Beck Lorsch
Student | Software Developer
Student | Software Developer
I am passionate software developer and first-year at Yale College from San Francisco tentatively joint majoring in computer science and economics. I have completed projects independently, with partners, and for clients. I started programming in Swift in 2015 shortly after it's release and have worked with iOS for nearly 9 years.
In working on my projects—which have been downloaded in more than 70 countries—I have grown familiar with Apple and third party technologies including Git, CocoaPods, ResearchKit, CoreData, Realm, RESTful APIs, CocoaPods, GraphQL, AWS (Cognito, AppSync, etc.), tvOS, Firebase, Twilio, in app purchases (especially subscriptions), the Spotify SDK, and Auth0.
Besides iOS development, I have worked with JavaScript/Vue/Node.js, Python/Flask, Java/Android, Docker, and Kubernetes. When I'm not coding or in school, I take photos (film and digital), sail, surf, and read (often on economic history).
One of my very first Swift projects. I created a simple weather app powered by the Forecast.io API.
I originally created Headline TV as a part of my 2016 app of the month project. The tvOS app allows a user to have a slide show of news headlines from a variety of sources (New York Times, United Press International Headlines, TechCrunch, CNN) accompanied by stunning images in the background.
My first major Swift project. I created a fully working tool for tracking neurological tics and their severity using ResearchKit.
I created TrumpHeadlines in 2017 to explore how media coverage of Donald Trump varies. The tvOS app presents the news in
a simple, easy to read slideshow, and allows a user to select different media sources that they would like to get their news from.
TrumpHeadlines is a significantly modified version of HeadlineTV, my previous app. The main
changes are the addition of a link sharing system and the ability to choose different
sources that all are shuffled and displayed. The user
can also now text themselves the link to the current displayed article by swiping up. In
order to text 25 links, the user must pay $0.99, thus introducing a revenue flow. I have
also integrated deep analytic metrics to discover how
users use the app.
Please note this app is in no way an endorsement of Donald Trump or his administration.
Since 2018, I have been responsible for the ideation, design, and development of the "Marin Academy Daily" iOS and Android apps as well as the backend supporting them. I implemented functionality to make student resources easier to access and increase both school spirit and participation in school events through a highly customizable interface, and custom, server-based notifications. Since I took over the iOS app and built the backend and Android app, usage among students and faculty has increased from 15% to more than 80%.
I was chosen to give a presentation at Marin Academy's Math Night. In it, I describe to
a general audience what neural networks are and how they work, then explain how they can
generate text. I end my presentation by
showing how a computer was able to write a "senior speech," a ~5 minute speech that every MA
student must give at some point throughout their senior year. It can be comedic or serious
and is a time to reflect on one's experiences throughout
high school. They almost always end with acknowledgements to those instrumental to their
last four years, followed by a few shoutouts.
Presentation description: "How do our phone keyboards know what word we will type
next? How can a computer write a chapter of Harry Potter, an episode of The
Office, or a Donald Trump tweet? In this presentation, we will dive into the field of
Natural Language Processing and examine the cutting edge of text generation culminating in
generating something of our own."
Joey uses cutting-edge optimization algorithms to increase student efficiency. Given a set
of assignments and a student's activities, our proprietary algorithm finds the most
efficient way for them to complete their work and renders it in an intuitive weekly
schedule.
I have been working on Joey with two partners since Summer '19. I am primarily responsible for integrating our backend with the iOS interface. Additionally, I edit our promotional videos and manage our finances among other duties.
Access to the Joey app is currently invite-only and our waitlist can be joined on our website. We soft launched in the winter of 2020-21, and we are continuing to refine the user experience and reach students around the world.
auxen allows users to host a communal queue that their friends can then join and add songs to play next. It is my most technologically ambitious and time-consuming personal project so far. It uses both the iOS Spotify streaming SDK and Spotify API with an OAuth sign in for music playback. For the backend, auxen relies on Firebase for its database, push and silent notifications, analytics, and deep link capabilities.
Recently, I have been working on MarinTrace, a low-cost, not-for-profit contact tracing and symptom reporting platform for schools. I am responsible for the iOS app (native Swift), the web app (a cross-platform PWA), the frontend of the admin dashboard (Python/Flask), and the authentication system (OAuth w/ Google SSO).
The iOS and web apps allow members of the community to attest to their lack of symptoms before stepping on campus, optionally report their contacts to more easily facilitate tracing, and report test COVID-19 test results. Certain administrators at the schools can see and act on that data through the admin dashboard. Additionally, I have been the project's compliance liaison, setting up "The MarinTrace Foundation" in addition to communicating with and obtaining necessary approvals from local government agencies.
In January 2021, MarinTrace was fully rolled out at The Branson School as their primary COVID-19 contact tracing and symptom attestation solution and has since expanded to Headlands Preparatory School, both of Tilden Preparatory School's East Bay campuses, and Branson's own summer program as well as Next Generation Scholars's.
