University of Waterloo
Farrukh Saif

PHOTOMEDICINE LABS / UW

Farrukh Saif

MASc researcher at the University of Waterloo. I build biomedical imaging instruments at UW: photothermal microscopes, OCT, and the software that turns raw light into an image.

SCROLL TO LAUNCH

01 / APPROACH

From the optical bench to the image.

Master’s researcher at the University of Waterloo, developing optical imaging systems for biomedical applications.

At PhotoMedicine Labs, supervised by Dr. Parsin Haji Reza, I built a photothermal laser scanning microscope from the ground up: lasers, scanners, relay optics, alignment, and the Python stack that acquires and forms the image. The through-line is the same: hardware, signal, and software as one system.

NOW
UW
LAB
PhotoMedicine
DEGREE
MASc ’26
University of Waterloo

University of Waterloo

Master of Applied Science, System Design Engineering

PhotoMedicine Labs · Dr. Parsin Haji Reza · Waterloo, ON · Expected Dec. 2026

ODTÜ / METU

Middle East Technical University

Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering

Graduated with Honors · Ankara, TR · Jun. 2024

02 / FLIGHT LOG

Experience

01 · Nov. 2025 - Present

University of Waterloo

PhotoMedicine Labs

Researcher · UW, ON

  • Designed and built a photothermal microscope from the ground up: lasers, galvanometer scanners, relay optics, dichroics, objectives, and optomechanics.
  • Wrote real-time imaging software in Python for acquisition, signal extraction, image formation, and post-processing.
  • Built a swept-source OCT system and the pipeline for B-scan reconstruction, dispersion compensation, and visualization.
  • Developed reconstruction, signal processing, and AI-based virtual H&E staining algorithms.
PhotothermalOCTPythonOptics

02 · Mar. 2025 - Jun. 2025

EverPixel

Full Stack Developer · Remote

  • Ported a C++ computer vision pipeline to WebAssembly so image processing could run in the browser.
  • Shipped full-stack features and a responsive UI redesign for a platform with 100k+ monthly active users.
C++WebAssemblyUI

03 · May 2023 - Sep. 2024

BrainSTEAM AR Education

Full Stack AR Engineer · Remote

  • Built an augmented reality education app in Unity with real-time object detection.
  • Optimized rendering to raise frame rates and reduce device heat on mobile.
  • Ran CI/CD and automated deploys to the Play Store and App Store.
UnityARCI/CD

04 · Jun. 2023 - Jan. 2024

Ülkem A.Ş.

Machine Learning Engineer · Ankara, Turkey

  • Collected and curated large-scale preference datasets with Selenium and Microworkers for supervised training.
  • Built a Flutter platform for collection, annotation, and experiment monitoring, then trained perceived image-quality models for product evaluation.
MLFlutterSelenium

03 / PAYLOADS

Projects

Click a card for the visual. Demos, source, and the notes behind the build.

PROJECT

Photon Absorption Remote Sensing Microscope

Photon Absorption Remote Sensing Microscope

Laser-scanning pump-probe microscope I built at PhotoMedicine Labs. Pump and probe beams, galvo scanners, relay optics, dichroics, and a Python stack for acquisition, lock-in extraction, and image formation.

PROJECT

Automated Beam Alignment

Automated Beam Alignment

Closed-loop alignment rig with two Arduino-driven stepper motors and a camera watching the beam. The motors walk a kinematic mount until the spot sits on target, so I am not turning screws by eye.

PROJECT

Open live demo

WhoWonTheArgument

WhoWonTheArgument

AI referee for text arguments. Upload a screenshot, and it flags logical fallacies and manipulation tactics to show who likely won.

PROJECT

View admin panel on GitHub

Data Annotation Site & Admin Panel

Data Annotation Site & Admin Panel

Built for a data collection campaign across my university and paid Microworkers contributors. Flutter, Firebase, and other GCP services. Open-sourced after stripping proprietary bits.

PROJECT

Object Detection

Object Detection

Fine-tuned a model to sort waste into recycling categories. Mostly YOLO, with SSD as a comparison. Long nights, fans at full blast. Sorry, ex-roommate.

PROJECT

Read the note

Robotic Arm RL Environment & Agent

Robotic Arm RL Environment & Agent

Custom environment for a robotic arm, then an RL agent trained to drive it. The env is open-sourced so other people can train against it too.

PROJECT

Augmented Reality Education

Augmented Reality Education

Point the camera at a card and a 3D object (dinosaur, cell, the usual suspects) sits in the room. Built in Unity with AR SDKs and shipped on iOS and Android.

PROJECT

Orbit Ball

Orbit Ball

Unity game where you steer a planet around astronomical objects toward a wormhole, using the phone accelerometer. Shipped on the Play Store.

04 / INSTRUMENTS

Optics, code, and the bench

OPTICS

  • Optical system design
  • Spaceborne optical AIT
  • Photothermal microscopy
  • OCT
  • Optical alignment
  • Optomechanical integration
  • Computational imaging
  • Image reconstruction

SOFTWARE

  • Python
  • C++
  • MATLAB
  • LabVIEW
  • Zemax
  • Unity
  • Flutter

BENCH

  • Lasers
  • Galvo scanners
  • Photodiodes
  • Oscilloscopes
  • Beam profilers
  • Power meters

English · Turkish · Urdu

05 / OPEN CHANNEL

Send a signal.

Whether it's space optics or microscopes, if it's optics, hit me up. Computer engineering undergrad, so I can do both the hardware and the code.

syedfarrukh.saif@uwaterloo.com+1 382 889 4115
EMAILGITHUBLINKEDIN

Off the bench: weightlifting, non-fiction, rock climbing, squash, billiards.

WATERLOO, ON