Aolei Zhou Email & Phone Number

Hi, I'm Aolei, currently pursuing my Master's degree in Computational Data Science with a focus on Computer Systems at CMU. I'll be graduating in December 2023.My primary interest is in Database Systems. I was introduced to this field through Andy Pavlo's Database System course (15645) in Fall 2022, which ignited my curiosity and encouraged me to take his Advanced Database System course (15721). Through numerous projects and research in this area, I am keen to work on designing, improving, and creating databases in my career. Apart from Database Systems, I'm also enthusiastic about Cloud and Distributed Systems. I've taken the Advanced Cloud Computing course (15719) in Spring 2023 and I plan to take Distributed Systems and Storage Systems in Fall 2023.Additionally, I have hands-on experience with NoSQL databases like MongoDB and Cassandra through several projects. Currently, I'm a member of a capstone team working with DataStax to build a cloud-native distributed Key-Value API service with a caching layer for speed and microservices for replication using Cassandra as persistent storage. We aim to contribute this project to the open-source Stargate project in Dec. 2023.Now, as a 3-month summer intern at Green Action Studio, I am focusing on building the backend service infrastructure for a cloud-based product. This involved utilizing technologies like React, Node.js, AWS Lambda functions by CDK, MongoDB, and AWS Kafka. Throughout this experience, I gained hands-on expertise in managing large industrial products in a cloud environment, enhancing my skills in TypeScript, and becoming adept at collaborative group work using platforms like GitHub for issue tracking and pull request-based development.Last year, I got the top 10 Graduates at SUSTech for exceptional performance. Since joining CMU, I've discovered my passion for Computer Systems, which led me to change my career direction from UX to Computer Systems. In Spring 2023, I took five courses with a workload of about 70 hours/week, but I enjoyed learning more amazing things that I previously had no knowledge of.Outside of academics, I'm an avid swimmer, and I know four styles of swimming, with freestyle being my favorite. Looking forward to connecting with you all! :D