I'm a student in the Georgia Institute of Technology Class of 2022 looking for exciting internships and projects to immerse myself in. I'm currently studying Computer Science with concentrations in Artificial Intelligence and Modeling & Simulation.
I aspire to help companies streamline business and create innovative solutions with my experience in software development and interest in entrepreneurship. I've launched my first startup through Georgia Tech's Create-X Startup Launch and always aim to explore the breadth of innovation through computer science and my personal projects.
In my free time, I'm working on a number of personal projects, including RushBetter, an application to help streamline Greek Recruitment, andNextWrk, a startup I co-founded to make gig working and freelancing as accessible as possible. In the period between when I quit my first traditional job as a fast food worker at age 16 and started my first Co-op with Amazon Robotics at age 20, I was able to achieve and maintain financial independence and stability through a collection of gig jobs: from charging scooters to software development freelancing and everything in between. This gave me the freedom to pursue my own projects and the ability to develop a variety of professional software development skills during a period where most of my classmates were bogged down with part time jobs completely unrelated to their field of study. I want to make this atypical working model as accessible as possible so others can realize these same opportunities.
Email: markfoster314@yahoo.com
Date of Birth: Nov 2, 1998
Through my lifetime of projects, both personal and academic, I've continually become proficient a variety of skills that I can apply to my new adventures. I've been programming since my fourth grade Lego Mindstorms Tournament days. It remains a hobby and passion of mine as I constantly refine my craft.
Coming Soon!
I worked as a Part Time (10-20 hr/wk) Software Engineer for PennyWhale, an Atlanta based Software Development Collective, developing, updating and maintaining websites and mobile apps for clients such as KeyPleaz.
I completed two three-month terms as a Full Stack Software Engineering Co-op on Amazon Robotics' Technical Ops team, and aided in delivery of a robotic drive manufacturing automation project by developing key software services which allowed manufacturing workers to interface with drives and set up automated processes.
Through this co-op, I gained a deeper understanding of Systems Design, Full Stack Development, Distributed Systems, DynamoDB, Angular, Spring, Java and AWS, troubleshot ~2 high severity issues a month while on call 24/7 as support, and met with the heads of the manufacturing department weekly to gather useful feedback for designing and developing continuous updates. One such update, which allowed drives to charge autonomously, reduced our testing and verification bottlenecks by over 5 percent, and allowed for an extra $225,000+ in daily productive output.
I'm a co-founder and CEO of NextWrk, a service to connect individuals with their best avenues for success in the gig economy. We secured initial funding from Georgia Tech's Create-X Startup Launch and are currently developing a mobile app for nextwrk.com.
I handled all the initial UI/UX design and front end development, creating designs and vector graphics with Figma and Adobe Illustrator and robust, scalable infrastructure with Redux, Sagas, SEO and international support, and aided my CTO in designing our initial back end.
Degree: B.S. in Computer Science - May 2022 (tentative)
Concentrations: Artificial Intelligence and Modeling & Simulation
Awards: Zell Miller Scholarship and Georgia Phi Foundation Scholarship Recipient, National Merit Scholarship Finalist, Dean's List
GPA: 4.4/4.0
Test Scores: SAT 1590/1600, ACT 35/36, AP Calc AB & BC, ES, Lang, Gov and Econ 5/5, AP Psych 4/5
Activities and Societies: Philosophy Club (Co-Founder), Boy Scouts of America (Senior Patrol Leader), National Honors Society
Helping Hands provides immediate aid to struggling families following natural disasters.
Over the last few years volunteering with this organization, I gutted and repaired water damaged homes following hurricanes in Louisiana multiple times, and chopped up and cleared fallen trees and debris for homeowners after devastating tornadoes in Alabama.
I got involved in scouting when I turned 8 and became a Cub Scout. After organizing a project to secure, sort and transport over 2,000 pounds of food and resources for a local food bank, "The Place," I earned my Eagle Scout Award, the highest achievement attainable in Boy Scouts, at age 14.
I stayed active in the program through Venture Scouts and finally as an Eagle Scout Project Volunteer, guiding younger scouts through the process of planning and executing a successful Eagle Scout Project.
As a member of both the Scholarship and Philanthropy Committees for Sigma Alpha Epsilon, I created academic resources and services to propel us from #14 Georgia Tech IFC GPA to #1, and helped organize several philanthropic events to raise $11,440 for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta in 2019.
 | Music ProductionMy interest in music started when I taught myself piano in kindergarten. As time went on, I picked up more instruments and eventually stumbled upon Fruity Loops, which I used to produce my own edm and sellbeats online. |
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Exploring the OutdoorsLiving in North Georgia and being a Boy Scout ingrained a respect and love for the outdoors in me. The opportunities for outdoor recreation became slim when I moved to Atlanta, but me and a few friends still carve out a few weeks every year to hike the Appalachian Trail. |
 | PhilosophyMy friends and I created a club in high school to discuss philosophy, religion politics etc, and in college I stay sharp through personal study and niche courses like IAC 2002, where each class is an interfaith dialogue grounded in science. |
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 | Classic Video GamesI started my first business in high school buying and reselling classic video games. While the local market eventually dried up, my friend Burke and I are currently developing an eBay resell bot using values scraped from the internet. |