SinemÜnlü

How might we design AI accountability coaches and human-AI relationships that support human flourishing?

• Led software design in a 5-person team over 8 months, developing Blob, an AI-powered physical desk companion using Gemini to support accountability and task completion rates of up to 95%.
• Conducted 100+ user tests across the web application and physical device.
• Collaborated with Google San Francisco through Minerva University's civic project partnerships.

How might we protect teenage users from harmful content while maintaining engagement and long-term retention on Instagram?

• Proposed a 3-tier age-bracketing system (13–15, 16–17, 18+) with personalized content moderation to prevent exposure to harmful content and negative algorithmic feedback loops.
• Developed an AI-based age verification framework using video selfies and mutual-friend verification, prioritizing user privacy.
• Projected up to $600M in additional annual advertising revenue through improved youth retention and user re-engagement.

4–6 week consulting project in collaboration with Meta and TKS.

How might we leverage existing telecommunications infrastructure to make large-scale AI inference faster, more efficient, and commercially viable?

• Designed a B2B edge computing strategy leveraging Verizon's 5G, fiber, and data center infrastructure for real-time AI inference.
• Proposed AI-driven network traffic management to reduce GPU downtime, operational costs, and latency to under 10 ms.
• Developed a scalable business strategy with potential to generate $14.4B in annual revenue, supported by proposed partnerships with NVIDIA, Google Cloud, and Meta.

4–6 week consulting project in collaboration with Verizon and TKS.

How might we make educational content easier to discover without disrupting TikTok's personalized For You Page?

• Identified ineffective search and hashtag systems as barriers to educational content discovery through user research and data analysis.
• Designed a creator-defined content categorization and filtering system to improve search relevance and connect educational creators with their target audiences.
• Developed a product strategy targeting improved creator visibility, search engagement, and long-term platform revenue.

4–6 week consulting project in collaboration with TikTok and TKS.

How might we provide continuous robotics lab access to students studying across 4 continents during their undergraduate degree?

• Building a virtual robotics lab for 500+ students to remotely program and control 2 physical robots across 3 courses, from anywhere in the world.
• Designing the web interface and integrating cloud-based software with local hardware controllers to enable remote robot operation.
• Engineering the system with ROS2, Python, FastAPI, Next.js, PostgreSQL, WebRTC, and Docker, including secure robot communication and sandboxed code execution.

How might we increase gender equality and representation across technical roles in the international robotics community?

• Led 40+ students across 3 years in international competitions including FIRST Robotics, VEX, and RoboChallenge.
• Increased gender representation across all 6 departments by 56%, including software, hardware, and mechanical engineering.
• Won 10+ international team awards and 2 individual leadership awards.

How might we build and fund a robotics organization from scratch to make robotics accessible to more students?

• Founded and led a 10-member robotics team, independently fundraising to compete in FIRST LEGO League (FLL).
• Built a lasting organization that has continued operating and mentoring 30+ future students.
• Ranked 2nd in robot performance evaluations.

How might we engineer a lunar regolith simulant that accurately reproduces the physical and chemical properties of actual lunar soil?

• Developed an optimization algorithm that achieved 98% similarity between the engineered simulant and lunar regolith.
• Conducted mineral characterization using XRD, XRF, SEM, and TGA, performing chemical analyses on 5 minerals.
• Joined the research group as its only high school researcher.

How might we store energy sustainably on the Moon despite extreme temperature fluctuations between lunar day and night?

• Designed a low-density, aluminum-stabilized superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) system to address weight constraints and material degradation in lunar environments.
• Won the Google X Award at TKS Moonshot 2024.

How might we reduce the health impacts of future heatwaves in Tokyo, particularly for vulnerable populations?

• Collaborating with 13 Tokyo Metropolitan Government bureaus to develop policy proposals addressing urban heat and heatstroke risks.
• Designing interventions targeting 100,000+ vulnerable residents, particularly elderly people and children.
• Translating research on urban heat exposure and population vulnerability into actionable policy and technology recommendations.

How might we help early-stage founders turn technical ideas into working software and hardware products?

• Mentored 56 startup teams in software development, machine learning, data analysis, CAD, prototyping, and hardware fabrication.
• Managed a maker space and robotics lab serving 230+ students over 240+ hours.
• Maintained and troubleshot 3D printers, laser cutters, and electronics equipment to support hands-on product development.

How might we help students develop stronger programming and algorithmic problem-solving skills through peer-led instruction?

• Selected as 1 of only 2 peer tutors in the university cohort.
• Tutored 40+ students weekly across Intro to Computer Science (FA50) and CS110: Problem Solving with Data Structures and Algorithms.
• Delivered 7.5 hours of weekly instruction, covering Python, OOP, recursion, stacks, data structures, and variable scopes.