John Popovici's Portfolio

Cybersecurity and Software Engineering masters student with a background in software development, high-performance automated testing, and machine learning integration. Proven ability to contribute to open-source tools and deliver technical solutions in fast-paced industrial environments and academic settings.

Education

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Master in Cybersecurity and Cyber Defence Class of 2027

University of Luxembourg - Luxembourg 18.9 / 20.0 GPA

ENISA EU Cybersecurity Skills Framework (ECSF)

Courses: Software Vulnerabilities, Intelligence Structured Analysis, AI and Cybersecurity, Security of Mobiles, Microkernel Based Systems, Cyber Policy, Cybersecurity Risk Management, Cybersecurity Tool for Threat Intelligence and Forensics

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Bachelor of Software Engineering Class of 2025

McMaster University - Canada 11.5 / 12.0 GPA

Summa Cum Laude; Principal's Award and University Senate Scholarship

Courses: Software Design, Software Testing, Computer Networks and Security, Scientific Computation, Databases, Computer Architecture, Information Security, Software Requirements and Security Considerations, Data Structures and Algorithms

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Ontario Secondary School Diploma Class of 2019

Newmarket High School - Canada 95.5 / 100.0 GPA

Awarded Principal's Honour Roll and Academic Distinctions

Work Experience

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Project Developer Oct 2025 - Present

University of Luxembourg (SnT SerVal) - Luxembourg

Enhanced the Open Source AI Assessment Sandbox Configurator (AISC) architecture by developing the plugin interface and full stack, improving framework extensibility for third-party developers.

Implemented an extensible suite of analysis plugins and 100+ metrics for the AISC tool, for automated evaluation of AI model Performance, Trustworthiness, Robustness, and more.

Architected Python PoC to facilitate seamless interfacing and simplified usage of seven leading foundational tabular ML models within a customized testing environment.

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Multimedia Textbook Assistant Jan 2025 - June 2025

McMaster University - Canada

Designed and evaluated interactive digital content for an open web development course textbook.

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Teaching Assistant Sept 2021 - Apr 2025

McMaster University - Canada *4 Semesters

Provided technical instruction, academic guidance, and grading for courses of 1000+ students.

Specialized in delivering complex concepts in Engineering Project Design, Data Structures, Algorithms, and Web Development.

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Design Verification & Automation Developer May 2022 - Apr 2023

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) - Canada

Maintained and executed automated testing and simulation suite in Python, Perl, Ruby, and Bash, utilizing log analysis to identify and debug faults across 6+ parallel execution versions.

Optimized data ingestion process by developing automation to parse heterogeneous vendor data.

Managed Perforce Version Control and Jira Issue Tracking within a production environment.

Spearheaded the Intern Steering Committee, organizing large-scale $2500 professional development events for 300+ interns. Collaborated with university partners in charity events to raise over $4000.

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Junior Programmer May 2021 - Aug 2021

Valor Distributions - Canada

Developed and performed Quality Assurance (QA) for an inventory management system utilizing Vue.js, Laravel, PHP and SQL Databases.

Projects

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Vulnerability Playtest Summer 2026

Personal Project GitHub

Demonstration of vulnerability primitives such as Buffer Overflow and Injection Attacks.

Implemented functional Proof-of-Concepts for CVEs (eg. CopyFail) to explain exploit mechanics.

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Microkernel Implementation Spring 2026

Group Project GitHub

Architected a Priority Scheduler and Inter-Process Communication (IPC) on a NOVA skeleton.

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Customizable Neural Network from Scratch Summer 2025

Personal Project GitHub

Built a modular Neural Network engine using Python and NumPy for visualizing training.

Conducted comparative benchmarking against TensorFlow and implemented optimizations.

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Personal Website March 2025

Personal Project Website; GitHub

Created website using raw HTML, JavaScript, CSS on GitHub Pages and Resume in Latex.

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Dice Duels: 3D Physics Online Dice Game Sept 2024 - Apr 2025

Group Project GitHub

Implemented custom dice game using Godot, Git Version Control, and GitHub Actions CI/CD.

Documented engineering process and management compiled as Latex documentation.

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Custom Microsoft Office Automation Summer 2024

Commissioned Project

Implemented Microsoft Office VBA macros and Python script for workplace automation.

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OpenAI GPT-3 Discord ChatBot Summer 2024

Group Project Report

Implemented the GPT-3 API to develop a specialized Discord chatbot featuring sentiment analysis.

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Space;Raze: Algorithm Competing Game Winter 2019

Group Project

Developed a Java instructional physics game for battling custom algorithms for learning algorithms.

Other Highlights

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Open Source Contributor

Pivotick: Network graph library developed for tools such as MISP and FlowIntel.

AISC: AI Assessment Sandbox Configurator for evaluating and assessing risks in AI models.

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Hackathon Participant & Mentor

Mentor: Deltahacks 9 (2023)

Participant: hackathon.lu (2026), Bsides (2026), Deltahacks 7 (2021), TOhacks (2021)

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Student Representative & Ambassador Sept 2019 - Apr 2022

McMaster Engineering Society

Elected by the student body to represent program interests. Awarded Council Appreciation Award.

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Director of Design & Manufacturing Sept 2018 - June 2019

First Robotics Competition

Co-founded the local FRC team, leading the group to win two Rookie Team of the Year Awards.

Skills

Languages:English (Native), Romanian (Native), French (Intermediate)

Programming:Python, Java, SQL, C/C++, PHP, JavaScript, Perl, Ruby, Bash, VBA, Verilog, GDScript

Tools:Linux, MS Office, Git, Perforce, CI/CD, Jira, Regex, GDB, APKtool, Jadx, Wireshark

ML & AI:Neural Network Architecture, TensorFlow, Pytorch, Numpy, ML Safety Metrics, Matlab

Cybersecurity:Software Vulnerabilities, MISP, Risk Management, Threat Intelligence, Data Recovery