter.

I don't just write code — I engineer experiences. Whether it's a computer vision rehabilitation assistant, an AI memory architecture, or a real-time flood navigation system, every system I build is driven by one question: does this solve something real?

4
National Awards
20+
Projects
10+
Hackathons
3
Publications

Selected Work

Projects built for real-world impact.

A selection of AI systems, hackathon wins, and experimental research.

RainGuard

AI & Intelligent Systems

RainGuard

India's first real-time flood navigation system. Fuses live satellite radar, IMD weather stations, and NASA elevation models to predict flood zones and optimize safe routing.

Real-time Satellite Data Flood Prediction
ApexNet F1

AI & Intelligent Systems

ApexNet F1 Intelligence

Live race prediction using stacking ensembles and attention-based LSTMs. 55+ engineered features forecasting positions and lap times with 85% accuracy.

Deep Learning Time Series
TrafficGuard AI

AI & Intelligent Systems

TrafficGuard AI

Real-time computer vision for traffic enforcement — detecting violations and extracting license plates via GPU-accelerated ALPR for a centralized police dashboard.

Computer Vision ALPR
VisionGuard AI

AI & Intelligent Systems

VisionGuard AI

High-performance object detection using YOLOv8 and deep CNNs. Anchor-free detection for rapid drone and human tracking in mission-critical environments.

YOLOv8 GPU Acceleration
STELLA

Hackathon Winner

STELLA: Nurse Robot

Personalized robotic care bridging hospital discharge and home recovery. Real-time facial analysis, biometric streaming, and 24+ physiotherapy exercise tracking.

Robotics Healthcare
Shrimati Setu

Hackathon Winner

Shrimati Setu

Dual-component personal safety: mobile app + embedded wearable with shake-to-trigger SOS, satellite GPS, and distress signal delivery without cellular networks.

IoT Embedded
ReMotion AI

Hackathon Winner

ReMotion AI

Computer vision-powered physiotherapy assistant with real-time biomechanical feedback and posture correction via any smartphone camera.

Pose Estimation Cloud
BlueTrust AI

R&D

BlueTrust AI

Satellite monitoring using Sentinel-2 imagery and temporal ML models for ecological restoration. Blockchain verification layer for immutable ESG reporting.

Satellite Blockchain
SAHS RAG

R&D

SAHS RAG

Self-Adaptive Hybrid Search RAG that dynamically assesses query complexity, blending dense semantic search with BM25 via an LLM routing layer.

RAG Hybrid Search
Rapid Crisis Platform

R&D

Rapid Crisis Platform

Event-driven emergency response bridging IoT panic buttons with Gemini AI. Millisecond payload processing with real-time Socket.io dashboards.

Gemini AI IoT

Experience

Professional journey.

Jan 2026 – Feb 2026

Software Developer

VSQC

Developed and enhanced software features within a collaborative team. Translated requirements into optimized production solutions.

2025 – Present

Research Author

GraphMind

Designed a dual-layer knowledge graph architecture for AI memory systems. Authored findings on agentic AI representation with higher retrieval accuracy.

2024 – Present

Freelance Web Developer

Independent

Delivered end-to-end responsive business websites with custom UI/UX design for multiple clients.

2024 – Present

Team Lead & Solo Competitor

10+ National Hackathons

Won multiple national hackathons. Built production-ready prototypes under strict 24-hour deadlines.

Achievements

National recognition.

1st Place

VIT Code Apex 2.0

Top position among 2,800+ participants as a solo competitor. Evaluated by judges from Google and Figma.

1st Place

Pragyantara National Hackathon

First place among 800+ participants demonstrating technical excellence at a national level.

3rd Place

National Project Expo — SIT

Recognized for building a production-ready project with exceptional real-world utility.

3rd Place

TechFiesta InC — PICT

Outstanding technical innovation among 2,400+ participants across India.

VIT Code Apex 2.0 VIT hackathon Pragyantara SIT Expo PICT TechFiesta PICT team

Research & Publications

Thinking in public.

AI Systems · 8 min read

From Static RAG to Systems that Think

An architectural breakdown of building a self-adaptive hybrid search RAG — exploring how retrieval systems can dynamically assess complexity and route strategies.

Read

Engineering · 6 min read

Building India's First Flood Navigation System

A technical deep dive into fusing satellite radar, elevation models, and crowd traffic data into a real-time routing system for urban flood resilience.

Read

Research · Ongoing

GraphMind: Dual-Layer Knowledge Graphs for AI Memory

Designing knowledge graph architectures enabling AI agents to store, reason, and retrieve across disconnected information domains.

Skills

Tools of the trade.

AI & Machine Learning

  • Python
  • TensorFlow / Keras
  • PyTorch
  • Computer Vision (OpenCV, YOLOv8)
  • NLP & RAG Architectures
  • Deep Learning & CNNs
  • Gemini AI / Vertex AI

Web & Full-Stack

  • React / Next.js
  • Node.js / Express
  • JavaScript / TypeScript
  • Firebase / Supabase
  • REST APIs / Socket.io
  • MongoDB / PostgreSQL

Systems & Tools

  • IoT & Embedded Systems
  • Git / GitHub
  • Docker
  • Figma / UI Design
  • Cloud Deployment
  • Linux / Shell

Education

A global foundation.

2023 – Present

MIT World Peace University, Pune

Integrated B.Tech — Computer Science & Engineering (AI & Data Science)

2021 – 2023

BK Birla Centre of Education, Pune

Secondary Education — Grade 9–10

2010 – 2021

British International School, Phnom Penh

Primary & Middle School — International education fostering a global perspective

2014 – 2016

Global Indian International School, Singapore

Primary School — Strong early academic foundation

Get in Touch

Let's build something intelligent.

Open to new projects, collaborations, and opportunities. Let's connect.