Hi, I'm

Chris Vail

Computer Vision Engineer

About Me

I'm a software engineer specialising in computer vision at Polymetrix where I’m currently building an app to take highly detailed 3d scans of people's heads in order to fit masks quickly and accurately.

I graduated from Imperial College London in July 2022 with first-class honors in Design Engineering - a course that combines engineering expertise, design thinking, and entrepreneurial skills. During my time there I worked as an undergraduate teaching assistant for the first-year maths course, as well as being selected to represent the department at both open days and at the board of examiners meetings. Additionally, I worked at Cambridge GaN Devices for 6 months, leading the development of an automated test suite for next-generation power transformers. The system could be configured remotely and then display results on the company intranet site, reducing testing errors, engineering time, and ensuring consistent testing across PCBs.

During my master's year, I specialised in machine learning, robotics, and IoT which culminated in my thesis looking at the robotic disassembly of waste electronics, using a purely synthetic dataset for training two vision systems and a reinforcement learning agent. I also developed an IoT system for hydroponic urban farming in under-utilised office space.

Outside of work I can often be found toying with a new coding challenge, training in calisthenics, or in the winter, carving down the side of a mountain on my snowboard whenever I get the opportunity.

Download CV

Projects

Render of objects falling around a PS3

Deconstructed

Robotics

Machine Learning

Computer Graphics

E-waste is piling up and we can't effectively process it at scale. This project looked to reuse and recycle e-waste using advanced robotics. Using a novel image generation pipeline, the system was able to accurately identify and locate screws in a games console, even when heavily occluded by the casing.

A small plant in a Fruitful Unit

Fruitful Spaces

Start up

Internet of Things

Hydroponics

Employees are demanding more from their office spaces while being there less. Fruitful spaces aims to bring a stronger sense of community while tackling food mileage by growing food and herbs in underutilised office spaces. This IoT enabled hydroponic system produces anything from herbs to full tomatoes to spicy chillis.

3D model of my face

3D Facial Reconstruction

Python

Data Structures and Algorithms

At Polymetrix, I'm working towards a system to capture highly accurate 3D scans of individuals faces using the iPhone's TrueDepth camera. With 0.5mm precision required, minimal libraries and limited compute resources, how can we convert depth images into 3D models that can be used to fit custom masks?

Tetris pieces falling into place on a grid

Portfolio Website

Web Development

SvelteKit

I've always believed that great engineering has to not just work well but have the solutions and context communicated clearly in simple to understand language. My web design skills allow me to develop simple user interfaces for projects, while this website aims to succinctly communicate what I've done and why I did it.

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