Mitchell Augustin Official Website About Me Projects Archives
Current & Recent Work

Ubuntu

I am currently employed by Canonical as an engineer in the Nvidia squad of our Partner Engineering organization, where I work directly with Nvidia to enable and optimize Ubuntu for Nvidia's Grace and DGX server hardware.
The Ubuntu logo is a registered trademark of Canonical Ltd

Independent Work

My primary independent project since 2020 has been Spiral, a free-form notetaking application for Linux and Windows. Having the unique opportunity to direct the development of a program that I use every day has been instrumental in making me a better software engineer, and the feedback I have received from both regular users and fellow open source developers has helped me gain a greater perspective on how to effectively select and implement new features and bug fixes.
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Purdue University

I completed my M.S. in Computer Science with a focus on operating systems and networking software development in December of 2023. During graduate school, I improved and extended multicore support for the Xinu operating system and built an ethernet driver for Xinu on the Orange Pi.

I completed my B.S. in Computer Science in December of 2022. During my time as an undergraduate, I developed a comprehensive understanding of all levels of software development through a variety of projects and courses involving operating systems, computer networking, algorithms, distributed systems, and more. Specific details can be found on my About Me and Projects pages.
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Project Updates & News

Graduation and Career Update - January 4, 2024

I'm excited to make two announcements today. First, I recently graduated from Purdue with my Master's degree in Computer Science. My work on Xinu over the past year has been very rewarding and has helped me significantly improve my operating system software development skills, as has my coursework. Second, I have accepted a full-time job offer from Canonical, where I will be joining the Ubuntu engineering team and working directly with major silicon vendors to optimize Ubuntu for their hardware. I am elated to have the opportunity to work full-time on improving Ubuntu and the Linux ecosystem as a whole, which I believe is integral to my philosophical career goal of improving computing for all users.
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School, work, and project updates - February 27, 2022

Perhaps unsurprisingly, my CS coursework is still keeping me very busy for most of the year, especially with this being my first semester in Purdue's BS/MS program. However, I have still had some time to work on Spiral. Last month, I introduced several new features that had been requested by some of Spiral's users, such as support for exporting pages as PDFs, printing, and theme overrides, as well as a few notable usability improvements. Spiral is also now available for download via the AUR (in addition to its project website).
I am also excited to announce that I have accepted an internship offer with GE Aviation for this summer. I look forward to learning more about the software development process in the aerospace industry, which I think will be a fun experience.
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Spiral Release and Summer Internship - October 15, 2020

As usual, I have been very busy with my Computer Science coursework since the start of the semester back in August, but I'm excited to announce a couple of things regarding Spiral as well as my career plans for next summer. First and foremost, although Spiral has technically been released since June 22, when I published version release 1.0 to the Spiral project page, I decided to wait to make an announcement about it until I had a sufficient amount of real-world notetaking experience with it outside of the context of a testing environment. Given that I have been using Spiral as my primary notetaking apparatus for four different courses since the beginning of the semester, I can confidently say that it has increased my productivity considerably and allowed me to organize my notes more effectively than traditional word processors, just as I had intended. If you would like to try the first official release version of Spiral, you can download it on Spiral's project website

Second, after a solid set of interviews with several different companies, I have decided to accept an offer to join Cat Digital's Software Engineering internship program for Summer 2021. I look forward to working with Caterpillar and developing large-scale software solutions, which is something that I haven't had the opportunity to do yet as an individual developer.

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Spiral's first official beta release and native overhaul is now available! - May 21, 2020

It has been a very busy few months since the beginning of my second semester at Purdue, but I'm happy to report that I'm still doing well, I have had a great semester, and I have a major Spiral update available for download. I'll start with the Spiral update first since that's the primary reason for this update. Over the past few months (but mostly during the past few weeks since I was pretty busy with schoolwork up until May 9th), I've been working to drastically improve Spiral's user experience since it has become my primary note-taking application. There were some pretty egregious usability and efficiency issues that I ran into over a semester of using the Java version, and it got to a point where I realized that if I wanted Spiral to be good, I was going to have to start from scratch and develop a native solution. As a result, that's exactly what I did. Spiral Beta 1.0 - the first native release of Spiral - is now available on Spiral's project website. This version is considerably snappier, cleaner, and has a much better file specification than Spiral's alpha versions (notebooks are all contained in their own individual files rather than with the "exploded" structure of the alpha versions). It also contains several features that would have been much more difficult to implement in the Java version, such as system theming. This version of Spiral is built on the QT framework, which has been a pleasure to develop with. (Seriously, if you're going to make a desktop application, QT is incredible). So far, I haven't noticed any major bugs on either the Linux or Windows builds of Spiral on my personal machines, but I will definitely be updating it throughout the summer in order to fix any bugs I find and add more features.

Aside from Spiral, I also participated in BoilerMake VII back in January, where my teammates and I won the "Best Water Conservation Hack" award by EcoLab for our water usage tracker, "Water You Using."
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Spiral's first alpha preview is available! (and other updates) - November 7, 2019

Once again, I've neglected to update this home page for over a year, but I promise it isn't without reason. First and foremost, I have been spending the last few months working on my latest personal project, Spiral, which is finally available as an alpha preview. Spiral is a free-form note-taking application that lets users easily organize their thoughts without being effectively restricted to a linear document format like how most traditional word processors and note-taking apps function. I've been prioritizing Spiral over many of my other projects because I have been wanting to switch to Linux as my primary desktop OS for a long time, but a certain note-taking program isn't available on any Linux distributions, and I wasn't able to find an open-source alternative that had the features I was looking for. Obviously, the only solution was to write one myself. Although I didn't initially plan to release it to the public, I realized that there are probably tens of other people out there who would like a (non-web-based) version of this type of program, so here it is. You can download the first Alpha Preview build of Spiral on Spiral's project website. Please do note that this is a preview build, so things are still buggy. Additionally, I have made Spiral open-source, so anyone is welcome to contribute. Aside from Spiral, I have also been working on some major improvements to a few of my older projects, so be on the lookout for those in the next few months.

On another note, I also started my first year as a Computer Science student at Purdue University back in August, so that has been occupying much of my time as well. (Thank you, Purdue Math Department).
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Where have I been? Summer Updates and new apps - July 15, 2018

It's been almost a year since I've posted here, so I have quite a bit to talk about in this post. Once Summer began, I immediately got to work on a couple projects that I hadn't had time to work on during my Junior year of high school as well as a new project that I think is going to be very valuable. First of all, I pushed out a few huge updates to LandmARk that really improved its feature set and user experience with a brand new Landmark editor and a new motion tracking system that I have been writing over the past few months. Click here to try it out if you haven't already. In addition to the updates I have made to LandmARk, I have also been spending a fairly large amount of time on a project that I haven't announced until now to the public, Aurora v4. You can find out more about that on the projects page. Finally, I have also been developing a school safety app called Lockdown Manager which will hopefully allow students and staff members to lower their response time in the event of a hostile intruder. I don't have a release date planned for Lockdown Manager yet, but the prototype is complete and I'm working with my school district to get it implemented and released to the public as soon as possible. Feel free to read more about it and watch the demo video linked on the projects page.
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LandmARk - geotagged, augmented-reality artwork - July 30, 2017

LandmARk is an augmented reality app that allows you to view and place virtual artwork in different locations around the world. By using a combination of augmented reality and GPS technology, LandmARk allows users to interact with the world around them by drawing their own artwork on landmarks. Leave your signature on a watertower, draw a hat on a statue, plant a virtual flag in your yard, or just see what other users have created. With LandmARk, the world is your canvas!

You can find more info on LandmARk here
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Playlist Analyzer for Spotify launched & Sonar Shutdown - April 28, 2017

Hi, everyone. First off, I'm sad to announce that Sonar will be shutting down on May 6th. You can read more about that here. However, you'll be happy to know that I have been working on some major improvements to some of my existing projects, as well as a few others that I haven't yet announced. Additionally, I have also written a simple program using Spotify's API that analyzes your playlists & shows the percentage of each individual artist in a pie chart. Feel free to click the link below if you are interested. I've got some other big projects on deck, so stay tuned for more updates.

You can view the playlist analyzer here
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Announcing Sonar: A new type of social network - September 8, 2016

It has been several months since I have released any new updates on my website. However, I have been working on something completely new that I think will breathe fresh air into the world of social networking. Sonar is a social network that is entirely based on audio. With Sonar, you can send audio clips directly to other users with direct messaging, or you can upload them to your wall for anyone to see.

You can access Sonar at www.sonarapp.xyz or download the app for Android.
Aurora

Happy birthday, Aurora! Passive recognion added in Beta 3.1.4 - May 4, 2016

Once again, it has been a while since I have released a new major Aurora for Android update. However, this update adds a new feature that has been recommended to me on several occasions: passive recognition. That's right, you do not even have to lift a finger to activate Aurora anymore. Simply enable "Hey, Aurora" in the settings menu, and Aurora will begin listening whenever the app is closed. You can even have Aurora perform tasks when your phone is locked.

You can get the latest Aurora update here.


Aurora

Beta 3.0 Adds Weather Info and Bug Fixes - December 30, 2015

I know the last update was over a month ago, but I have not forgotten about Aurora. The latest update, Beta 3.0, fixes many of the bugs that were restricting performance the most. In addition to the usual batch of bug fixes, Aurora now comes with access to an API called Weather Underground. This allows Aurora to access conditions, forecasts, temperatures, and wind info. You can view the full list of updates on the archive page.

You can get the latest Aurora update here.


Aurora

New Wolfram|Alpha Response Layout - November 21, 2015

It has been a while since I have released a new Aurora update, but this one includes a very long anticipated improvement that I have finally managed to finish. In this update, I have updated the way that Wolfram|Alpha returns responses. Previously, responses from Wolfram|Alpha would come as a single string of text that Aurora would read to you. With this modification, Aurora now retrieves more information with each query and displays it in a meaningful and organized fashion. In addition to the layout update, this update also includes many small performance improvements.

You can get the latest Aurora update here.


Aurora

Beta 2.6 Repairs a Major Yelp error - September 20, 2015

Some of you may have recently noticed that Aurora has been unable to retrieve restaurant information from Yelp for the past few weeks. I would like to apologize for any inconvenience that this has caused, but I am glad to announce that I have released a patch to fix this error. For those of you interested, the error occurred due to the Yelp API token being reset automatically. Because of this, when Aurora attempted to download the restaurant information from Yelp's servers, its access was restricted due to the mismatched token. In addition, this update also improves Aurora's conversation.

You can get the latest Aurora update here.


Aurora

Beta 2.4 Contains Major Bug Fixes and a New Design - September 6, 2015

Once again, here comes a great improvement to Aurora's look and feel. With this update of Aurora, you will notice that Aurora acts much more like a dialog overlay than it did before. This new look allows Aurora to be much less intrusive than before. In addition, I have also fixed several major issues with Aurora, one of which was how she returned info from Wolfram|Alpha.


Aurora

Aurora's new interpreter is here - August 31, 2015

I know it has been a while since the last update, but I can guarantee that this update will fix many issues that you may have encountered so far with Aurora. One thing that you will notice immediately is that Aurora's voice recognition service is different, as the Google speech dialog has been removed. This is because I have reconfigured the voice recognition program to work within the Aurora activity instead of launching its own. As a result of this, you will notice that the voice recognition service is more efficient than it was before. Additionally, you will also see that the speak button will turn red while you are speaking to Aurora, and your speech will be constantly updated on the screen as you speak. However, these are not the only updates. In addition to everything already listed, I have also updated Aurora's interpreter program to be more dynamic and understand a wider range of conversation. You may notice that Aurora can't understand as much outside of commands that she used to, but I can assure you that this is only temporary. I have created this new interpreter so that conversational topics can be easily added, so you will find that Aurora's conversational skills will really begin to improve after this update. One other thing that you may notice is that Aurora will send you to the Google client for text messages and some calling. Again, this is only temporary. I will be implementing my own client program for this in the next update.


Aurora

Aurora Interpreter v2 - August 15, 2015

Get ready for a huge improvement to Aurora's conversation with Aurora Interpreter v2! It still won't be out for a while, but the newly redesigned Aurora program will drastically change how you use your personal assistant. The issue with most personal assistants is that they do not usually give you a response that corresponds directly to your question. For example, if you say "I like [insert word here]," most virtual assistants would just respond with something generic like "I don't know much about that." However, once the new interpreter is released, you will be able to say something to Aurora and get an informational response that is exclusive to whatever you said. For example, you could say something like "I like pasta," and Aurora could respond with some information on the nutritional facts of pasta, or even locations of nearby pasta restaurants.


Aurora

Aurora Beta 2.0: The biggest update yet - July 29, 2015

The latest update of Aurora (Beta 2.0) would have to be, at least in my opinion, the biggest update yet. Not only does this update fix many bugs that have been brought to my attention by the users, but it also adds a plethora of new features that improve the overall user experience. What are these features, you may ask? My personal favorite feature is the new user preference database. Simply put, Aurora can now remember key details about things you say to her. Currently it is limited to favorite foods, but the database is growing. Don't worry though, since the database is entirely at device level, no outside servers can access your information. (Not including searches on Yelp, Google, or Wolfram|Alpha) In addition to the restaurant recommendations, Aurora is also able to search the Wolfram|Alpha database for answers to questions that she does not know the answer to. Another function that I recently added is Aurora's spell command. Simply say "Spell" followed by a word and Aurora will speak the spelling of that word to you.

You can get the latest Aurora update here.


Aurora

Say Hello to the New Look of Aurora! - June 20, 2015

The users asked, and I listened! The Beta 1.8 update of Aurora contains a long overdue redesign in the user interface. Not many features have been added, but I am certain that Aurora's new look is a much better alternative than the previous. One of the biggest changes that you will notice is Aurora's new action bar. From the action bar, users can access the command list and settings menu by pressing their respective buttons. Also, the new settings menu allows the user to physically edit their preferences in addition to the voice options. There were also several bug fixes, some of which include improvements with temperature conversions and a fix to the frequent screen freezing.

You can get the latest Aurora update here.


Aurora

New Aurora update adds more features & fixes - June 14, 2015

The latest update to Aurora adds, in my opinion, some of the coolest features yet. In addition to the well known bug fixes, I have also added two huge features to Aurora's code. One of those features could save some time, or possibly convenience a person while driving. Now, by simply saying "Aurora, get most recent text message," Aurora will read the most recent sms message sent to the user's phone! The other feature that I have added is a location feature. By saying "Where am I?" to Aurora, the user can get a voice response of their current street address. I personally think that this is my favorite feature yet, but if you do not like it, you can simply disable Aurora's location access in your device's settings menu.

You can get the latest Aurora update here.


Aurora

Aurora fixes are out, as well as a new logo! - June 12, 2015

I know it has been a while since my last Aurora update, but this one brings several very important changes to some of Aurora's background work. I have fixed many errors that my friends and fellow testers have brought to my attention, some of which include the way that Aurora calls and texts other users. Previously, the user would only have been able to call, text, or email contacts with a first and last name listed in the contact card, but now single names such as "mom" or "dad" will work. There are several other errors that I repaired with this update that can be viewed on the Aurora Archives page. In addition to all of the bug fixes, I have also modified the logo for Aurora. This logo has the same shape, but it now has the texture and color of Aurora Borealis.


Aurora

Aurora Beta is here  - June 1, 2015

Well, after weeks of programming, Aurora Beta is finally here! Aurora's features are almost all there, and the latest application packages can be downloaded from my Projects page. The latest Aurora builds are packed with new features, including new commands, better conversational skills, and more ways to ask Aurora a question.


Aurora

Aurora Beta release coming soon - May 26, 2015

It has been almost a month since I started writing the source code and conversation algorithms for Aurora, and I am happy to say that Aurora for android is in Alpha version 5.0, and I am planning to release a beta build to my website very soon. As far as releasing Aurora to the Google Play Store, I am not sure when it will be available there. Stay tuned for updates as I continue through the development of Aurora.


Aurora