Dylan Finlay

About Me

Hi, I'm Dylan—a Mechatronics Engineering student at the University of Waterloo. I'm passionate about building autonomous systems, robotics, and pushing the boundaries of what technology can do.

I have a strong foundation in software development, particularly in autonomous systems, backend development, and embedded programming. I'm deeply involved in projects related to robotics and software, such as designing autonomous drones and creating a fleet of robots to autonomously compete in soccer games.

Professional Experience

Incoming Software Engineer Intern

Jan 2026 - Apr 2026

German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Software Engineer Intern

May 2025 - Aug 2025

Ford Pro

Software Developer Intern

Sept 2024 - Dec 2024

Solace

Software Developer Intern

Jan 2024 - Apr 2024

Solace

Software Engineer Intern

May 2023 - Aug 2023

Shyftlabs

Design Team Experience

Co-Founder & Software Team Lead

Aug 2024 - present

UW RoboSoccer

Co-Founder of Waterloo's newest SDC design team. Our group aims to compete in the global RoboCup competition, where we will present a group of humanoid robots to autonomously compete in 4v4 soccer matches. The Software/ML/AI Team is responsible for developing the algorithms that drive our humanoid robots. This includes computer vision for recognizing the ball and opponents, decision-making algorithms for strategic play, and machine learning models to improve robot performance over time.

Autonomous Airside Project Manager

Sept 2023 - Sept 2024

WARG

A project manager in the Waterloo Aerial Robotics Group design team, leading the team in charge of writing code for the autonomous flight of WARG's custom drone. My focus revolves around Python software development for drone autonomy. This encompasses computer vision code, path planning, and more.

Projects

Docs Dynamic Chatbot

First place Solace hackathon project. Developed a dynamic chatbot custom-trained on the user's current page. Leveraged Anthropic's Claude-3-Sonnet LLM to generate quick responses.

Code

AI Workflow Analyzer

Created an AI-Enhanced Github Actions Workflow Analyzer that uses RAG to reference workflow logs and source code, to then explain any previous failures and present possible solutions.

Code

Web Scraping API

Python Web Scraper built to grab OG tags from thousands of websites, implemented as an API with Flask, and showcased through an intricate React Web App.

Code Demo

STM32 Two-Axis Machine

Developed a control system for a two-axis machine using an STM32 microcontroller, enabling precise control of stepper motors using potentiometers, and limit switches for edges.

The BarBot

The BarBot is an autonomous drink delivery robot built using Lego EV3 Mindstorm hardware, and programmed with embedded C to deliver drinks on a custom grid system.

Code

Machine Vision Project

Worked with four others in the Toyota Software design challenge, creating a machine vision solution to detect holes for the automation of sticker placement.

Code

Snack Track

Collaborated in a team of 5 to create a React App with a clean UI, that allows users to search for and access detailed nutritional information about various foods.

Code Demo

Sudoku Solver

Developed a back-tracking algorithm capable of solving any sudoku board, and further implemented a full sudoku game with a PyGame graphical user interface.

Code

Mobile 3-Axis Robotic Arm

Awarded first place in a University of Waterloo competition by designing a fully mobile 3-Axis Robotic Arm. The arm is controlled remotely to pick up and move small items.

Skills

Python

C++

Java

JavaScript

Bash

React.js

Node.js

HTML

Tailwind CSS

Git

GitHub

Docker

Linux

VS Code

Postman

SolidWorks

AutoCAD

About Me

Hi, I'm Dylan—a Mechatronics Engineering student at the University of Waterloo. I'm passionate about building autonomous systems, robotics, and pushing the boundaries of what technology can do.

Design Team Experience

Co-Founder & Software Team Lead

Aug 2024 - present

UW RoboSoccer

Autonomous Airside Project Manager

Sept 2023 - Sept 2024

WARG

Projects

Docs Dynamic Chatbot

First place Solace hackathon project. Developed a dynamic chatbot custom-trained on the user's current page. Leveraged Anthropic's Claude-3-Sonnet LLM to generate quick responses.

Code

AI Workflow Analyzer

Created an AI-Enhanced Github Actions Workflow Analyzer that uses RAG to reference workflow logs and source code, to then explain any previous failures and present possible solutions.

Code

Web Scraping API

Python Web Scraper built to grab OG tags from thousands of websites, implemented as an API with Flask, and showcased through an intricate React Web App.

Code Demo

STM32 Two-Axis Machine

Developed a control system for a two-axis machine using an STM32 microcontroller, enabling precise control of stepper motors using potentiometers, and limit switches for edges.

The BarBot

The BarBot is an autonomous drink delivery robot built using Lego EV3 Mindstorm hardware, and programmed with embedded C to deliver drinks on a custom grid system.

Code

Machine Vision Project

Worked with four others in the Toyota Software design challenge, creating a machine vision solution to detect holes for the automation of sticker placement.

Code

Snack Track

Collaborated in a team of 5 to create a React App with a clean UI, that allows users to search for and access detailed nutritional information about various foods.

Code Demo

Sudoku Solver

Developed a back-tracking algorithm capable of solving any sudoku board, and further implemented a full sudoku game with a PyGame graphical user interface.

Code

Mobile 3-Axis Robotic Arm

Awarded first place in a University of Waterloo competition by designing a fully mobile 3-Axis Robotic Arm. The arm is controlled remotely to pick up and move small items.