Hi, I’m Vaughn!

I’m a hardware engineer and cybersecurity researcher currently studying Computer Engineering and Cybersecurity at NYU Tandon.

My work is guided by two straightforward objectives:

• Building humanitarian devices that create a tangible, positive impact on people’s lives.
• Securing the digital infrastructure of the world and the interconnected devices we rely on every day.

Hardware Design and Prototyping

I love building humanitarian inventions that uplift people’s lives. When a colleague and I founded the VISION Project back in 2019, I engineered a patented, wearable computer vision system for the visually impaired. Since my time leading my high-school’s Einstein Club to my current role as a Teaching Assistant at NYU’s General Engineering course, I have directed projects centered on medical accessibility, such as predicting respiratory diseases using audio data, and mentored teams developing practical tools like pill dispensers for the elderly and book scanners for dyslexics.

I approach all hardware development with privacy in mind, utilizing edge processing to ensure sensitive user data remains secure and on-device.

Security & Data Sovereignty

Lately, I’ve been focused on enhancing security and data sovereignty at my lab and workplace. As a member of the OSIRIS Lab and NYU Cybersecurity Club, I helped our organization deploy self-hosted, zero-trust infrastructure to protect users and mitigate reliance on vulnerable third-party platforms (such as Discord).

This commitment to privacy extends to AI as well. I have designed and deployed localized LLM environments using ollama, vLLM, and OpenWebUI on multi-site Proxmox clusters. By serving these AI tools securely, I’m (hoping) to ensure strict data localization and prevent external data leakage; something that can not be said with industry-leaders in AI and even tech in general.

From managing incident response and enterprise network topologies, to delivering Tier 1–3 IT help desk and tech support, my work is driven by a commitment to building technology that is as secure as it is functional.

Hobbies

My interest in how things work also extends past just school and work! I love fixing/riding my Street Triple RS and participating in simracing competitions on my rig, hobbies that fuel my passion for motorsports, mechanical engineering, and systems design. I’m also an avid photographer, audiophile, gamer, and speedcuber. Chat with me about RAW photos, tube/solid-state amps, and RPG video games!