Jacob F. Valdez
Jacob Valdez. Human. I build stuff.
Started programming VB6 when I was 10. Branched out over the years: C#, HTML/CSS/JS, Arduino, Python, TypeScript, AWS, Android, etc. etc. Did lots of engineering projects too. Also, lots of independant study; glad I did Cal I-III and DiffEq when I was 17, which helped a ton with the DL math. Stumbled across arxiv.org by accident in 2018 and fell in love with AI. Saw the future, and read ave. 1+ paper/day for 3 years following. Went back to school for CS in 2020; graduated Summer 2022. Spent the rest of 2022 as a SwE at Motio. Left to work on a full-scale humanoid robot, but then realized many important components of the robotics ecosystem were missing, so I started a general purpose robotics kit.
Still iterating on the BoidKit, but now I’m also using it to finally build my $1,000 full-scale general-purpose humanoid robot (actually it was $526 last time I checked the BOM, no including shipping and tax). This is the most important project of my entire life. I talk about it on all my socials. If you have any love for science, technology, engineering, innovation, product development, etc., etc., please reach out about joining the team.
Update (9-25-2024): I’m working with the Simp4Satoshi to build the Truffle AI Computer. Its a mixture of hardware, software, and mle plus adjacent stuff. It’s such an amazing place to use practically everything I’ve learned on a product that will impact millions of people. ‘full stack’ product engineering from the hands on soldering to programming to meeting prospects, 7/11-16 scheudles, jam sessions, vibes, we’re really living a movie here. I’ll be here until we get to a good point and then I want to return to the Human Robot along with gohuman.fund (website last updated months ago but i’ve still been deploying/mentoring; we’re currently starting a hacker house in Nigerea) and humanworker.ai (wip).
Update (4-28-2025): I left Truffles after the launch in December to build my own startup commandAGI: it was going to be a command center for managing your AGIs (they’re here afaict) and it would eventually become a peice of critical infrastructure to keep humanity holding the leash. Raised 30k for 5% on paper but the angel defaulted on his terms and I ended up looking for work. I’m grateful to have met Saul around that time and he invited me to a trial with Breezy. Everything vibed and now I’m a SwE #2! We’re building AI buisness managmeent software; think vibe-coding but for the nontechnical side of SMB. SF is really nice and I’ve met so many interesting people here. I belong here so bad. I’m really grateful to be able to contribute here.
The GoHuman fund had to shutter bec money. I had never taken raising LPs seriously so that’s on me; it was all personally financed. still, i’ve been really inspired by the people GoHuman supported: Advik Kooper went on to raise an undisclosed (large) amount of money from Peter Theil’s 1517 division for his teenage/prodigy funding solana platform Exerton. Sur Naik went on to secure a $20,000 grant from Emergent Ventures to continue building his electronics prototyping system. Emma Obadoni built the 50+ member Tech Family which has helped teach many Nigerians and other Africans about technology and how to work in the industry and helped a few get jobs in tech. And there are so many others GoHuman supported that are up-and-coming in their fields: Pablo Perez in ML, Khadija Ech-Challoey in Physics, (a dozen others i cannot publicly name yet)… I am so proud of you all! I can’t beleive they even let me meet them tbh more ››
Experience
- April 2025 - Present
Software Engineer
Breezy AI
- Designed and implemented the company's browser automation system, enabling scalable and reliable web interactions
- Built an intelligent task extraction system to automate and streamline complex workflows
- Continue to develop and maintain the Next.js web frontend and Ruby on Rails backend for core product features
- March 2025
Developer (IC)
Exerton.XYZ
- Designed and implemented a secure money transfer system using Solana blockchain
- Implemented Web3 authentication system using Phantom wallet integration for secure user verification
- Optimized gas fees through efficient smart contract implementation
- Sept 2024 - Dec 2024
Applied ML Engineer (Intern)
Deepshard
- Worked alongside team of 8 other engineers to bring Truffle computer to its December 2024 launch
- Implemented user interface components for the MacOS app and an endpoint for the website backend ([itsalltruffles.com](https://itsalltruffles.com/))
- [Built CAD models](https://x.com/jvboid/status/1869450137703264522) and [ran simulations](https://x.com/jvboid/status/1869450154551738687) on occasions when we didn't have a hardware engineer
- June 2024 - Present
Developer (IC)
UTA College of Social Work
- Helping interns complete MyAmble, a full stack PWA for social work surveys with real-time LLM-driven analyses
- June 2024 - June 2024
Full-Stack Pipeline Engineer (IC)
Flora Creative Systems
- Worked alongside team of 10 other software engineers to build a node-based AI media editor
- Implemented node editor drawing integration and user credit tracking refinement
- Jan 2023 - May 2024
Independent Research & Development
Human Robot, Midlothian, TX
- Worked on Human Robot: a $1,000 general-purpose humanoid robot prototype with full-scale articulation (not yet finished)
- Engineered innovative low-pressure hydraulic systems, achieving 10x+ cost reduction in valves, actuators, and prime movers
- Designed for scalable manufacturing using welded plastic, CNC routed MDF, plasma cut sheet metal, and custom PCBs
- Conducted research in neurosymbolic AI, focusing on advanced control architectures for humanoid robots
- Pitched project to investors, including Z Fellows (top 10% applicant); received $10k seed funding from aunt, Debra Morgan
- Developed comprehensive business plan targeting $1000 price point with $100/mo AI subscription
- Gained valuable experience in mechanical, robotics, and AI engineering as well as startup basics
- June 2022 - Jan 2023
Software Engineer
Motio Inc
- Developed Soterre for Qlik Sense
- Started as intern in June; full-time after August 16th 2022
- June 2021 - May 2022
Student Research Assistant
IT Lab, UTA
- Collaborated with research group to evolve and test a flask-based statistical visualization tool CoWiz (renamed as Dash)
- Developed full stack web server MLN-Dashboard using Next-React-GraphQL-Strapi stack
- June 2021 - May 2022
Student Research Assistant
UTA College of Social Work
- Maintained and enhanced multi-platform (iOS and Android) data collecting application MyAmble and web admin dashboard
- Stack: JavaScript, Firebase, Flutter (mobile), and Vue (admin dash)
- May 2016 - Mar 2020
Crew Trainer
McDonald's, Midlothian TX
- Led safety committee and addressed employees during 30-minute monthly safety meetings
- Trained employees on-the-job and formally
- In addition to 4 years of formal education, actively used Spanish on-the-job
Education
- June 2020 - Aug 2022
B.S. Computer Science
The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX
- GPA: 3.6/4.0
- Sept 2014 - May 2018
A.A.S. in Mathematics
Navarro College, Waxahachie, TX
- GPA: 3.9/4.0
- 85 hours completed
- Dual-credit program
Projects
- Feb 2019 - Present
Human Robot
- Began development of a full-scale humanoid robot prototype with 2 legs, 2 arms, 5 fingers per hand, supporting all major body articulations
- Integrated 3MP & 12MP dual cameras, stereo mics, stereo speakers, and various sensors
- Designed for fast, scalable manufacturing using mostly welded plastic, CNC routed MDF, plasma cut sheet metal, and off-the-shelf components
- Engineered custom PCBs and injection molded parts to minimize costs and optimize performance
- Achieved 10x+ cost reduction in low pressure hydraulic valve, actuator, and prime mover fabrication
- Pitched innovative robotics technology to investors including ZFellows, Inception Studio, Schematic Ventures, VibeCap, StarshipVC, Y Combinator, and 1517 Fund. Received $10k seed funding from Debra Morgan (family)
- Developed comprehensive business plan targeting $1000 price point with $100/mo AI subscription
- Oct 2021 - May 2022
MLN-Dashboard
- Developed a full-stack Next.js web server for complex data visualization and analysis
- Implemented modular architecture allowing easy integration of new data sources and visualization types
- Utilized GraphQL for efficient data querying and Prisma for robust database management
- Later began integrating Strapi CMS for improved content management and user interface customization
- June - Aug 2021
20Q
- Collaborated in a 4-person team to develop an Android app for the classic 20 Questions game
- Implemented game logic and algorithm for app to guess user's thought based on responses
- Utilized Java and Kotlin programming languages for Android development
- Jan - May 2021
DesparadosAEye
- Led a 5-person team as project manager, general app developer, and ML engineer
- Implemented on-device conversational AI using Facebook's BlenderBot-small, compiled to TFLite format
- Developed one of the first applications to use BlenderBot for on-device mobile chatting
- May 2021 - Jun 2021
CookieCutter CNC
- Designed and built a 2x2 plasma cutter CNC machine to automate sheet metal cutting process
- Developed Windows software in C# to process SVG files and generate optimized path coordination code
- Created Arduino firmware to interpret commands and control machine movements
Skills
-
Programming Languages
- Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, C#, Kotlin, VB6
-
Web Technologies
- React, Next.js, GraphQL, Node.js, Vue.js, Flask
-
Database Systems
- PostgreSQL, SQLite, Firebase
-
Data Science & Machine Learning
- TensorFlow, Keras, PyTorch, BERT
-
Cloud Technologies
- AWS, Firebase, Google Cloud Platform
-
DevOps & Version Control
- Git, GitHub, Docker/Compose
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Other Tools & Technologies
- Android Development, Flutter, Blender, 3D Printing, CNC routing, PCB fabrication
Certifications
- Feb 2022
AWS Certified Machine Learning - Specialty
- Apr 2021
TensorFlow Developer Certificate
- Oct 2020
DeepLearning.AI TensorFlow Developer Specialization
- Mar 2019
AWS Certified Developer - Associate
- Mar 2019
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate
- Mar 2019
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate
Honors and Awards
- Spring 2024
Top 10% Applicant - Z Fellows Program
- Feb 2022
2022 Future Texas Business Legend Award Finalist
- Apr 2022
Co-Author on Paper Accepted to Baltic DB&IS 2022 Conference
- Sept 2021
Broaden and Build Conference Honorable Mention
- Apr 2021
SCRF Honorable Mention + $100 award
- May 2013
20% Project Presentation Honorable Mention
Leadership Experience
- Jul 2018 - Mar 2020
Crew Trainer and Safety Committee Organizer
McDonald's
- Led Safety Committee and addressed employees during monthly safety meetings
- Trained and mentored new employees both on-the-job and through formal sessions
- Ensured compliance with safety protocols and procedures across all restaurant operations
- Sept 2017 - Dec 2017
Biology Lab Group Leader
General Biology I DC, Senior Year at WGHS
- Initiated and organized a biology lab group to streamline activities for a new teacher
- Authored and implemented a group contract outlining safety, task management, and communication protocols
- Led the Coordinator's Committee, overseeing group instruction, appointing leads, and managing progress schedules
Volunteer Experience
- 2024 - Present
Founder and Operator
GoHuman Fund
- Founded and operate a global micro-seed fund investing/granting in innovative projects across various fields
- Deployed $1,100 of personal funds to support promising entrepreneurs and prodigies worldwide
- Manage quarterly capital deployments to foster early-stage R&D
- Provide mentorship, networking opportunities, and emotional support to fund recipients
Additional Information
- Languages: English (Native), Spanish (Conversational)
- Interests: Neurosymbolic AI, Humanoid Robotics, Entrepreneurship/Investing, Full-Stack Development, 3D Printing, CNC Machining, Neuroscience and Deep Learning Theory, X Posting
Long-Term Goals
-
Help people all over the world with humanoid robots
- Develop a mass-produceable affordable, intelligent humanoid robot
- Manually bootstrap production, but transition to robots making robots
- Deploy on-demand humanoid-robots-as-a-service on the basis of their humanitarian, social, and economic impact
Other Interests
- Walking, hanging out with friends, reading papers, and twittering
- I'm never going to have enough time to satisfy most of my interests
