Thomas Lisankie
Full-stack engineer with 6+ years of experience. I've been the only engineer at a startup, shipped products on contract, and built my own. Currently building Syrka, an adaptive learning platform. Recently completed a BS in Computer Science and Cognitive Science at Rutgers University.
Timeline
2 concurrent roles
experience 2024 – Present
Founder and Developer
- Building an adaptive learning platform with Python, FastAPI, TypeScript, Next.js, PostgreSQL with pgvector, and Meilisearch.
- Designed a learning loop that personalizes lesson plans per learner, walks them through explanations and assessments, and adapts in real time to their responses.
- Built a pipeline that automatically discovers, deduplicates, and organizes thousands of STEM concepts into a searchable knowledge base using embeddings and LLMs.
- Integrated multiple LLMs for tutoring, assessment generation, and grading, with model routing through OpenRouter.
education Jun 2024 – May 2026
BS in Computer Science and Cognitive Science
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
- Completed.
experience 2024 – Present
Founder and Developer
- Building an adaptive learning platform with Python, FastAPI, TypeScript, Next.js, PostgreSQL with pgvector, and Meilisearch.
- Designed a learning loop that personalizes lesson plans per learner, walks them through explanations and assessments, and adapts in real time to their responses.
- Built a pipeline that automatically discovers, deduplicates, and organizes thousands of STEM concepts into a searchable knowledge base using embeddings and LLMs.
- Integrated multiple LLMs for tutoring, assessment generation, and grading, with model routing through OpenRouter.
education Jun 2024 – May 2026
BS in Computer Science and Cognitive Science
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
- Completed.
experience Dec 2022 – Dec 2023
Founding Engineer
Sane
- Only engineer at an early-stage startup. Owned everything from architecture to deployment.
- Rewrote the product from an alpha editor into a social platform with a discovery feed.
- Built a GraphQL API in Go with EdgeDB and Postgres on the backend.
- Frontend used Qwik and React.
- Set up CI/CD deploying Docker containers on AWS ECS.
experience Oct 2021 – Dec 2022
Full Stack Software Engineer
Nifty Island
- Built a content moderation system for spam detection.
- Added multi-chain wallet support for Solana and Polygon.
- Wrote React/TypeScript components for the marketplace.
experience Apr 2021 – Oct 2021
Full Stack Software Engineer
Monadical
- Worked on full-stack client contracts: Python, Django, TypeScript, React, Node.js, AWS.
- Built an RPC caching service in Node.js for Solana transactions.
- Wrote frontend Solana integrations in React and TypeScript.
experience Dec 2020 – Jan 2021
Contract Software Developer
MIT Knowledge Futures Group
- Data analysis and cleaning for grants proposals; API feedback; ORCID identification.
experience Jan 2020 – Dec 2020
Freelance Software Engineer
Various clients
- Firefox extension for Deribit exchange, Roam Research publishing platform (grant-funded), ad leads dashboard.
2 concurrent roles
experience Jan 2019 – Aug 2019
Contract Software Developer
JobTarget
- Built a JavaScript client library for the company's Messaging API.
- Wrote a Dialogflow chatbot pipeline in Node.js that connected to the Messaging API.
- Built an AWS Lambda + API Gateway webhook for incoming text messages.
experience Jul 2018 – Aug 2019
Data Science Teaching Assistant
Rutgers University Continuing Education
- TA for two 40-student data science courses.
experience Jan 2019 – Aug 2019
Contract Software Developer
JobTarget
- Built a JavaScript client library for the company's Messaging API.
- Wrote a Dialogflow chatbot pipeline in Node.js that connected to the Messaging API.
- Built an AWS Lambda + API Gateway webhook for incoming text messages.
experience Jul 2018 – Aug 2019
Data Science Teaching Assistant
Rutgers University Continuing Education
- TA for two 40-student data science courses.
education Dec 2017 – Apr 2018
Machine Learning Engineer Nanodegree
Udacity
education Sep 2015 – Dec 2017
BA in Astrophysics and Cognitive Science
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
- 56 Credits Completed.