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About Me


Hello There!

Hi 👋, my name is Gita Alekhya Paul, a graduate student from SRMIST Kattankulathur. I have majored in Computer Science and Engineering with specialization in Cyber Security. I am a security nerd at heart, and believe in the potential for seamless UX in Web3 systems, enabling self-sovereignty of funds and intents back to the general public.

I've started my journey as an electronics enthusiast, building robots and gizmos, going to science exhibitions from an early age. From there on, during my tenure in SRMIST, I have worked with information security, server management, wireless mesh networks, IoT networks, cloud infrastructure, backend web development, and eventually moving to Web3 technologies. I had started my journey on the Zilliqa ecosystem, now gradually moving into the Ethereum ecosystem.

I am a core believer in innovating for the future, one commit at a time, which has led me to acquire prestigious internships, externships and fellowships like the GitHub Externship, MLH Fellowship and the MITACS Globalink Internship, just to name a few. Currently, I am focusing on improving the Web3 usability for non-native users and improving the security for them.

I am a 4x published author, and most of my research has been revolving around how we can scale distributed computing systems using blockchain technology. I am a big fan of wireless mesh technology, and have spent a considerable time in my undergraduate researching them, and developing systems to scale them efficiently over large distances.

Over the past few years, in my time as a full-time engineer, I have explored deep into enabling seamless UX for non-native users using key abstraction, chain abstraction and account abstraction. Additional to that, I am exploring on-chain data analytics, and using user interactions to train and facilitate agentic transactions using AI agents created by fine-tuning LLMs.

Actively looking for Masters/PhD supervisors in the field of blockchain and security.

Curriculum Vitae​

In case you want to skip reading below, my CV encapsulates my academic and professional journey into 2 pages.

Details​

Education​

  • SRM Institute of Science and Technology​

    • Degree: Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech)
    • Major: Computer Science and Engineering with specialization in Cyber Security
    • Tenure: June, 2019 - May, 2023
    • CGPA: 9.73 / 10
    • Class: First Class with Distinction
    • Graduated 2nd in class, awarded silver medal

Skills and Technologies​

  • Languages​

    • C
    • C++
    • JavaScript
    • TypeScript
    • Python
    • SQL
    • Java
    • Solidity
    • SCILLA

  • Web Technologies​

    • HTML, CSS
    • React.js, Next.js
    • Node.js, Express.js, Loopback
    • MongoDB, Postgres, DynamoDB, Supabase
    • Redis, BullMQ
    • Netlify Serverless

  • Hardware​

    • Micro-controllers, ESP32
    • Arduino
    • Raspberry Pi
    • NodeMCU
    • Blynk IoT
    • IFTTT

  • Blockchain​

    • Zilliqa Blockchain
    • SCILLA Smart Contracts
    • Ethereum
    • Solidity Smart Contracts
    • Magic Link DIDs
    • Multi-party computation
    • Key abstraction and chain abstraction
    • Account abstraction
    • Zero-knowledge Proofs

  • Data Analytics and ML​

    • BigQuery
    • Dune Analytics
    • LLM Fine-tuning
    • Custom AI Agents

  • Cyber Security​

    • Linux
    • Network Security
    • Web Penetration Testing
    • Image Forensics

  • Networking & Cloud​

    • Wireless Mesh Networks
    • Edge Computing
    • AWS
    • GCP
    • Docker
    • Distributed Networks
    • MQTT

Research and Certifications​

  • Best Paper at ViTECoN 2023​

    • Conference: 2023 2nd International Conference on Vision Towards Emerging Trends in Communication and Networking Technologies (ViTECoN)
    • Date: 5th-6th May, 2023
    • Title: "Implementing Dead Letter Exchanges in MQTT and Proposing a Broker Failure Algorithm Utilizing Blockchain DNS"
    • DOI: 10.1109/ViTECoN58111.2023.10157491

  • Conference Paper​

    • Conference: 2023 Third International Conference on Advances in Electrical, Computing, Communication and Sustainable Technologies (ICAECT)
    • Date: 5th-6th January, 2023
    • Title: "Improving Fault Tolerance and Tackling Broker Failure in MQTT through Blockchain"
    • DOI: 10.1109/ICAECT57570.2023.10118032

  • Gold Medal for Research @ SRM Research Day 2022​

    • Conference: 2023 Fifth International Conference on Electrical, Computer and Communication Technologies (ICECCT)
    • Date: 22nd-24th February, 2023
    • Title: "Novel Pipeline for Compressing Image Buffers in Remote Education Video Conferencing using Harris Corner Detection and Pixel Map Array"
    • DOI: 10.1109/ICECCT56650.2023.10179787

  • Gold Medal for Research @ SRM Research Day 2021​

    • Conference: 2022 IEEE 2nd International Conference on Mobile Networks and Wireless Communications (ICMNWC)
    • Date: 2nd-3rd December ,2022
    • Title: "Energy Efficient Ad-hoc Network using Multicast Tree for Wireless Sensor Applications"
    • DOI: 10.1109/ICMNWC56175.2022.10032031

Work Experience​

  • Collab.Land​

    • Position: Lead Software Engineer, Research and Development
    • Location: Remote
    • Tenure: October, 2022 - Present
    • Maintained and developed software with over 4.5 Million active users, and spanning over 59,000 Discord and Telegram communities. Launched an on-chain SocialFi product with over 10,000+ users, seamlessly claiming their smart account wallets using account abstraction and key abstraction using MPC networks. Researched and developed proof-of-concept solutions integrating LLM agents to do on-chain actions, and built data pipelines in BigQuery, Mixpanel and on-chain dashboards and analytics in Dune analytics to track all the above initiatives. Worked closely on novel identity verification solutions using image steganography and machine learning algorithms.
    • Location: ÉTS Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    • Advisor: Prof. Julien Gascon-Samson
    • Position: Research Intern
    • Tenure: July, 2022 - October, 2022
    • Secured MITACS Globalink 2022 Research Internship under Prof. Julien Gascon-Samson of École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS) on the research project titled 'Improving the Model and Implementation of a Distributed Edge-based MQTT-based Publish/Subscribe Middleware,' spending 12 weeks in Canada with a full scholarship and research grants provided by the organization. Proposed a refreshed architecture with a 25% reduction in network calls between the distributed broker layer and the orchestration layer. Was able to achieve a scalable 'opinionated mesh' solution to the problem, thereby improving the network reach by 50%, tested on 400+ subscribers.

  • Quinence​

    • Position: Backend and Smart Contract Developer Intern
    • Tenure: January, 2022 - March, 2022
    • Location: Remote
    • Optimized indexers and NFT marketplace services, reducing query latency by 30% on Zilliqa blockchain. Set up scalable infrastructure for Aqilliz Wishworld’s first NFT sale, handling 1,000+ NFTs, and co-developed smart contracts for the $380K+ valued Soulless Citadel NFT collection.

  • Hoppscotch India Private Limited​

    • GitHub Externship Summer 2021
    • Position: Node.js Backend CLI Developer
    • Tenure: June, 2021 - September, 2021
    • Location: Remote
    • Worked on the first version of the CLI for the Hoppscotch API runner ecosystem, with over 100,000+ users and 63K+ GitHub stars. Hoppscotch users can use this CLI for automated testing of the tests in the collection JSON in a CI environment.

  • NetSPI​

    • Position: Cyber Security Trainee
    • Tenure: June, 2021 - July, 2021
    • Location: Remote
    • Received training in web application security, and the different methods of attack and defense. Shadowed the instructors on live projects to learn how the work is done in the industry. Helped with documenting a client requirements. Presented a webinar on JSON deserialization attack in Node.js.

  • Amazon AWS Amplify CLI​

    • MLH Fellowship Spring 2021
    • Position: Node.js Backend CLI Developer
    • Tenure: January, 2021 - April, 2021
    • Location: Remote
    • Worked on the DX of the Amplify CLI init workflow. Helped find bugs and fixed them in the open-source repository. Made a developer documentation website for the easier onboarding of future contributors. During the fellowship, worked on a single-thread Reddit clone to demonstrate the use of Amplify CLI. Won the MLH Fellowship CTF.

  • Mendios Technologies Bangalore Pvt. Ltd. (webMOBI)​

    • Position: Node.js Backend Developer Intern
    • Tenure: June, 2020 - October, 2020
    • Location: Remote
    • Created Zapier Integrations for the company to integrate into the company APIs, facilitate the real-time data storage and notifying users and admins of events. Worked on webRTC integrations to facilitate the conduction of online webinars.

Accomplishments and Awards​