Ali Salha

Software engineer and Computer Science student at Northeastern. I build scalable software used by tens of thousands of people, along with the backend services and infrastructure behind it.

Available for co-op, January to July 2027.

Currently
Software Engineer, independent game studio
Studying
B.S. Computer Science, Northeastern University
Based in
New York and Boston

About me

I've spent the last four years leading engineering on a live multiplayer game, building the backend tools behind it, and learning what it takes to keep software steady when thousands of people are using it at once.

Areas of expertise

  • Live game systems

    Production gameplay systems in Luau for a Roblox experience averaging around 1,000 concurrent players.

  • Backend and APIs

    Node.js and Express services on MongoDB or MySQL, REST and WebSocket APIs, Google SSO.

  • Infrastructure and operations

    Ubuntu servers running Nginx on AWS, Google Cloud, and DigitalOcean, with DNS managed through Cloudflare.

  • Applied machine learning

    Classification models with Brain.js and TensorFlow, data work with Pandas and NumPy.

  • Cybersecurity

    Reported vulnerabilities to major companies through responsible disclosure. Security analysis, threat modeling, and writing code that's secure from the start.

Projects

Featured

Multiplayer Roblox Game

Software Engineer · 2022 – Present

A live Roblox game I've led engineering on since launch, as one of two engineers. I build the gameplay systems, run releases, and keep it stable for the thousands of players online every day.

  • Luau
  • Roblox Studio
  • TypeScript
  • Node.js
  • Express
  • MongoDB
  • Ubuntu
  • Git
  • GitHub
  • ~$500k

    Annual revenue

  • ~1,000

    Average concurrent players

  • 4+ years

    In live operation

Friend Request Canceler

Chrome extension

A Chrome extension that brought a highly requested feature to the Roblox website: canceling pending friend requests. It reached 77K+ installs on the Chrome Web Store.

  • Chrome Extensions
  • JavaScript
  • Wireshark
  • Fiddler

Seats

Economics class

A 3D model of my economics classroom where every student owns a desk with a money value. Desks can be assigned to classmates or rented out, turning the room into a small working economy.

  • Three.js
  • Next.js
  • MongoDB
  • Nginx
  • Cloudflare

Spanish Verb Flashcards

Study tool

Look up any Spanish verb and see every major tense on one card, from the present indicative to commands.

  • Next.js
  • Tailwind CSS
  • Nginx
  • Cloudflare

Game Admin Platform

Internal tool

Web dashboard for managing player data outside Roblox. Feature flags let the team turn features on or off in production without shipping a game update.

  • Node.js
  • Express
  • MongoDB
  • Nginx
  • Ubuntu

Class Assistant

Sep 2025

A custom Alexa skill backed by an Express API on top of a PowerSchool integration I wrote. Ask Alexa or Siri for your class schedule or current grades.

  • Node.js
  • Express
  • Alexa Skills Kit
  • Siri Shortcuts

AI Support Chatbot

Sep 2022 – Jun 2023

Support assistant for Monroe-Woodbury CSD faculty, who sign in with Google SSO. A classifier trained on 10,000+ resolved tickets sorts each issue and suggests a fix, later extended with OpenAI's API.

  • Next.js
  • Node.js
  • WebSockets
  • MongoDB
  • Google SSO
  • Brain.js
  • OpenAI API

Spotify Song Clustering

Data science

Clusters about 114,000 Spotify tracks by their audio features to test whether songs fall into a handful of types that cut across genre.

  • Python
  • scikit-learn
  • Pandas
  • NumPy
  • Matplotlib
  • LaTeX

Experience and education

Software Engineer

Jun 2022 – Present

Independent game studio · Remote

  • Lead development and technical direction of a Roblox game as one of two engineers, from launch to roughly $500k in annual revenue.
  • Build and maintain production gameplay systems in Luau, turning player feedback and analytics into regular feature updates and fixes.
  • Own live operations: shipping releases through GitHub workflows, tracking down production issues, and keeping the game stable for thousands of concurrent players.

Lead Computer Technician

Sep 2023 – Jun 2025

Monroe-Woodbury High School Help Desk · Central Valley, NY

  • Diagnosed and repaired 300+ school-issued iPads and Chromebooks, and supported students and faculty with hardware and software issues.
  • Managed device inventory and audits in Asset Panda, and trained new technicians on repair procedures and official Dell training.

Northeastern University

Expected May 2029

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science · Boston, MA

GPA
3.88 / 4.0
Honors
Khoury Academic Honors, Dean's List
Activities
Cybersecurity Club, Machine Learning Club
Coursework
Algorithms and Data, Databases, Cybersecurity, Computer Systems, Object-Oriented Programming, Discrete Structures, Data Science, Intensive Mathematical Reasoning

Technical skills

Languages, frameworks, and platforms I'm proficient in, from Luau gameplay code to Node.js services and the Linux servers they run on.

Languages

  • JavaScript
  • TypeScript
  • Python
  • Java
  • Luau
  • C
  • C++
  • HTML
  • CSS

Frameworks and libraries

  • Node.js
  • Express
  • Next.js
  • React
  • Tailwind CSS
  • Pandas
  • NumPy
  • TensorFlow
  • scikit-learn
  • Matplotlib
  • Three.js
  • Brain.js
  • Alexa Skills Kit

Tools and platforms

  • Git
  • GitHub
  • GitHub Actions
  • MongoDB
  • MySQL
  • Linux
  • Ubuntu
  • Nginx
  • Cloudflare
  • AWS
  • Google Cloud
  • DigitalOcean
  • Jira
  • OpenRouter
  • Wireshark
  • Postman
  • Chrome Extensions
  • Fiddler
  • LaTeX

Get in touch

Available for co-op, January to July 2027. Email is the fastest way to reach me.