Jared Hirt
Computer Science Honours Student | Researcher | Developer
Research Interests
Computer Vision, Foundation Models, Robustness & Distribution Shift, AI for Healthcare, Low-Resource Generative AI.
Education
University of Northern British Columbia
2022 - Present
BSc in Computer Science, Honours Program
Minor in Management Information Systems (MIS)
CGPA: 4.16 / 4.33 (Pure A+ record in 3rd/4th year coursework)
Unofficial Transcript
Publications & Presentations
Analysis of a Variable Region Size in Regional Voting
August 2025
Hirt, J. and Chen, L.
IEEE 22nd International Conference on Ubiquitous Intelligence and Computing (UIC).
(Accepted for Oral Presentation)
- Independently derived mathematical theorems for election stability under concentrated noise.
- Designed multi-scale voting ensembles to mitigate spatially correlated data corruption.
- Take a look at my paper!
Research & Technical Projects
Generative AI for Indigenous Language Preservation (Dakelh)
Fall 2025 - Software Engineering Project
- Addressed extreme data scarcity for the endangered Dakelh language by engineering a Generative Language Model.
- Curated a specialized corpus from the Dakelh translation of the New Testament and implemented a custom Byte Pair Encoding (BPE) tokenizer to handle unique morphology.
- Trained the model using NanoGPT and Hugging Face Transformers, creating a tool to generate synthetic educational text for language revitalization.
Gamified ASL Fingerspelling System
Fall 2025 - Social Robotics Capstone
- Architected a computer vision pipeline using MediaPipe and Django to gamify ASL education.
- Identified failure modes in off-the-shelf models regarding fine-grained alphabet recognition; trained a custom gesture recognizer to achieve high-fidelity classification for all 26 letters.
- Designed a temporal classification extension using sequential hand landmarks to recognize dynamic gestures (e.g., 'J', 'Z').
- Try a modified javascript Speedy Signers demo here!
Robust Consensus Algorithms (Honours Thesis)
2024 - Present - Undergraduate Honors Researcher
- Investigated the fragility of consensus algorithms against spatially correlated noise (analogous to sensor artifacts).
- Numerically evaluated stability formulas to identify the "edge of stability" across diverse noise configurations.
- Demonstrated that multi-scale regional voting acts as a stabilizing ensemble, reducing error rates compared to fixed-kernel baselines.
- Oral presentation at 22nd IEEE UIC Conference
- Take a look at my paper!
Grocery Helper Application
Winter 2024 - Lead Developer
- Led development of a mobile/web application using Flutter and Firebase.
- Engineered REST API integrations with TheMealDB and implemented persistent user state management with Google Authentication.
- Try a Grocery Helper Demo here!
Teaching & Leadership
University of Northern British Columbia
2024 - Present - Teaching Assistant (Intro to Technology / Computer Architecture)
- Taught aerial data acquisition and photogrammetry pipelines using DJI Matrice 350 RTK drones; instructed students on processing raw visual data into 3D models.
- Instructed labs on Aarch64 Assembly, GPIO, and Concurrent Programming.
- Delivered guest lectures and developed curriculum for undergraduate labs.
UNBC Computer Science Club
2024 - Present - President
- Revived the university's chapter of the ACM Intercollegiate Programming Competition (ICPC); established training infrastructure for future teams.
- Organized university-wide coding competitions, increasing student participation by 400%.
UNBC JDC West Team
2024 - Present - VP Technology
- Led technical strategy for business case competitions; raised funds for the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation to purchase medical equipment for rural hospitals.
Quinson Elementary
Winter 2025 - Volunteer Coding Instructor
- Taught programming logic (loops, conditionals) to grades 4-7 using Scratch; guided students in building clones of Flappy Bird and platformers.
Other Professional Experience
Crossroads Brewing & Distillery
2020 - 2025 - Line Cook
- Maintained high performance in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment while balancing full-time academic studies.
- Prioritized tasks dynamically to meet fluctuating customer demand; ensured strict adherence to safety and organization standards.
Technical Skills
Languages
Frameworks & Tools
Select Awards and Scholarships
Awards
Golden Key Honours Society (Top 15% of students) - 2022
L.A. Lefebvre and Associates Award (Merit-based, top CS student >90 credits, $1500) - 2025
Computer Science Entrance Award - 2022
Scholarships
BC Achievement Scholarship (Top 8000 graduates) - 2022
District Authority Scholarship (Top 5500 graduates) - 2022
Service
UNBC Senate Representative (FSE)
2023 - 2025
Represented Faculty of Science and Engineering students; served on committees for Academic Affairs and Awards.
PGSS Esports Coach
2021 - 2023
Led high school team to win "Best in Western North America" (2022).
Hobbies
Prince George Tapestry Singers
2017 - Present
The Prince George Tapestry Singers is a youth community choir in Prince George
As a singer in the Tapestry Singers we have received gold standing in the Cantando and Kiwanis music festival
You can find out more about the PG Tapestry singers here!
Plaza 400 Toastmasters Club
2024 - Present
I am a member of the Plaza 400 Toastmasters club
Toastmasters is an organization which aims to improve the leadership skills of members
Some of the skills that are worked on are public speaking, speeches, and parlimentary procedure
Here is the club's website